Dusi Ranch (Advance Tasting Program wine)
Vineyard
First RIDGE Dusi Ranch: 1967
Location: One quarter
mile east of Highway 101, between the Santa Lucia Range and the Chalone
Hills.
Elevation: 760'
Soils: Well-drained,
composed of river rock and light sandy loam.
Age of vines: Zinfandel,
planted 1923. (40 acres).
Training: Head trained
(no trellis), spur pruned.
Yields: 13 tons/acre
History
The zinfandel on this Paso Robles ranch was first planted in 1923. It was purchased soon after by Sylvester and Catarina Dusi, who raised three sons there—Guido, Dante, and Benito. When Guido and Dante went to war in 1944, vineyard cultivation was left to Sylvester and young Benito—eleven at the time. Beni, as his many friends call him, maintained the vines from then on. Ridge's long relationship with Beni and the Dusi vineyard began when Dave Bennion—scouting the area in 1967—knocked on the Dusi's door and asked to buy five tons of grapes.
