Paso Robles

Our Southernmost Source

Benito Dusi Ranch is RIDGE’s only zinfandel vineyard source south of the San Francisco Bay area. Located between the Santa Lucia Range and the Chalone Hills, it is situated just south of the town of Paso Robles, near Highway 101 and 46W. Part of the Paso Robles AVA, this location consistently experiences very large diurnal temperature shifts – hot days fading to cool nights. This phenomenon allows the head-trained (no trellis) vines rooted in the vineyard’s rocky, gravelly soils to produce fruit that showscases zinfandel’s bramble fruit and velvet tannins.

The Dusi Family

Sylvester and Caterina Dusi immigrated to the United States from Italy and ultimately settled in the Paso Robles area in the 1920’s. In 1924 they purchased their “Home Ranch” vineyard, where they raised three sons – Guido, Dante, and Benito. When Guido and Dante went to war in 1944, vineyard cultivation was left to their father and young Benito, who was eleven years old at the time. Benny, as his many friends called him, carefully tended the vines for nearly 75 years, until his passing in 2019. The original “Home Ranch” is now known as Benito Dusi Ranch, and it is from this vineyard that we produce our Paso Robles zinfandel.

A Devotion to Zinfandel

The vineyard we now call the Benito Dusi Ranch was originally planted in 1923. From the start, it was planted entirely to zinfandel, and it remains so to this day. For a vineyard that was established more than 85 years ago, this devotion to a single grape variety was highly unusual, as field blended plantings were far more conventional at the time. However, the Dusi family’s single-minded commitment to and consummate care for the zinfandel variety is an essential part of what makes this particular site so distinctive.

Benito Dusi Ranch has been classically dry farmed in the past. More recently, the Dusi’s will supplement rainfall with a winter irrigation in a dry year, which has really helped the vines thrive in drought conditions. There is no irrigation during the growing season.

A Ridge Wine Since 1967

At Benito Dusi Ranch, we employ a gentle, hands-off approach to the winemaking process. Through a combination of hand-harvesting, natural yeast fermentation, and minimal intervention, we are able to produce what we believe to be the true essence of this vineyard site and of the Paso Robles AVA. Our Paso Robles Zinfandel is a wine that consistently shows deep, juicy bramble fruit on the palate, along with notes of black cherry, gravelly earth, and rich chocolate—Paso Robles is Zinfandel at its finest.

Occasionally, in a year when a particular lot gives us exceptional ripeness and intensity, we have produced a second wine called Dusi Ranch. This fruit typically comes from the Canyon block, which tends to be more delayed in maturation than the rest of the ranch and is often the last Dusi fruit to be harvested. In 2019, after the passing of Benito, we decided to name this separate bottling ‘Benito Dusi Zinfandel.’