Paul Lato
Paul Lato is a Polish-born professionally trained and educated sommelier.
After 10 years as a sommelier in Toronto he decided to follow his dream to make wine and arrived in Californias Central Coast.
He was mentored by Jim Clendenen at Au Bon Climat and Bob Lindquist at Qupe during those two harvests, and they became his inspiration.
His “distant” mentors have been the late Henri Jayer for Burgundy and the Chave family for the Rhone varietals. Although he never met either of his “distant” mentors, he seriously studied their winemaking and personalities, and drank as many of their wines as possible. It is primarily his tasting experience with their wines that spurred him to use them as role models.
One constant among all of the mentors has been his realization that “true artisanal winemaking is based on intuition, sensitivity and passion.”
He has grown slowly, crafting under 500 total cases of Pinot Noir and Syrah, but gaining a reputation, and consequently having more and more access to fine vineyards.
His Pinot Noirs are sourced from Gold Coast Vineyard, Fiddlestix Vineyard, and Solomon Hills Vineyard and his chardonnay´s from Sierra Madre Vineyards.
