Paso Robles, CA – Father and son team Paul and Brian Lopez have launched LOPAI Cellars, an estate-driven wine project located in the Willow Creek district of Paso Robles, California. The Lopez family has roots in San Luis Obispo County of the Central Coast dating back to the late 1800’s. Paul (P-Lo) was a popular grocer in Paso Robles for 35 years before entering the wine business. With 14 vintages under his belt and stints at Villa Creek and Alta Colina, he’s currently the Cellar Master at Denner Vineyards. Brian pursued a career in software engineering and technology before becoming the estate’s full time vineyard manager.
The LOPAI estate is located 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean, benefiting from the Pacific’s steady coastal breezes. Temperatures at the estate are on average 10 to 25 degrees cooler than in downtown Paso Robles. A robust, natural acid signature informs the LOPAI portfolio of wines, highlighting a flavor and structural profile suitable to the accompaniment of meals, as well as cellaring.
Brian Lopez purchased the land upon which the LOPAI estate sits in 2019, and their inaugural release was in 2023. While LOPAI Cellars was born a mere five years ago, the vision for the estate began in 2012 when the father and son duo travelled together to Spain and France. During the fateful trip, they visited Michel Gassier at Chateau de Nages, in Costières de Nîmes in the Rhone Valley. Gassier, Brian says, “dug through the dirt to expose some roots of one of the vines. He described the whole winemaking process from start (in the vineyard) to finish (in the winery). Using the analogy of an audio mixing board, he admitted that Mother Nature has control of 90% of the frequencies…the whole middle of the board. Then grape farmers and winemakers try to play with the ‘really low lows and the really high highs.’ He practically had tears in his eyes from the joy he exuded while describing it all. It was infectious,” he says. That trip informed their vision for LOPAI Cellars.
The Lopez’s, or LOPAI, as they are commonly referred to by family members, are committed to the community of Paso Robles, where their family has a longstanding lineage. Paul’s great-great grandfather, Tomas Lopez, was born in 1816 in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico. He moved his family to San Luis Obispo in 1870, purchasing the Lopez Rancho – 80 acres on top of the east side of the Cuesta grade. In 1882 he purchased an additional 80 acres next door. “When I was a pretty young kid, we used to hike up there and walk around the property,” Brian says.
Brian leverages his background in technology to minimize water usage at the estate while transforming the site into a self-sustaining organic ecosystem capable of operating off-grid indefinitely while preserving soil health for future crops. Having invested heavily in installing renewable energy and storage, the LOPAI estate is gradually transitioning from gas, diesel and propane-powered machinery to electric sources. This shift is crucial to the LOPAI brand ethos, allowing for wine grapes that have never been coated by diesel and gas exhaust, while removing a reliance on external systems.
“The LOPAI vineyard is one of the best-kept secrets on the West Side of Paso Robles,” says winemaker Anthony Yount (Denner, RIISE, Kinero, SixMileBridge, Royal Nonesuch Farms). “I’ve peeked across the fence at it for the last 18-years and am so happy to see it in the right care with Brian and Paul. The vineyard produces wine of incredible intensity and concentration. Paul captures this in the LOPAI wines with an impressively elegant touch. Brian’s cerebral approach and Paul’s intuition are exemplified in these wines – they are intentional, focused, and pure.”
The lineup of LOPAI wines includes an estate Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated blend that includes a small percentage of Petite Sirah and Petite Verdot. They also produce a proprietary blend called Heliotrope, made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Mourvèdre and Cabernet Franc, designated from the Denner Vineyard. A Semillon from Santa Barbara County’s Happy Canyon appellation and two vineyard designated Syrahs from Paso Robles complete the portfolio.
To learn more about LOPAI, please visit https://www.lopaicellars.com/.
