DSF: Tell us about yourself.
JB: I was born and raised in San Francisco, and went to school in the Bay Area at San Jose State. Actually between when I was born and fifth or sixth grade, I lived in Michigan, Georgia, New York and other parts of California. Most of my formative years were in the Bay Area. After graduating from San Jose State, and then completing my MBA I worked in the Bay Area in banking, then in Southern California in banking, and then Europe and the Far East. I lived in London for some time, as well as India, Hong Kong and Singapore before retuning to the US.
DSF: Going back to your college days, what made you decide to go to San Jose State and what was your major?
JB: San Jose was close by where I lived, and I thought I would go there for a semester before moving south to UC Santa Barbara. However, when I got on campus at San Jose State, I ended up joining the DSP house, and the friendships that I formed there convinced me to not transfer. My major was biological science, and I was going to be a dentist.
DSF: Why did you join the Delta Sig Chapter, and did you hold any leadership positions in the chapter?
JB: I did things outside the chapter. I was very involved in school politics, and was a cheerleader. I was not in any leadership roles in the house itself. The reason I joined is that since I had not initially planned on going to school there, I didn't have any friendships established and thought it would be interesting to see what the guys were like in the different houses. I met the existing members, and just wanted to be a part of them because I thought they really had it together. They were organized and motivated, but they were also fun loving and you could tell that there was a happy picture there and I wanted to be associated with something like that.
DSF: Tell us what you did when you first graduated, and what your early career was like.
JB: I went directly into the United States Marine Corps, did that for a brief period of time, and then went into banking. I started off in San Francisco at a bank called Union Bank, which is now called Union Bank of California. I ended up running all of their business development programs, their corporate finance, national division, strategic planning group, and ended up being a Senior Vice President for the bank.
I then went overseas and worked for an English Bank called Standard and Chartered Bank in their merchant banking group for about four years.
DSF: So you had a very successful career as a banker, and decided to buy a vineyard. Tell us about that decision a little bit.
JB: When I came back from overseas, I did the classic type thing. I bought the property, planted the vineyard, and instead of having a full-time job, I started doing some consulting work. It's a funny business – it takes a number of years for the grapes to mature enough that you can actually make wine from them, and even after you make the wine, you have to age it for still more years. It takes almost eight years from the time you put your first plant in the ground until you can sell your first bottle of wine. During that period of time, I tell people not to violate the #1 rule of winemaking – don't quit your day job.
DSF: Tell us a little more about the operation.
JB: I have 320 acres, and it depends upon the vintage, but around 40,000 cases of wine per year that we sell all across the United States and in 20 countries around the world. This property is unique in that it does have a restaurant called Deborah's Room named after my wife. Less than ten of the 2,400 wineries in California have restaurants on the premises, and we also have a little inn as well, called the Just Inn. That's important for the readers to know, as we have had a lot of brothers come stay over the years and it's a great place to stay. It only has four rooms, and the restaurant only has five tables, but it has a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence wine list, and is very highly rated. The problem is that it is hard to get in, but I'll give special consideration to any brothers.
DSF: What was it that made you decide that you wanted to run a vineyard and winery operation after getting out of the banking industry?
JB: First off, I wanted to work for myself and have my own business. Secondly, I've always had a love for the land and outdoors, and this lifestyle affords me the opportunity to live in that type of an environment. It's a healthy environment to help bring up a family, which I have done.
A lot of it also has to do with a pioneering spirit that I have always had. I went to what was in those days not a very well-known region, the Paso Robles Appalachian. Today, it's the third largest collection of wineries in the United States and is growing rapidly. It's about 2/3 the size of Napa right now and is fast on its heels. To try to do this in a different place than others had tried previously to me had some appeal to me from the pioneering spirit.
The other interest level came from food. I always have enjoyed food and fine dining. I have traveled extensively, as you can probably tell from my background. When I was at Union Bank, I had an office in New York, was an itinerant traveler, and enjoyed fine dining and fine hotels around the world. I wanted to take a stab at doing it on a smaller scale on my own. It gave me an opportunity to combine all those things into one venture.
DSF: It's interesting that you say that. We saw on your web site a quote attributed to you that said, "The rewards of pioneering are greater than the risks."
JB: You only hear that from people who are successful though. If it all works out, you can say things like that. It has all worked out for me.
It was a very strong pull, strong enough for me to quit a career that could have been very fruitful for me had I wanted to stay in that industry. I still have many friends of course that have gone on to become presidents and chairmen of banks. I look at these guys and think if I had stayed around, what would have happened? I know I made the right decision for me, and that's all that matters.
DSF: What makes the Paso Robles area, where your vineyard and winery are located, a good place to make wine?
