PASO ROBLES, California (AP) – The February issue of a respected wine industry trade publication gives only one of the world's wines both a rarefied 98 score and the top spot in the "highly recommended" section.

Near perfection came from Saxum, a well-regarded but obscure winery in Paso Robles, a one-time California cow town that is becoming a superior wine-producing region known by few nonaficionados outside the state.

Located on California's Central Coast, the Paso Robles viticultural area's consistent quality and relatively moderate land prices have combined for phenomenal growth.

In fewer than 20 years, the number of wineries has grown from 30 to 250 and counting, plus at least 600 hopefuls making boutique bottles at custom crush co-ops to hawk at restaurants and local wine bars.

Esteemed reviewer Robert Parker has said the region of rolling, oak-studded hills holds California's greatest potential. Winemakers swear by a climate and limestone-infused soils that mimic the southern Rhone region of France.

Most are family operations that make fewer than 5,000 cases a year, which make them impossible for distributors seeking consistent availability to market nationally. Saxum bottles fewer than 3,000 cases and its wine club has a wait list. (The winery's 2007 James Berryhill that earned Wine Spectator's 98 – and 100 from Parker in October – sells for $67, compared with $375 for a French 98 in the same issue.)

"The reason people don't know Paso is because they don't see it in the marketplace. Maybe 20 are distributed now; it would help the region to have more," said Deborah Baldwin, co-owner of Justin Wine Co., founded in 1981 when there were seven wineries in the region.

Hugging the coast midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, the 666,618 acres of the Paso Robles Viticulture Area is California's largest, three times the size of Napa Valley. It comprises just more than half the Central Coast wine region that stretches 250 miles from San Francisco to Santa Barbara.

Grapes have grown there since the Mission padres settled in the late 1700s. In the 1980s, the flat and sprawling east side became home to large commercial wineries such as Eberle and Meridian and later Gallo, Robert Mondavi and Kendall-Jackson farming 25,000 acres. But the cooler west side, on which 5,000 acres are planted across hilly terrain, is where winemakers are scoring with critics.

With a production of 70,000 cases, Justin has tallied international accolades and become the region's vaunted behemoth and image maker: its 1994 Isosceles, the iconic blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot, was named "Best Blended Wine in the World" at the London International Wine & Spirit Competition. Wine Spectator named its 1997 Isosceles number six in the world.

There is a wait for Isosceles reserve, but prices range from just more than $60 for Isosceles to $18.50 for the winery's screw top "Orphan" blend of leftover juices from the hand-harvested single vintages.

Justin draws 40,000 visitors a year, many of whom meander the wine trails to discover a new favourite or obscure winemaker. Or, not obscure: Miss America 1957 Marian McKnight owns Carmody McKnight with her husband. Former American football player Terry Hoage produces 2,100 cases of Rhone-inspired wines nearby.