Wandering around the Las Vegas Food & Wine Festival at Tivoli Village was a great time, especially since we could walk back to our casino hotel.  I know that I have mentioned the wines so far, but there was plenty of food to graze on, as well.  Several restaurants represented some of the talented chefs were very visible and offering quick bites and some were so excellent, that I had to go back for seconds and thirds. 

We found another table pouring wines and my Bride had a glass of Daou Vineyards “Bodyguard” Chardonnay Paso Robles 2020.  George and Daniel Daou, two brothers who were originally in the IT industry purchased part of the Hoffman Mountain Ranch in 2007 and in 2012 purchased the other part of the ranch and they now had two-hundred-twelve acres.  Stanley Hoffman with help from Andre Tchelistcheff created the first modern commercial winery in Paso Robles after Prohibition.  The winery has four tiers or collections and the amount of aging in new French Oak is determined by the collection.  The “Bodyguard” which is offered in a red and a white is from their Expressions Collection.  All the estate fruit is hand-harvested and Daou Vineyards are certified sustainable by SIP (Sustainability in Practice).  This wine is pure Chardonnay and underwent cold fermentation.  The wine was aged for ten months in a mix of thirty percent new French Oak, thirty percent new American Oak and forty percent neutral French Oak.  This was a nice example of a classic California Chardonnay with a soft gold color.  There were notes of apples and pears, spices and a floral bouquet.  On the palate tones of ripe fruit, including secondary tones of tropical fruits, spices and honeysuckle in a buttery feeling with fresh minerality and a nice finish of terroir, curd and a touch of pineapple.  A very refreshing wine on a beautiful Autumn evening.

While I had their Daou Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles 2021 from their Discovery Collection which is bought-in fruit.  The fruit for this wine is from the Daou Family Estates, which is family owned and operated and all hand-harvested.  The goal is to craft Bordeaux style wines that combine Old World tradition and New World techniques.  The wine is a blend of 80.4% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11.5 Petit Verdot, 7.8% Merlot and 0.3% Cabernet Franc.  After fermentation the wine is aged for ten months in half new French Oak and half neutral oak.  The deep purple wine offered notes of black fruit, sandalwood, tobacco and some eucalyptus.  On the palate there were tones of black cherry, raspberry, pomegranate, soft tannins and a medium count finish of red fruit and graphite (terroir).  A very nice wine for early consumption, it struck me as a wine not for the cellar, but quickly to the table.