Cass began with a golf trip. Steve Cass had retired from Charles Schwab and planted a vineyard in the Geneseo District, and in 2002 he and the builder of his barn, Ted Plemons, flew to Stellenbosch in South Africa to celebrate. Somewhere in those South African Syrahs and easy tasting-room afternoons, the two of them decided to go into the wine business together. The converted barn became a tasting room in 2005, and Cass has been one of the warmest stops on the east side ever since.

From Schwab to Stellenbosch

Steve Cass left a career at Charles Schwab to grow grapes, and in 2000 he began planting a 145-acre vineyard on a piece of Geneseo pastureland to a dozen varietals. The man who built his residence and barn, Ted Plemons, became more than a contractor. On a 2002 trip to Stellenbosch, South Africa, the two fell for the local Syrahs and the unhurried hospitality of the tasting rooms there, and over those glasses they agreed to become partners.

They hired winemaker Lood Kotze, who led the cellar through 2014, and in 2005 opened the Cass tasting room in the converted barn. What started as a vineyard became a full destination: estate wines, a wood-fired cafe, and now the Geneseo Inn, a boutique hotel of stand-alone rooms looking over the vines. It is still family owned, and the South African influence, easy, generous, and food-first, never left.

The whole winery was hatched over South African Syrah on a trip meant to celebrate finishing the barn.

The Geneseo District ground

The Cass estate sits in the Geneseo District, southeast of Paso Robles, on 145 acres of sustainably farmed vineyard. The district takes its name from the German settlers who came to Paso from Geneseo, Illinois in the 1880s, and the ground they chose is classic east-side terroir: gravelly Paso Robles Formation soils with decomposed granite, warm days, and cool coastal air that slides in at night.

That combination is made for Rhone grapes. Warm Region III to IV afternoons ripen Grenache and Syrah fully, while the nightly drop in temperature, fed by ocean breezes through the coast range, keeps the acidity bright and the aromatics lifted. Estate farming means everything in the bottle is grown right here, which is why Cass can speak so precisely to its own piece of the district.

The wines

Cass is a Rhone house at heart. The whites lead with Viognier and Roussanne, fragrant and textural, and the reds center on Grenache and Syrah, both estate grown, along with Mourvedre and the blends that gave the Rhone its fame. After the South African trip that started it all, Syrah holds a special place in the cellar.

The style is generous but balanced, fruit-forward in the Paso way yet kept honest by the estate’s cool nights. The Viognier carries peach and honeysuckle without losing its line, the Grenache is bright and red-fruited, and the Syrah brings the dark fruit and pepper that first hooked the founders an ocean away. Everything is built to drink with food, which is no accident given the cafe a few steps from the barrel room.

What to pour it with

Cass makes it easy to eat well, since the wines are poured beside a wood-fired cafe. Start with the Viognier and a wood-fired pizza or a soft cheese: the wine’s weight and stone-fruit perfume match the richness, a congruent pairing, while just enough acidity keeps it fresh. It is also one of the rare whites that can handle mild spice, its faint perception of sweetness cooling the heat.

The Grenache is your roast-chicken and charcuterie red, light enough on tannin to please a table, while the Syrah wants the grill and a crust of black pepper, its savory edge echoing a charred lamb chop in a congruent match and its tannins cutting the fat. For a Rhone blend, think braised lamb or a mushroom ragout, where the wine’s earthy, savory notes meet the dish on shared ground. Keep the reds away from delicate white fish, which leaves the tannins with nothing to soften against.

Cass Winery: common questions