Cabernet Sauvignon

Food pairings: Filet mignon and other grilled steaks, burgers and grilled chicken.

Winemaking: The grapes are hand-picked and sorted berry by berry. Fermentation takes place in open- and closed-top stainless steel tanks with twice-daily mixing, and the wine is then aged for 15 months in small American oak barrels (25% new) for depth and complexity. The 2023 vintage was a long, mild season after drought-ending winter rains, giving fully ripe fruit without dehydration.

Vineyards and terroir: JUSTIN Cabernet Sauvignon is grown in Paso Robles on California's Central Coast, where warm, sunny days, cool nights and limestone-rich soils give Cabernet ripe dark fruit balanced by savory herbal notes and firm structure. Grapes from several vineyard blocks are blended together to build a more complete wine.

Family and history: JUSTIN was founded in 1981 by Justin and Deborah Baldwin, who planted Bordeaux varieties in the Adelaida hills west of Paso Robles at a time when few believed the area could make great Cabernet. The winery, now owned by Stewart and Lynda Resnick, has become one of California's best-known Cabernet producers, with winemaker Scott Shirley crafting wines from the Cabernet Sauvignon to the Bordeaux-style ISOSCELES.

In the pictures: The JUSTIN tasting room (photo: Agne27, 2012, CC BY-SA 3.0); the JUSTIN estate vineyards in Paso Robles (photo: a200/a77Wells, 2017, CC BY 2.0); and head-trained Cabernet Sauvignon vines at JUSTIN (photo: Agne27, 2012, CC BY-SA 3.0).