Castoro Cellars

 Niels' long-time nickname "Beaver," evolved further when he was working in Italy and his friends soon took to calling him "Il Castoro," which is beaver in Italian. The name and the motto stuck. Castoro Cellars' "dam fine wines" sport a picture of a beaver on each label.

Alle vine fra  Castoro  Cellars:

Pinot Blanc Bien Nacido 2006
Gewürztraminer
Chardonnay Reserve
Central Coast Selection Chardonnay
Viognier
Tango
Petite Sirah Vista Grande
Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Reserve
Central Coast Selection Cabernet Sauvignon
Cobble Creek Zinfandel
Due Mila Cinque
Pinot Noir Blind Faith
Venti Tre Anni
Whale Rock Zinfandel
Zinfandel Zinfusion
Castoro Cellars Barbera
Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County Reserve 2006
Castoro Cellars Malbec
Petite Sirah Stone'sThrow
Cabernet Franc Reserve 2005
Castoro Cellars Tempranillo Reserve 2006
Castoro Cellars Primitivo 2005
White Zinfandel
Late Harvest Zinfandel Port 375 ml
Muscat Canelli Late Harvest 375ml
White Zinfandel

Castoro Cellars ligger i et af Californiens ældste vin regioner, Paso Robles AVA, der ligger ved kysten midt mellem San Francisco og Los Angeles. Her i dette smukke, solrige vinområde, har der været dyrket druer siden 1797. Castoro Cellars ejes af Niels og Bimmer Udsen, der begge har danske rødder. Niels' kælenavn er "Bæver" og da han opholdt sig i Italien i en periode, blev dette til Il Castoro, som betyder bæver. Castoro Cellars producerer en lang række kvalitetsvine, og sortimentet byder på rød, hvid, rosé og dessert vine.

Paso Robles fik sit navn i 1700-tallet, hvor rejsende passerede Paso Robles på vej til Missionerne i San Miguel og San Luis Obispo. Paso Robles har hverken kystvindene eller havgusen, og af samme årsag har man det, der svarer til 500-1000 ekstra graddage i sammenligning med vinregionerne vest og øst for. Denne helt klare fordel i Paso Robles giver naturligvis stor virkning på druemodningen, og derfor er Paso Robles også mest kendt for deres fyldige og modne rødvine.

The husband and wife team of Niels and Bimmer (Berit) Udsen established Castoro Cellars with the goal of producing world-class wines from Paso Robles-appellation grapes. Each vintage presents a new challenge and Niels is more than willing to constantly and creatively experiment. This on-going research is only one of the things that ensures they meet their goal.

Castoro is now a winemaking team effort. The team includes Niels, his mentor Tom Myers, and Mikel Olsten. Together they discuss and decide how they want to handle each variety.

Niels, born and raised in Ventura, California, got started in the Paso Robles wine business while studying Agribusiness at California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo. After working on a few winery-related projects he became intrigued by the field and went to work at what would become his second "Alma Mater," Estrella River Winery. There he worked in the cellar doing anything and everything that needed to be done during the 1981 harvest. During the next five years at Estrella, Tom Myers taught him the finer points of wine production while Niels learned a few things on his own. His love of production and wines then led him to establish his own winery in the area.

"There's a lot less romance in the every day wine world than appears from the outside," Niels explains. "The winery isn't a showplace, we don't have big stone pillars and art collections, but we have everything we need to make great wine." Establishing their own winery out in San Miguel and being able to produce their wines in one place as opposed to producing different wines in different locations, still ranks as one of Niels' most gratifying experiences.

Knowing that there are always going to be peaks and valleys when dealing with agriculture and the wine industry, Niels utilized his agribusiness degree to build a diverse business in the wine industry. For example, he created a mobile bottling line which he rents to small wineries throughout the state. Another example is a custom-crush operation housed at the Castoro Cellars facility to allow Castoro Cellars access to larger more efficient equipment. "I always wanted to have something going on in every phase of winemaking," Niels explains.

In the span of two dozen years, Niels and Bimmer have gone from making a few barrels of wine for family and friends in a rented corner of someone else's winery to developing a  custom-crush operation and a 60,000-case operation for Castoro Cellars. Most recently, the Udsens purchased two local vineyards, one aptly named “Hog Heaven” after the wild hogs that inhabit the area. The second vineyard, "Blind Faith," got its name when the opportunity to buy the vineyard arose. Niels’ wife Berit, or "Bimmer," was in Denmark at the time. Niels called her and together they acted quickly on “blind faith.

Castoro Cellars currently buys approximately 50 percent of their fruit from a number of local vineyards. "Buying grapes from over 40 different vineyards has given me great flexibility in producing a consistently good product each year," says Niels. However, "with more and more vineyard owners in Paso Robles establishing their own wineries, there’s a lot less fruit to go around." As a result, the Udsen’s have embarked on their own vineyard development program. Hog Heaven and Blind Faith are just the start of more to come.