Paso Robles winery Daou is expanding to Italy with new 173-acre estate: ‘It’s so magical’

The brothers behind award-winning Paso Robles winery Daou Family Estates will soon be making some of their vintages overseas.

Co-proprietors Daniel and George Daou recently purchased a 173-acre property in Italy.

Located in the Val d’Orcia region in southern Tuscany, the property has been on the brothers’ real estate wish list for some time, according to Maeve Pesquera, Daou senior vice president.

“Daniel has been looking for property in Tuscany for seven years,” Pesquera wrote via email in March. “The estate that we purchased was actually the first property he saw and fell in love with, but it was not for sale at that time. The property feels like it was destined to be for our family.”

The estate is in the area where Daniel Daou and his wife, Sara, were married last year.

“It’s so magical here!’’ Daou told The Tribune via text from Tuscany.

“Under the Tuscan sun, we have reconnected to our Mediterranean roots and have fallen in love with the terroir, the people, the food and everything this area provides,” Daou wrote via email. “We hope to share this journey with all the people who have believed in our vision in the wine industry that started and still remains in California.”

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Born in Lebanon, the Daou brothers left that country with their parents after a rocket blasted the family home at the start of the country’s civil war.

Shrapnel caught 8-year-old Daniel Daou near the heart and left him with some facial paralysis. His brother Georges, then 12, was in a coma for two days.

After the boys recovered from their severe wounds, the family relocated to the wine country of southern France.

As adults, Daniel and Georges Daou moved to the United States, where they studied engineering at UC San Diego and later started a lucrative health care technology company.

After the Daous sold their tech business, Daniel Daou spent years turning his winemaking dreams into reality. Then his brother came aboard.

In 2022, France honored Daniel Daou as a Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole, or knight of the Order of Agricultural Merit. “It’s basically a knighthood,” the honoree said last year.

He said Friday that France is considering granting the same award to Georges Daou.

New Tuscan estate to feature farmhouse, vineyard

The Daous’ new Tuscan estate, which as yet to be named, includes a centuries-old farmhouse.

The brothers plan to restore that structure the same way they transformed the historic Hoffman Mountain Ranch property in the Adelaida region west of Paso Robles into their hilltop Daou Mountain estate, which includes an expansive hospitality center and tasting room.

“The farmhouse dates back hundreds of years,” Daniel Daou said. We know the last record is from the early 1800s, but it could be much older.”

Once restored, the historical structure will serve as the brothers’ home base in Italy and a place to host guests.

A winery will be built about five minutes away and will be the location for wine tasting, Daniel Daou said.

Daou said the soil at the Tuscan location has similar composition to that at Daou Mountain.

In Val d’Orcia, “The calcareous clay soils, just as on Daou mountain and in Bordeaux, combined with the climate both demonstrate that this is another fantastic terroir for Cabernet and Bordeaux varietals,” he said.

Parts of the Tuscan property are located at elevations ranging from 1,150 to 1,215 feet above sea level.

“The grapes will provide opportunities for Daniel to make world-class wines” in Italy, Pesquera added.

The Daous will plant 49 acres in Bordeaux varieties on the estate, which currently has no vines.

“We will begin planting in 2024, and the first harvest will be 2026,” Daniel Daou said.

“There is ample rain throughout the year in Val d’Orcia,” Daou said. “Once mature, the vines will be dry-farmed. As with most Tuscan wineries, during the rainy season, the two lakes on the property will fill with water. This water can support the vines as they grow until maturity and water the vineyards if needed. This is the approach of most Tuscan wineries.”

Daniel Daou said the vineyard in Tuscany will be certified organic and use biodynamic principles.

Other Daou properties

In addition to Daou Mountain, which was founded in 2007, Daou Family Estates owns a vineyard in the Peachy Canyon Road area and commercial properties in Paso Robles and Cambria.

“We planted additional acreage last year at our Peachy Canyon Road vineyard,” Daniel Daou said. “We are especially excited about our vineyard water management program which we have been perfecting the past few years.

Daou Ocean, located off Highway 1 in Cambria, has been in the works since 2019.

The plans for the facility have not been finalized yet, but are expected to include a restaurant, tasting room and other amenities.

Part of the delay was due to an inefficient wastewater treatment system at the property, which previously housed Centrally Grown and The Hamlet at Moonstone Gardens.

The sewage problem was been resolved, Daou said, now that the firm has completed its connection to the Cambria Community Services District system.

The Daou brothers bought the former Bank of Italy building in downtown Paso Robles in 2020.

Although specific plans have not been completed, they intend to remodel the historic brick building, which has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1998.

“We recently hired a design agency to help us finalize concepts/design at (the) downtown and Ocean properties,” Daou said. “These projects are next in line behind our focused effort to complete the planting of our new estate vineyard properties.”

Speaking Friday from Italy, George Daou said he and his brother are excited to have “embarked on another odyssey in Tuscany with our loyal members, guests, and fans” that reflects their “immense passion for winemaking.”

“Our sole objective is to make the consumer dream come alive by visiting and creating wines that overdeliver with a sense of place, flavor, and pleasure while complementing our current fine, relevant, and wow-effect wines from our cherished Daou Mountain,” Daou said. “The best is yet to come.”