By Elaine Harris and Scott Harris — Cuisineist

In Paso Robles, some family stories are written in Zinfandel. The Dusi family has farmed wine grapes here since the early 1920s, and the head-trained old vines of the Dante Dusi Vineyard, planted in 1925, still anchor everything J Dusi Wines does today. On a recent harvest visit, we watched the fruit come in by the bin — dark, dusty-blue clusters stacked high under the autumn sun — while glasses were poured on the patio beneath the olive trees.

Harvest is the best time to see what this family does. The fruit comes off the vines the way it has for generations, picked and sorted by hand, and the winery hums with it — bins rolling in, presses working, and the sweet, earthy smell of fresh must hanging over the crush pad. Stand there a moment and a hundred harvests do not feel very far away at all.

J Dusi Wines is the label of Janell Dusi, born and raised on the vineyard her grandfather Dante worked, in the old-world Italian style he taught her. For Janell, winemaking is part science, part art, and one hundred percent passion, and she has a hand in every step, from tractor to crush.

The tasting room on Highway 46 West keeps the family’s welcoming spirit. We started with the 2025 Frizzante, one hundred percent Pinot Grigio and lightly sparkling, poured from one of the happiest labels in Paso — a blue leopard among tropical blooms. The 2025 Brezzato Bianco, a blend of Bourboulenc and Clairette Blanche, followed, and the 2025 Rosé kept the afternoon easy.

Then came the reds the family is known for. The 2024 Zinfandel, drawn entirely from the Dante Dusi Vineyard, is the house signature: a century of farming in a single bottle. The 2023 Gazzaroli splits its fruit evenly between the Benito and Dante vineyards, and The Narrator, from Paper Street Vineyard, layers Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre into something deeper and more brooding.

Between pours, the patio invites you to slow down — blue chairs, an olive tree strung with a pink ring sculpture, and nowhere in particular to be. That, as much as the wine, is Paso at its best.

J Dusi Wines is open daily from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tastings are $25 per person, waived with a $48 wine purchase. A hundred years after the family put down roots, the tradition is in very good hands.

Photos by Scott Harris.