“I started out wanting to be a chef,” said Paul Lato. “I had the chance to leave Poland to go to Toronto, and I went. I worked there as a waiter for three years, then I went on a sommelier course and worked as a somm for four years.”

“I got to the point where I wanted to make my own wine,” continued Paul. “My last night in hospitality, Becky Wasserman came to my restaurant in Toronto. She was hosting a tour of Canada with 12 female winemakers. At one point, she snuck out and asked me for an ashtray. As Becky sat there smoking, she listened to me talk about wanting to make wine and then told me I should go to California. So, in 2002, I moved to California. I’d already done a harvest with Jim Clendenen at Au Bon Climat back in 1996. Jim had become a mentor by then. Jim said, ‘If you come to work for me again, you would just be making my wine again. You should do something else.’ Anyway, I needed more experience, so I got a job as a cellar rat working for Bob Miller (owner of Miller Family Wine Co. and Bien Nacido Vineyard). He gave me a job and helped me get a work visa. He let me stay at the little house in Bien Nacido vineyard. It was a humble house, but I was so jaded from big city living that being there was wonderful, listening to the howling coyotes and looking at the stars at night. I got friendly with local winemakers, asked them questions—this was my biggest joy of training.” 

You could say that Paul Lato is a self-taught winemaker, having never studied enology at a formal institution. But that would not do justice to the training he received working with some of California Central Coast’s best. 

As for the inspirations behind Paul’s wines, he said, “Jim Clendenen often spoke about making wines of pure pleasure, and this was his approach, which he borrowed from Henri Jayer, who was one of Jim’s greatest influences. Through Jim, I got to taste some of Jayer’s wines, and they spoke to me very clearly. I like this idea Jayer was preaching about doing your best in the vineyard and making flavorful wines. Bob Parker said the same, and people took it too far. At Paul Lato, we’re trying to navigate the concept of having flavor without going too far. We have to have balance, but I want balance AND flavor.” 

Like many who have caught the Burgundy varieties bug, Lato’s Chardonnay and Pinot portfolio seems expansive. And yet, fortunately, each wine has a distinct signature and purpose. 

“All my wines even have names,” grinned Lato. “With this first wine we’re tasting (a Sauvignon Blanc), it made me think of Luciano Pavarotti singing with Brian Adams—O Sole Mio. There’s so much pleasure and fun in it. You know, I would never be making Sauvignon Blanc if it wasn’t for Didier Dagueneau and tasting his Silex; again, thanks to Jim for introducing me to it. A few years later, I visited Dagueneau’s cellar. It was another inspirational moment.”

Except for the O Sole Mio Sauvignon Blanc and the new Napa Cabs, all the wines I tasted at Paul Lato this year were 2020 vintage. Cut to the chase; I did not pick up any smoke taint in these 2020s, which is likely because the fruit was sourced from areas of Santa Barbara County that was well south of the fires that year. “We lost the Pisoni Vineyard Pinot Noir in 2020,” commented Lato. “It was too close to the fires that year.”

Paul Lato’s Chardonnays are among the best in California.

This speaks as much of his skill with forging this variety as the caliber of fruit from cooler, coastal areas around Santa Barbara County. All Lato’s Pinots are destemmed with a long cold soak. “I like aromatics and color without too much tannin,” said Lato. “We make our Grenaches much like our Pinots. We’re trying to pull back on the tannins and make elegant wines.”

Indeed, Lato’s wines have an alluring seamlessness, whereby the structures—acids and tannins—are almost beside the point. The alcohols on the Chardonnays and Pinots in 2020, a warm vintage that suffered from a significant heatwave over Labor Day weekend, are surprisingly moderate. True to his goal, these wines emphasize bright flavors, which Lato manages and layers like a master chef.