Best Paso Robles red wines for summer

– Paso Robles is celebrated for its rich and diverse red wines that captivate both casual drinkers and connoisseurs alike.

As daytime summer heat gives way to cooler evenings, there’s nothing quite like indulging in a glass of robust red wine to complement your meals or simply to enjoy on its own. The region’s unique terroir and innovative winemakers produce reds with depth, complexity, and character.

Here are our top recommendations for the best Paso Robles red wines to enhance your summer nights.

Red wine recommendations for summer

Dark ruby in color, this cabernet sauvignon expresses aromas of freshly picked black currants and blackberries, with subtle notes of violets, mocha, and dried spices. On the palate, it features flavors of olallieberry, cherry fruit, cedar, clove, nutmeg, and vanilla bean.

The nose on this blend of syrah, petite syrah, grenache, zinfandel, and mourvèdre is bursting with jammy boysenberry and blackberry, along with a fresh hint of raspberry. These fruit aromas carry through the palate and are accentuated by underlying tones of peppercorn, dried tobacco, and roasted coffee.

This blend of grenache and counoise features aromas of freshly picked red plum, red raspberry, wild strawberry, and cinnamon stick. It’s packed with tastes of dried hay, fennel, and sage. Best enjoyed on an outdoor patio on a warm evening with herb-roasted chicken.

This zin presents a clean ruby-red color and emits an earthy blend of raspberry, fresh mushroom, and white pepper. Upfront jammy strawberry and blackberry flavors overlay mild structural tannins and acid with spicier mid-palate notes combining for a complex and enjoyable red wine.

The nose offers bright aromatics, exhibiting earthy notes, tobacco and black currants. A robust style shows upfront with blackberry and cassis framed by cast iron minerality. It is delicious.

This delightful grenache features a palate full of cranberry, plum, and salty meat flavors. On the nose, this wine features notes of cherry, incense, hibiscus, and earth. It was fermented by carbonic maceration for eleven days in bins and then pressed to a stainless steel tank while alcoholic fermentation was completed. Secondary fermentation was completed in neutral French oak barrels for four months. It earned 91 points and was an editor’s choice at Wine Enthusiast magazine.

Medium garnet in color, this blend of sangiovese, grenache, syrah, and mourvèdre features flavors of bright acidity, soft, medium tannin structure. On the nose, it features aromas of earthy red fruit compote with green peppercorn and slightly muddled fruits, dried clove and cinnamon. It’s a great value.

This 100% nebbiolo features an aroma of strawberry hibiscus tea, red mango, spiced black licorice, violets, prunes, and herbs. On the palate, it features a light-medium body framed with tight-bound tannins.

This vintage begins with a deep ruby color and dense, dark fruit aromas with notes of vanilla, espresso, campfire, and a hint of leather. You’ll find these characteristics on the palate along with flavors of cassis and anise. It’s well-rounded and smooth. This wine finishes with notes of pepper and baking spice that linger on the palate.

This blend of cabernet sauvignon, syrah, and petite sirah was barrel-aged in French oak. It is totally dry with great fruit and supple tannins. It earned a gold medal from the Orange County Wine Society.

This wine offers a smoky spice scent mixed with the brightness of boysenberries and vanilla. The taste is elegant, with big flavors upfront and a beautiful balance of floral, fruit, and spice start to finish. Serve with rib eye béarnaise sauce and chicken parmesan.

This is a decadent and complex cabernet sauvignon from McPrice Myers. It offers aromas and flavors of bing cherry, black currant, red licorice, blond roast coffee, cloves, sassafras, and grilled herbs. It was aged for 10 months in stainless steel tanks. It’s a tremendous value!

This blend of counoise, grenache, vaccaresé, and mourvedre features aromas of boysenberry, cherry, green peppercorn, and dark chocolate. Red fruit pops off the tongue, with balanced tannin throughout, and textural salinity on the palate.

This light red has a beautiful ruby color and delicate aromas of ripe red fruit, earth, and minerality. This wine was aged for 30 months in neutral French oak and new French oak. It will pair wonderfully with white sauce pasta and charcuterie.

This 100% malbec is medium ruby in color. It offers scents of cocoa, red cherry, light smoke, herbs, and earthiness. It features flavors of vanilla wafer, cherry, earth, and cocoa. It’s a perfect wine for a summer evening.

Pale garnet in color, this 100% cabernet franc features red berry, currant, dried fruit, light floral, herbs, and crushed rock on the nose. On the palate, this wine showcases flavors of raspberry, light vanilla, and earth. It was one of our favorites.

This blend of grenache, syrah, and mouvèdre features aromas of red fruits with hints of rose petal, sandalwood, and savory game. A broad, supple palate displays jammy bramble fruits, blueberry, black tea, and vanilla. underlying acidity drives deep into a fresh sophisticated finish.

Deep aromas of blueberry, cherry, and leather reveal notes of sweet baking spices. The mouthfeel is plush and expansive with seamless flavors of ripe plum, black cherry, mulberry and vanilla. A velvety smooth finish lingers with a kiss of subtle peppery spices. It’s a Paso Robles classic among zins.

This blend of grenache, syrah, and mourvèdre is medium ruby in color. It features ripe strawberries, bing cherries, espresso, rhubarb, and tobacco on the nose. Then on the palate, tar and black olives give way to currants, cranberries, star anise, cinnamon, and orange peels. It’s a fantastic Rhone-style red.

This wine opens with luscious scents of raspberry creme, sweet tobacco, and forest floor. It has a rich, rounded mouthfeel and is saturated with baked plum, macerated strawberry, and fresh leather. It was aged for 15 months in French oak barrels.

This bold red wine offers aromas of wild berries, huckleberry, and savory jam, with hints of earthy cedar and black licorice. The mouthfeel is commanding, with complex flavors of black cherry, cassis, pomegranate, leather, pipe tobacco, and graphite.

This wine is a delightful sample of dry-farmed zinfandel grapes from long-time local winemaker Dave King. He loves zinfandel and it shows. It’s a big, spicy wine with dark berry, plum, and cherry flavors, but not overly sweet. Drink it all by itself or pair it with grilled meats at your summer barbecues.

A robust mouthful of dry-farmed zinfandel and barbera grapes. The zin provides spicy cherry and berry aromas and flavors, while the barbera adds a backbone of racy acidity. It’s a well-balanced, structured wine that is versatile with food dishes.

The winemaker took a little barbera and made a dessert wine in a port style. The result is a superb and sticky dessert wine. It tastes like dark berries, dark chocolate, and spices. It is 19 percent alcohol and comes in a 375ml bottle.