Kudos to Niels Udsen of Castoro Cellars
 
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Kudos to Niels Udsen of Castoro Cellars

January 26, 2010

It was great to see Niels Udsen of Castoro Cellars recently honored by the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance as their 2009 Paso Robles Wine Industry Person of the Year.

A longtime supporter of Central Coast Vineyard Team and the SIP program – some of Castoro’s vineyards are SIP certified, as well as being certified organic – Niels started as a local cellar rat back in 1981, when no one knew what a Paso Robles was. He and his wife Bimmer launched Castoro (Italian for Niels’ nickname: “Beaver”) in 1983, and over the years, it can certainly be considered one of the labels that helped put Paso Robles on the map as a stellar wine region.

Over the years, the Udsens quietly but steadily practiced responsible stewardship of their vineyards, and have clearly emerged as successful role models for sustainability and community leadership. To name just a few of their efforts: their employees are encouraged to recycle, there is no bottled water sold at the tasting room, the events room at the Templeton tasting room is largely powered by solar panels, and Castoro was one of the first wineries in the area to offer employee benefits.

Under the direction of Niels, Winemaker/Enologist Tom Myers, and Assistant Winemaker Mikel Olsten, Castoro Cellars has grown into a 60,000 case label (plus a thriving custom crush facility and mobile bottling service). Typically, there are about 15 varietals bottled, from the flagship Zinfandels to the more obscure varietals such as Cabernet Franc. Several blends and vineyard-designate wines are always on hand as well, but – despite the breadth of available wines – we’ve never found Castoro to be about quantity. All the wines are classic varietal interpretations, some with forward fruit if the grape and vintage suggest it, but the rest show veteran finesse and restraint in the winemaking process, making them wonderful wines to pair with food.