Daou Vineyards

Setting — Beautiful, gorgeous, well maintained views and grounds
Cust Service — Pretentious
Wines — Very Good
Price — $$$$ expect to drop big bucks for tastings (³⁵⁄₄₅) and the wines!
What the Daou brothers have done is inspirational to go after a dream they’ve always wanted, wish they had given some attention to the customer experience aspect.

This place is just beautiful. The views alone are worth the visit — you feel like you are in the hills of Italy with the lavender all around and roses after each vine row. Its magical.
I will say this is the most expensive tasting around Paso that I have seen. Ranging from $ 30-​$ 45 per person. They do waive the fee with purchase of two bottles or four, but the bottles don’t come cheap. Its a little silly just for a small tasting.
The wine is phenomenal and they have a great selection its just a little over priced in my honest opinion.
If you do come here I would recommend doing a tasting out on the patio with some snacks and really enjoy your time. Oh and get the Rose if they have any left — UNREAL DELICIOUS!!!
Also, if you can request Tara! She is soo knowledgable of the wines and the vineyard, she really loves what she does. She was awesome!

DAOU is the highest elevation winery in the county so it’s no surprise the view is phenomenal. The grounds and tasting room are beautiful and the wines are delicious, though pricey. My favorites are the Soul of a Lion, Seventeen Forty and Unbound). The food is excellent too, and almost every time we go we end up ordering an amazing platter with 4 – 6 decadent cheeses, green olives, berries, and honey. Mmmmm! Sitting outside on the lawn, taking in the gorgeous view, and sipping killer wine is a great way to spend an afternoon in Paso. :) The service is – for the most part — wonderful too. Tara, Jenny and Raquel are delightful and always keen to make our experience as pleasant can be. I also have to mention that Jenny’s hair is FABULOUS! STUNNING! SUPERB! Truly a glorious sight to behold. Yasssss Kween!

Napa pretense comes to Paso Robles.
The prices to taste are $ 25 for their low end, $ 30 for Mid tier and $ 40 or $ 45 for reserve.
Let that sink in. 5 tastings at 1.25 oz pour is just over one glass. That works out to a bottle of wine for between $ 125 and $ 225! Their wine is nowhere near that. It is a fine $ 30 — $ 50 bottle, only those aren’t the prices. The prices with tasting starts at $ 80 a bottle, two bottles to waive the tasting fee but now you are at $ 100 **minimum**.
The simple fact is if you are letting people taste your wine, if it is good, they will buy it! There is no need to charge more than $ 5 for a tasting because if your wine is good, they are buying at least a bottle. Not here! They charge you a huge amount for the tasting because you **won’t** be buying a bottle. Napa is worse, don’t get me wrong: there you are ticket in line for a terrible tasting show, but all of Central Coast is much better.
So why go? Why not one star?
The view. The view is fantastic. They are the highest tasting room and they like to show it off. Their wine pourers are great as well, very friendly. Great service. I left a decent tip. You probably will too.
Avoid the tasting, just buy a glass and enjoy the view.

GORGEOUS! Must for lunch! They serve full courses! I had ceviche w Zin (wasn’t paired exactly right), but my partner lamb meatball w the Mayou, was a good. still rated 5 stars, a MUST go =scenery + lunch.

I tried and bought two bottles of a red blend, Pessimist. So good with a great finish.

I am a red wine lover and DAOU is one of my favorite. As a Club DAOU Member, my husband and I visit them on a beautiful sunny Sunday. We love all their red wine collections. I suggest every red wine lover should definitely try their Cabernet Sauvignon and the Soul of a Lion (the Big Daddy :)). Personally, I like the Estate 100% Cab. The lady who helped us, Jill, is so knowledgeable and helpful. She answered so many of our questions. Thank you, Jill. All thumbs up for your good job. We had a fabulous time. The view is amazing and the food is delicious. Highly recommended.

We went on a beautiful sunny day and grabbed a spot on the edge of the patio overlooking the vineyards. The views were spectacular. The guys working at the tasting room said we could taste out there but it would be a little slow. Unfortunately it turned out to be extremely slow and even though we enjoyed the view and the weather we eventually moved inside to finish. This was one of the most expensive tastings we did and in my opinion the quality of the wine did not reflect the high prices. We enjoyed our extended time there but I don’t think I would go back for the wine.

