Justin Vineyards & Winery

Justin Winery is family owned and operated making estate grown and produced wines in the Central Coast region of Paso Robles. Back in 1981 Justin and Deborah Baldwin purchased 160 acres less than 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean of which 72 acres are planted with rich Burgundian-style Chardonnay and full-bodied Bordeaux grape varietals including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

Justin's signature label, Isosceles, is a Bordeaux-style blend that demonstrates the potential greatness of the Paso Robles appellation. Its full fruit flavor and refined complexity make it a wine of great distinction, and the 1.997 vintage was recently ranked sixth in the Wine Spectator's Top Ten Most Exciting Wines of 2000.

Syrah is the latest exciting grape varietal in the JUSTIN portfolio, which to date has received much notoriety and acclaim. The 1998 vintage was their first release and will continue to be a big part of the JUSTIN product line. The Central Coast of California is becoming known more and more as the "Rhone Valley" of California due to its great growing climate and rocky soils. The Baldwins' desire is to make world-class wines that reflect the unique soils and climate of their Central Coast property. Emphasis is placed on Bordeaux-style blends, combining Old World tradition and New World techniques.

In addition, other small plantings of Sangiovese, Nebbiolo and Orange Muscat add to the vineyard plot. A shale and limestone base produced from ancient seabeds underlie the entire vineyard. Top soils range from red clay/volcanic pumice to sandy loam and rocky limestone.
The grape varietals were selected specifically by the Baldwins to produce their flagship wine, ISOSCELES,a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Their coastal range vineyards are enhanced by 100 year old oaks and rolling hills which create a pastoral setting in which to live and work.

A former investment and international banker, Justin Baldwin purchased vineyard property west of Paso Robles on California's Central Coast in 1981 and planted it out in 1982. Continuing their day jobs in Southern California, he and his wife, Debby, committed weekends, holidays and vacations over the next 10 years planting, growing and eventually making wine. With the first release of their wines in 1990, they soon made plans to move full-time to their property where they and their two children, Evan and Morgane reside today. Justin is a pioneer in producing Bordeaux style blends on the Central Coast and his efforts have been rewarded with such awards as the coveted Pichon Lalande trophy for "World's Best Blended Red Wine", the James Beard Foundations "Great American Winemaker Award", and Robert M. Parker Jr.'s "Wine Heroes of the Year."

A former Mortgage Banker, Deborah Baldwin founded JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery with her husband Justin in 1981 when they purchased 160 acres of land in the beautiful Adelaide Hills, 15 miles west of Paso Robles, California.Deborah's past business experience in sales and marketing has been a natural to the never ending needs to promote the JUSTIN brand to their various levels of distribution.

Luckily the job promoting their winery has not been so difficult, due to the various honors JUSTIN Winery has enjoyed over the last 10 years since its inception. She has also been recognized by her peers and was elected in June of 2000 to Director of the Wine Institute representing the Central Coast District.

In addition to handling the marketing for JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery, Deborah also is the General Manager for their well known and highly acclaimed Country Inn called the JUST Inn. Deborah is also the creative genius behind the only Winery Restaurant on the Central Coast, aptly called "Deborah's Room", where their Executive Chef, Charlie Paladin/Wayne produces world class cuisine for their guests and to the public seven days a week.

Deborah's marketing experience, past and present, adds perspective to create alternative ways to further promote JUSTIN Winery and the Paso Robles Wine Community, as a whole, as she travels around the country on various marketing trips.

Deborah lives a very full and enriched life on the vineyard with her husband Justin, their two children Evan and Morgane, their two dogs Zamboni and Sunny, and their two horses, Syrah and Digger.

Fred Has been a successful winemaker for more than 20 years. His career began on the Central Coast shortly after receiving his Enology degree from Fresno State University. He worked in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties for small boutique wineries. He then moved to the North Coast where he collaborated in producing the award winning Artisan Series for the Jess Jackson Family of Wines. He worked with the brand winemakers of Lokoya, Cardinale, Verite, Stonestreet, Hartford Court, La Crema and others. He returned to the Central Coast in 1999 as Winemaker at Cambria Winery. Parker rated 5 of his wines 90-93 during his time there. "The Central Coast has long been a breeding ground for excellence in winemaking. We were pleased that we did not have to go outside to attract such a highly talented and experienced individual," said Deborah Baldwin.

Rich was appointed as Director of Sales and Marketing of JUSTIN on June 1, 1999.
Rich is a California native who for the past 13 years has performed various sales responsibilities for the Robert Mondavi Winery. During the last seven years of his career he was Western Regional sales Manager for Opus One winery.