JB: Good grapes come from a combination of several factors – climate, soil, topography and water.
Climactically, we have very high daytime highs up in the mid-high 90s and low 100s, and it will cool off in the evening to 50 degrees. You need that to have the acid levels built up, as the plant has to actually stop growing during the middle of the night so the acid levels can build up and offset the alcohol after you convert the sugars to alcohol.
As for topography, we're on hillsides. My vineyards start at 1,200 feet above sea level and go up to 2,000. That's unusual. The city of Napa, for example, is only 17 feet above sea level. You need growing conditions that have lower yields because the water can't accumulate in the soils. It runs off just because you're on the slopes here.
The soil types are the next things. These are limestone soils. Limestone is not found in many parts of California, but it is very beneficial in growing grapes. It chemically binds up the nutrients in the soil and slows down the growth, which is good. In vineyards, you don't want a plant that grows too quickly or has too much fruit on it because it won't have the same quality.
Also, I don't have any water. I dry farm my vineyards, meaning that I don't have enough to irrigate. I have enough to mow the lawn and wash off the tractor, but dry farming provides a much higher quality of wine because you're getting smaller yields that are much more concentrated in flavor and color.
All of those factors were here, plus the physical beauty of the area. It's a very, very beautiful area. It's where William Randolph Hearst built his castle, which is only 10 miles from me. The area where we are located is at the very southern area of the Big Sur area.
DSF: What are the wines that you are best known for?
JB: It's a blend called ISOSCELES, which has Cabernet Sauvignon as the dominant grape in the blend. It's named for the Isosceles triangle because a triangle has three sides, and this wine has three grapes that make up the blend – Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
DSF: What kinds of awards have you won for your wines?
JB: We have won lots of awards. It's interesting because this area was untried at the time, but the awards have put us on parity with any wines in the world. At the London International Wine Competition, I won the award for the world's best blended wine. I have been in Wine Spectator Magazine's Top 10 in the world. Just recently, Decanter Magazine named the Isosceles the #1 blended red wine in America. Robert Parker named me on of his ten wine heroes in the world. We've gotten lots of validation about what we've done here over the years.
But you know, it's really like art. If you don't like what the painting looks like, whether it got a gold medal at the county fair doesn't mean much. The press likes it, as does our following. Our wines are sold on what's called on allocation, which means they're pre-sold to mostly restaurants around the country and finer retail establishments before they're even released. I have a very active wine club, called the Justin Wine Society also. There are actually a lot of Delta Sigs around the country who are members.
DSF: How can our members join the Justin Wine Society if they are interested?
JB: Members can call our number, or can go online to www.justinwine.com to join. It's very simple to do so. What's fun about it is that there is a 20% discount, and there is access to wines that are otherwise sold out or already allocated.
DSF: Looking at your web site, it looks as though you and your company are extensively involved in philanthropic organizations. Can you tell us why that's important to you?
JB: We believe very much in giving back, and that we have an obligation to do that. I love the thing that Tim Russert had said prior to his passing "to whom much is given, much is expected." I really think that's right on the money. We have done well, and we give back to not only our community but across the country.
We participate in wine auctions all over the place. We give wine. We give money and tours, to all kinds of different charities nationwide. We even have a wine called Orphan where we give money to orphanages in Mexico and other places. It's the spirit of what we're trying to do.
Also, my wife and I are both cancer survivors, so we are very keen on helping out anything having to do with cancer. We have started something called The Wellness Community Central Coast here in our backyard that helps with the psychological and social aspects of dealing with cancer. We've raised over $1 million, bought a building and staff it with professionals.
DSF: Tell us about your On The Road program that you guys do.
JB: Our Marketing team is out a lot, but my wife and I also spend quite a good deal of time on the road, mostly at the charity auctions and working with our wholesalers. We have been to a number of places already this year for these types of events. In addition to marklet visits to over 30 states so far this years our guys have been to China twice next month we will be in Europe.
One of the big things that I got out of being a Delta Sig is leadership . For example, I am on the Board of our local hospital here, the largest wine trade group in California called The Wine Institute, and the Family Wine Makers of California. I am not just focused on the business, and also involve myself as a leader in local politics.
DSF: What do you like to do in your spare time?
JB: I love to read, particularly Revolutionary War information. I am also an avid snow skier and work out religiously. I really enjoy all of those things. I also drink a lot of wine and enjoy that a lot!
DSF: What's a piece of advice you would give to other Delta Sigs about being successful?
JB: Number 1, enjoy yourself. Do something you enjoy. That's almost numbers one, two and three. Enjoy yourself, and it will all come to you.
Number 2 is never give up.
Number 3 is surround yourself with people more knowledgeable than you, and take care of them and everyone else with whom you associate.
Lastly, give back.
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