2015 Veracity

Denver, Colorado-based oil and gas executive and wildcatter Bill Armstrong founded Epoch in 2004, which now must be counted among Paso Robles’ and, indeed, California’s elite wineries. Under the watch of winemaker Jordan Fiorentini, the wines here blend ripeness and energy like few others in the region. They also age with unlikely grace given their richness and sheer heft. For years, the Epoch wines were made in Denner’s winery, but in 2014 Armstrong moved operations when he purchased the York Mountain Winery, including the original, now fully restored winery structure, which was built in 1882. Fiorentini likes to experiment in the cellar and now makes use of a range of barrels and tanks of varying size that are made from stainless steel, concrete and oak, for fermentations as well as aging. She told me that she’s especially interested in the textures of her wines, noting that “it’s important to make sure that ripe wines don’t come off heavy or, especially, dull,” which can easily happen under the growing conditions of Paso Robles. Farming plays a big part as well, and a tour of the estate’s 67-acre Paderewski and 30-acre Catapult vineyards quickly reveals the maniacal attention to detail that’s maintained here.

Denver, Colorado-based oil and gas executive and wildcatter Bill Armstrong founded Epoch in 2004, which now must be counted among Paso Robles’ and, indeed, California’s elite wineries. Under the watch of winemaker Jordan Fiorentini, the wines here blend ripeness and energy like few others in the region. They also age with unlikely grace given their richness and sheer heft. For years, the Epoch wines were made in Denner’s winery, but in 2014 Armstrong moved operations when he purchased the York Mountain Winery, including the original, now fully restored winery structure, which was built in 1882. Fiorentini likes to experiment in the cellar and now makes use of a range of barrels and tanks of varying size that are made from stainless steel, concrete and oak, for fermentations as well as aging. She told me that she’s especially interested in the textures of her wines, noting that “it’s important to make sure that ripe wines don’t come off heavy or, especially, dull,” which can easily happen under the growing conditions of Paso Robles. Farming plays a big part as well, and a tour of the estate’s 67-acre Paderewski and 30-acre Catapult vineyards quickly reveals the maniacal attention to detail that’s maintained here.