It seems like everyone who’s “in the know” in the wine biz is talking about Willow Creek District.

It’s a crown jewel of Paso Robles where high-elevation vineyards and cooling Pacific influences yield bold, structured wines lauded by Decanter and Food & Wine.

Many celebrated - and VERY pricey - wineries originate from this AVA. There’s Booker ($60-100+), Niner ($150ish), Clos Solène ($100), and cult powerhouse Saxum ($$$+++).

And you’re getting this for $29?! I promise it will stand up to and surpass many of its counterparts at a price that would make them blush.

Willow Creek District really is special. There’s a reason it contains some of the oldest vineyards in Paso Robles: the early settlers knew a great site when they saw it. Higher elevation rolling hills, limestone-rich soils, and fog gently rolling in from the coast that infiltrates the mountain gaps and tendrils amid the vines… Not only is it picturesque, but it’s KILLER for world-class winegrowing. You get Paso’s power and smooth tannins with freshness and minerality from the limestone-rich soils.

So, what do we do when a Willow Creek red like Allegretto’s 2019 Ayres Family Reserve Cab comes our way? We take that shot every single time.

Speaking of Saxum - dare we say this- Cab feels a bit like scoring a Saxum at a bargain?! After all, Allegretto’s winemaking is led by Don Burns, who spent over 15 years at, you guessed it… Saxum. So, yeah, we’re going there!

Per Wine Spectator Willow Creek, in the coolest corner of Paso’s westside, is known for its chalky, calcareous soil. Saxum’s James Berry Vineyard, the source of Wine Spectator’s 2010 Wine of the Year, epitomizes Willow Creek: Its hilltop terraces are chock-full of fractured shale, rocks, and even fossils (the west side of Paso was once an ocean floor). There’s a reason why Willow Creek has the densest concentration of vineyards and wineries in Paso Robles, and it begins with the soil. The terroir of Willow Creek shows in its wines. The best expressions are richly textured and precisely structured, with mineral or loamy accents and ripe tannins.”*

Allegretto is purely all that too - a true Paso lover’s winery. Their Willow Creek vineyard was planted nearly 30 years ago, long before the Willow Creek District hype took off like a Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170. And with nearly $40 in savings, it’s like scoring that Demon 170 for the price of a Grand Caravan. Fitting, for a Cab that “cruises across the palate,” per a Wine Enthusiast tasting note from last year: “Dried cherry, toasted oak and tobacco leaf aromas make for a familiar nose. A similar array cruises across the palate, where baked red fruit, woodspice, and minty chocolate flavors align.”

This Reserve Cabernet certainly does a 0-to-60 run out of the glass that would make the Challenger SRT engineering team proud. Lifted aromas of bright, wild raspberry and blueberry lead the charge, followed by a wild array of szechuan peppercorn, roasted walnut, and cardamom spice. In the mouth, it’s clear why this AVA is all the rage. Paso’s full-bodied richness is evident, but it’s balanced by incredible juiciness and perky freshness and complexity from the spicyness. There’s enough liveliness here to blow your hair back.

Paso Cab fans will want to put the pedal down on this one. Once word gets out about the Willow Creek heat and the Saxum connection, at this price especially, it will disappear faster than that Challenger SRT blowing past traffic in the Autobahn’s fast lane…

Vroom, vroom!