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Torrin may be an ultra-small boutique winery, but it is also an integral piece in a story that has had a massive impact on the shape of the modern wine industry in Paso Robles.
Founded by winemaker Scott Hawley and his wife Viquel, Torrin was created to serve as Scott's personal outlet for completely unbridled expression of what Paso is capable of. Scott's passion for the region first exploded after he and his then girlfriend Viquel arrived in 2000. Scott was originally brought to Paso Robles to serve as the local winemaker for a branch of a very large California winery. He was quickly able to leverage his experience from working up north in Mendocino as well as his education in enology to not only successfully produce wine on a large scale for his employer, but also to consult for many new and inexperienced wineries that had freshly sprouted up in Paso Robles. Scott's helpfulness and expertise quickly made him the go-to point of contact for nearly all of his winemaking neighbors, and he would continue on to consult and make wine for many of the region's greatest new producers that were founded since his arrival. Wineries like Law Estate, Alta Colina, Caliza, plus many more called on Scott to help them get started, and with his guidance each of these quickly emerged as some of the marquee operations in all of Paso Robles.
Torrin's first vintage came in 2006 with a microscopic production of under 300 cases. While it has always been a passion project for the Hawleys Torrin remained limited in scope for many years as Scott was primarily focused on his consulting work. Despite distractions the Torrin label grew slowly but steadily, yet it was not until 2018 that Scott was able to finally hand over most of his winemaking duties elsewhere and open a dedicated winery and production facility for Torrin to occupy. This brand new modern facility sits on a 30 acre parcel located in Paso Robles' Templeton Gap sub-appellation and is sufficient to support Torrin's annual production of just over 2000 cases. Although the history of Torrin and Scott Hawley in Paso Robles is quite extensive a new chapter in their tale is just beginning, and we recently decided to pay them a visit to see how their latest adventure is shaping up.
We arrived for our visit at the new Torrin winery facility and were immediately impressed by the grounds. Upon entry the tasting room is bright and spacious boasting a beautifully contemporary bar along with multiple table areas to conduct seated tastings. We were helped by David, their tasting room manager, who talked us through some of Torrin's history as we worked through their lineup of wines.
Our tasting began with a few wines from Lagom - a sister label to Torrin. The Lagom wines are unique in that they are crafted using fruit sourced from coastal cool climate regions throughout California's central coast, and they provide a wonderful contrast to the full bodied wines from Paso Robles bottled under Torrin's main label. We worked our way through Chardonnay and Pinot Noir brought in from vineyards throughout Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties and were enchanted by what we tasted. While still quite powerful and expressive in typical Torrin style the Lagom wines exhibited wonderful cool climate finesse along with tremendous freshness and structure. Perhaps the standout of the lot was the Duvarita Vineyard Pinot Noir, which showcased exceptional ethereal expansiveness and remarkable balance.
After enjoying the Lagom wines we moved on to Torrin with anxious anticipation, and of course the wines did not disappoint. The reds of Torrin showed massive density and extraordinary power - albeit without abandoning the pursuit of nuance and subtly. These are monolithic, inky purple, teeth-staining behemoths that walk with heavy steps and make their presence felt. We found Torrin to be the perfect realization of a distinct Paso Robles archetype - one that has proven to be as popular as it is controversial. The full-throttle, maximum extraction, "crank it to 11" approach (that has wowed some critics and been spurned by others) was on display here in a way that we were not expecting. These wines are colossal and quite imposing but somehow they remain perfectly and completely in balance. Their immense size and weight proved not to be a detriment and rather allowed for a deeper, richer, and more intense expression of fruit and terroir that won us over through sheer thrill. These wines are big - sure - but they're extremely fun and impossible to ignore. It was difficult for us to pick a single standout as each wine was intriguing in its own distinct way.
With surprise and delight we finished our tasting and thanked David for his hospitality in guiding us through an interesting and exciting line up of wines. Although admittedly our personal preference typically leads us towards lean, fresh, acid-driven styles, the offerings of Torrin managed to win our hearts nonetheless. These are big, bold, and impressive bottlings that certainly deserve a place in anyone's cellar. We look forward to continuing to follow Torrin to capture the excitement as their latest chapter unfolds.