Extremely disappointed with the exorbitant and outrageous testing fees. They have three prices, $ 25, $ 35, and $ 45. Tasting fees waived if you buy 3 or 6 bottles. There were 8 of us … we walk out in disgust. I have been there before, wines are good, but they don’t commend that type of pricing. There are many great wineries in that area and certainly worth a visit.

What to like…
The amazing view
The quality wine
Their delicious Charcuterie plate
Bocce ball!
Make a reservation to taste their reserve wines for $ 30/​pp. Specifically ask for the spot on the patio in front of the fireplace.
What’s not so great…
Its not inexpensive
It kind of feels like Napa, not Paso (we like the smaller winery feel while in Paso)
The issues above are more personal preference and not a big deal.
Daou is worth a stop while in Paso.

Simply, BREATH TAKING. 100% my favorite of all of Paso! Not to mention their wine is beyond delicious! It’s on the pricier side but SO WORTH IT, you wont be disappointed.

Daou vineyards should at least take guests to dinner before screwing them over…
The wine here is extremely overpriced. They all tasted very basic and extremely thin. With such an immaculate facility one expects above average product. Hell, for that matter, one would expect to be allowed to park by the entrance rather than waiting at the bottom of a hill on a slow moving shuttle.
I guess it should be no surprise that along with the overpriced wine that the service here was substandard. My wife and I are new into the viticultural world, but there’s no reason to speak down on a customer. I looked down both sides of the tasting bar and this seemed to be the norm for most.
From my experience, I assume the Daou family smell roses in their sh**. If you want to sell low quality wine at least have your price point reflect that.
The view here is excellent, and for that they get 2 stars.

We had a 2 for 1 tasting coupon for the reserve wines so we gave this place a try. The place is amazing. View, grounds, and décor are all worth seeing. The bondage sculpture or whatever it is behind the tasting bar seems super out of place. I might have missed the connection to something at the winery, but it was just odd.
We had friendly, engaging service from Mary. She explained each serving as we made our way down the list. She represented a service above and beyond what was expected. 5 stars for Mary!
The tasting prices are curious for the area. High in my opinion, but some of the reserves were pretty tasty. Just keep in mind the high-​end atmosphere and cost of the tastings and wine, and weigh that with what you are looking for before you decide to give it a try.

Wonderful wine and beautiful winery and grounds. Reservations only, and well worth it. Food is outstanding too. Today’s chef’s special was an outstanding jumbo scallop dish.

As everyone posts, amazing views. But the wine? Not so much… we’ve tasted many amazing products on many trips and I would NOT join this club or purchase any. Plus their tasting fees are OUTRAGEOUS!
We sat on the beautiful outdoor patio and were TORMENTED (and I don’t mean this lightly) by scores of flies. Apparently they had just laid some sod and watered a lot so they were prolific. It was irritating as hell.
And the staff? Surly & obviously from Stepford, lacking the pre-​installed «smile function.» Couldn’t pour and leave the table any faster; maybe she didn’t like the hovering flies, either!
Someone clearly does NOT have their eye on the proverbial ball here… either that or they only care about large functions that will bring in the bucks. Judging by the lack of replies to Unilocalsters and the above issues. So Mr. & Mrs. Common Man? Go elsewhere or just walk around for the view.

Daou is a pretty cool place. You can’t beat the scenery and vistas from their gorgeously manicured garden/​patio. The wine is good, my favorite was the 2012 AUX Reserve, super smooth!
The only negative (and it’s a biggie) was the less than stellar customer service from the manager, Angela. My friends and I, a bachelorette crew of almost a dozen, were greeted with a bad attitude and disturbingly stingy pours. They’ve recently changed their rules and you can no longer bring food in and picnic on their patio. Okay– bummer but whatevs. Two in our group became members that day, we had 8 tastings and left with at least 4 bottles but Angela didn’t make us feel welcome or appreciated as paying guests. She had a sour puss on the whole time and gave us a 15 minute lecture on the dangers of drinking and driving. Excuse me B — but I’m a grown ass woman. We came there to enjoy each other, the wine and the views, not listen to a dissertation. (Btw, we had 2 DD’s on deck)
Bottom line — I probably won’t go back. There are so many other beautiful vineyards in the area and I’ll go somewhere I feel welcomed. Owners of Daou take heed — Angela will continue to lose business for you unless she can turn her frown upside down and improve her abysmal customer service skills.

