2020 J Dusi Model M Red Blend

Tasting Notes

This red wine of big red varietals exudes Paso Robles fruit and tannins in a dark and robust blend. It’s punchy yet soft and smooth at the same time through the front and mid-palate. The grippy tannic finish seals the deal for a wonderful everyday drinking wine!

Winemaking

Staying true to the J Dusi heritage grape, this red wine blend is layered with red wine varietals that round out this approachable and everyday affordable red table wine.

Inspiration

This wine was made especially from the demand from our wholesale market. The well-known Pinot Grigio needed a red partner wine, and so Model M was created. The Model M tractor was the first tractor purchased by the Dusi family back in the early 1900’s when their business demanded advanced tools to help facilitate the growth of their business. Naming the J Dusi red wine blend Model M was inspired by the tool which helped the family forge on in the wine business in their early days. Model M is a modern tool of a venture set forth by J Dusi, providing a new wine to the retail marketplace. For J Dusi, Model M embodies A Family Tradition with a New Perspective.

Specs

• Vintage: 2020
• Varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Syrah
• Appellation: Paso Robles, California
• Release Date: August 2022
• Alcohol: 13.9%
• Production: 1800 Cases

What’s Included

6-bottles:

• 6x 2020 J Dusi Model M Red Blend
  Case:
• 12x 2020 J Dusi Model M Red Blend

Price Comparison

Not for sale on winery website, $192/case MSRP

About The Winery

• Winery: J. Dusi Wines
• Owners: Janell Dusi
• Founded: 2005
• Location: Paso Robles, California

The Story

Bringing J Dusi into the public realm of the wine industry has been a life-long dream for me. I grew up living on the vineyard, participating in grape farming, and begging for my Grandfather to teach me the winemaking process.

My first vintage was when I was sixteen. My Grandfather guided me through the process from the recollection of the days when his family ran the original “Dusi Winery” back in the '50s. I learned, from him, the REAL Italian way to make wine, which happened to be a slight variation of today’s California style wines.

My Great-Grandparents, Sylvester and Caterina Dusi settled into Paso Robles in the early twenties. They had three sons; Guido, Dante, and Benito Dusi. They were active proprietors in many local businesses including vineyards, farming, restaurants, and Dusi Winery. I was born and raised in the vineyard that my Grandfather Dante, his father and two brothers planted in 1945. As vineyards were rare in the area at that time, Zinfandel was the Italian varietal of choice. They implemented the farming practices of head-pruned vines and no irrigation, dry farming. Today, 65 years later, we still carry on their farming traditions and uphold one of the areas most loved vineyards. Dusi grapes can be found in some of the most sought after Zinfandels in Paso Robles.

Available States

AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY

Estimated Delivery

Monday, Aug 26 - Tuesday, Aug 27

2020 J Dusi Model M Red Blend
6 bottles for $64.99 $10.83/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $109.99 $9.17/bottle + $1/bottle shipping

Another day, another labrat! Please welcome me to the twelve-timers club; where’s my jacket? I always get the butterflies in my stomach every time I see the communication that I have officially been chosen to taste and provide feedback for a future Casemates offering. Each email is as exciting as my first!

J. Dusi Model M. I assumed named after and in homage to the famed IBM keyboard of the 1980s? It’s got that good clickity clack. But alas, no, it was a reference to an equally reliable tractor. J Dusi claims a “A FAMILY TRADITION with a New Perspective” (capitalization theirs), but what’s the old perspective? What’s the New Perspective??? I watched the video on their website so you don’t have to: I don’t know! Yellowstone vibes set to “Relaxed Song” by Dj_emi. The owner took over the winery from their grandparents, and is using their farming practices, so I guess that’s the slogan. I hope I inherit a winery!

Welcome to my son’s playroom-slash-wine tasting wing of our house. It’s messy and well-integrated, just how I like my wines! Alright, alright. Let’s pop the proverbial cork on this proverbial bad boy. Ladies, you had me at screw-top, my preferred closure on drink-soon wines.

