The homestead at the center of PIUS Estates has stood for more than a century, a landmark on Highway 46 West long before anyone planted Cabernet around it. In 2022 two Paso Robles winemakers, Robert Lotierzo and Anthony Versochi, took it over and set out to turn the old property into something polished and serious, twenty acres of hand-farmed organic and biodynamic vines wrapped around a piece of living history in the Templeton Gap.

An old homestead, a new chapter

PIUS Estates came under new ownership in 2022, when local winemakers Robert Lotierzo and Anthony Versochi, each with more than a decade of hands-on experience in Paso Robles, acquired the property and reimagined it from the ground up. The estate is built around its original homestead, a cherished landmark over a hundred years old, the kind of building that anchors a winery to the real history of the land.

Under the new team the focus has been on craft and care: small-lot winemaking, meticulous farming, and a more luxurious, design-forward tasting experience. It is a modern chapter for an old property, two experienced winemakers betting that the combination of a historic site, organic and biodynamic farming, and serious cellar work can produce something that stands out even in a region as crowded with talent as Paso Robles.

PIUS Estates farms twenty acres organically and biodynamically around an original homestead more than a century old.

Biodynamic farming in the Templeton Gap

PIUS sits in the heart of the Templeton Gap District, just minutes from Highway 101 and off the scenic 46 West, in the cool western corridor where ocean air funnels inland through a gap in the coastal range. Warm, sunny afternoons ripen the Bordeaux grapes fully, and then fog and cold nights drop the temperature and lock in the acidity and color that keep the wines balanced.

The thirty-acre estate is farmed with unusual rigor, twenty acres of hand-tended vineyard managed organically and biodynamically, working with the calcareous, chalky soils that give Paso reds their structure. Biodynamic farming, which treats the vineyard as a single living system, is a serious commitment of time and attention, and it reflects the new ownership’s intent to do things the careful way rather than the easy way.

The wines: old-world craft, modern precision

PIUS is rooted in Bordeaux varieties, the Cabernet Sauvignon and blending grapes that thrive on the estate’s calcareous ground. The style aims to bridge two worlds, old-world craftsmanship and restraint with contemporary precision, wines built to show both authenticity and polish rather than chasing pure power.

With organic and biodynamic fruit and experienced hands in the cellar, the wines reflect a meticulous, quality-first philosophy. This is a boutique, estate-focused operation, where the small scale and careful farming are meant to show up directly in the glass. For visitors, it offers a chance to taste structured, ageworthy Bordeaux-style reds in a setting that pairs a historic homestead with a distinctly modern sense of hospitality.

What to pour it with

Bordeaux-style reds and red meat are one of the oldest, surest pairings in wine, and PIUS is built for it. The Cabernet and its blends carry firm tannins, and tannin binds to the protein and fat in a good steak, so a grilled ribeye or a peppercorn-crusted roast turns the wine plush while the meat tastes cleaner and less rich. A classic complementary match, and a reliable one.

For something a little different, try the reds with a herb-crusted rack of lamb or a mushroom-forward dish, where the wine’s savory side and the earthiness of the food meet on common ground. Keep these structured reds away from delicate white fish, where their tannins have nothing to bind to and turn bitter and metallic. When the bottle is serious, keep the food simple, rich, and savory, and let the wine lead.

PIUS Estates: common questions