Top 3 most stunning, unforgettable, beautiful winerie I have ever visited. Simply the stuff of fairy tales…
Didn’t taste here. Took a wrong turn and ended up on the lovely driveway that winds up to this behemothal and gorgeous French-​Lebanese owned winery.
Stunning!!! Very excellent design and décor… Breathtaking. Def one of the top 5 most stunning wineries I’ve seen, to date.
Note the stunning white marble bathroom sink and counter, as well as the iron doors in the stall.
360 views of visual pleasantry-​with great chairs and settees about.

This was our first stop on our Paso wine tasting day & the views alone are worth the stop. My husband & I were told by the tasting rooms attendants that Daou is the highest elevation winery in Paso. We walked their lovely grounds before starting the tasting & they are pretty exquisite beyond the view. I loved the Spanish, almost mission style winery amidst rolling vineyards. I can’t decide which was more lovely, the interior or exterior. The tasting room attendant was friendly & a Paso native so she knew a lot about the area. This was a plus in my book.
For me, the wine was good but not the standout of the winery. I was fine paying $ 20 for 5 tastings as I know that Paso has grown significantly over the years. This surge in wineries means the area has upped the ante with wine prices. No biggie. Unfortunately, I wasn’t overly impressed with many of their wines. Perhaps because the wines were too young or that they just didn’t suit my palate. I did, however, go home with a bottle their Grenache Blanc which was a mellow fruit forward white. I also decided to buy the Celetus blend because of the ability to age the wine. The smoky characteristics was also an appealing factor.
My final thoughts are that I would give this winery another go.

Stopped here last on our first day in Paso and just made the tasting hours (close pretty strictly at 5). Overall my impression of Daou is a very corporate, big enterprise in the wine world. After doing tastings at smaller, more intimate wineries all day, Daou felt a bit imposing and overdone.
Driving up the long road to the hilltop building, the views are inescapably gorgeous, and we timed our visit perfectly to see the sunset (it did get a bit chilly, bring a sweater for the «winter» months). We parked and marveled for a minute, then made our way into the large, open tasting room and took a place at the glowing marble bar (…I thought it was weird, boyfriend thought it was «way cool!»). We decided to split a tasting for two reasons: first, this was tasting #5 of the day, and we both were a little wined out, but second the $ 20 pricetag was a bit of a deterrent for more than one.
We did the first two wines at the bar, then took to the outside area where quite a few larger parties had set up camp at tables. The bacce court was available so we played a few games (definitely nice to have an activity to do!) in between tastings. The service was ‘eh’ and all of the descriptions of the wines we heard were pretty much verbatim what was listed on the tasting card.
Really I’d suggest coming for the views, share a taste, and then move on to the smaller, (in my opinion) more fun wineries that surround the area.

If you are coming to Paso Robles for wine tasting or on your way out after the Justin winery, you cannot miss this elegant winery, Daou. There is no doubt on Daou! It was absolutely a great experience I had on my past weekend tasting.
I am not a wine expert. But I really enjoy their food, their wine, and the atmosphere provided there. You get to see the winery from the tip of the hill while tasting one of their mostly high quality free run wine. Once you entered the tasting room, you will be greeted by the welcoming staff behind these classy lumilated quartz counters. Even with their complimentary delicious bread sticks. You have to order their tapas and cheese plates.
I came in a group of 4 and ordered the ceviche, the bacon wrapped figs, capricse salad and cheese plate. I would highly recommend the ceviche in the hot weather, it’s heavenly good with your chilled white pairing… yum. And love their cheese plate, the olive is not grease or too salty like a lot of the restaurant and use the actual honeycomb. This is a great place for not just tasting wine but also to take a moment to soak in the wine county, feel the breeze, breath the earthy branches, and then taste your wine in the outdoor seating. Highly recommend pairing with lunch!
Tips: $ 20 tasting fee waived if you purchase a bottle of wine. And most wine are not avaliable from retailers. Get your money worth!