Skadoosh, the nose wafted up just as I was pouring into the latest in my collection of Casemates branded stemlessware. I felt like I was transported into the barreling room of Dusi & Dusi, LLP. Earthy cherry vibes layered with the musk of financial records stored at the bottom of a stack of Bankers Boxes. Ripe for auditing.

Color is a fresh and young deep garnet, no drop off on the edges, and no signs of bricking. Give it a swirl and those legs go from here to ya-ya. This promises to be bold and jammy, really sink your teeth into it.

On the palate now, yup, this is a pallet of classic Paso Robles fruit. And pretty consistent with the bulk of wines in that area. Big fruit, big tannins, but you won’t need to be scraped off the sidewalk. I usually disregard my first wine sip of the day because my taste buds are rarely ready right after lunch, but this made for a good mid-workday treat! Flavors, flavors, I dunno. Dark fruits, plum, blackberries, cherries (of course) picked in a maelstrom of swirling earthen fury. There’s A spice to it, but I suspect it’s imparted by the barreling. I’d venture to guess it’s stainless with oak chips.

As always, I’ll include my wife’s notes: Tastes like a cab? Smokey, almost burnt. Green pepper, or maybe grass, kinda bitter. Finish? Tannic!

So, let’s wrap it up. It’s a commodity wine. Sorry if that offends anybody, but it’s not something you’d age, it’s not something you’d give as a gift, it’s not something you’d /remember/. This is a wine you make when you’ve got 5 acres of grapes and need to sell what’s on it at wholesale, not a passion project. That’s ok, that’s business. That’s going to happen when you’re focused on making TWENTY SEVEN boutique wines, holy smokes. The glass bottle is ultra-standard, the label is boring, so the only thing that’s going to make someone pick it up is price. I’d guess this is $15 at retail, and sub $10 for casemates. (Confirmed!). It’s easy drinking, and to that it earns the high honors of PIZZA WINE from this PIZZA RAT. Pour it at a party with your preschool kid’s friends’ parents, that’s what I’m going to do with my case. That’s right, this has earned a BUY rating from me. And if you follow my reviews, that’s HARD EARNED. I usually say things like “not my style” or “ok, but not for me”. I’d rank this just beneath Bogle Essential Red, which was one of my damn wedding wines, so take that for what it’s worth.

How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
2020 J Dusi Model M Red Blend - $20 = 15.38%

Hello and thank you for another opportunity (and Casemates glass!), Alice and CM! I am ratting the J Dusi Model M 2020. According to my CM history, the only J Dusi I’ve ordered is a 2018 rose. After the bottle spent a few days in the wine fridge I opened the screw top. First impressions include scent of black currant. Wine tastes dry, tart, and spicy but a little non-descript, just didn’t make a huge impression. Day 3 (look, day 2 involved a lengthy drag brunch after which I determined I was disqualified from commenting on wine quality), I noted that the smell is very rich, but taste-wise not terribly complex—layered, fruit-forward, not very interesting. Day 4, more of the same. This blend is fine–if I had it in a restaurant I wouldn’t get a second glass, but if I had it in someone’s home I would. It’s a blend of cab sauv, zin, petite sirah, and syrah. I would expect to pay no more than $15 per bottle. The only thing I paired it with was a tuna melt (balsamic, Dijon, pepper jack cheese on sourdough, thrown in the air fryer) and it kinda slapped, surprisingly. Tuna melt aside, almost all the other food prep we do at home these days is for the elderly bichon, so if anyone would like notes from pairings with checks fridge turkey meatballs, chicken nuggets (ew), or English coastal cheddar let me know.

@JDusiWines Being a Tesla owner, my first thought about “Model M” was: is Elon Musk is making wines now?

But it is a clever name, and I just realize, since the focus on pairing seems to be pizza, the M should mean Mozzarella!

Close, but tractors only around here! This Model M tractor was utilized in our vineyards by all four generations… a real workhorse! Like this wine, its here to get you through the work week!

I’m in. All of Janell’s wines I have liked. I like her label as well. Look forward to enjoying this blend with Jana and a nice dinner. Cheers, Scott

Hello to you Scott and tell Jana Hello too!