Our People
"It takes a dedicated team to make it work."
Executives:
Justin Baldwin
Co-Proprietor
Former investment and international banker, Justin and his wife Deborah, founded JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery in 1981 when they purchased 160 acres west of Paso Robles on California's Central Coast and planted their estate vineyards.
Since its inception, Justin has focused his efforts on producing world class Bordeaux style blends from the estate vineyards for the JUSTIN label. Justin is a pioneer in producing this style of wine on the Central Coast and his efforts have been rewarded with past and present vintages earning 90+ points by the major wine trade publications. More encompassing recognition has come from awards such as the Grand Sweepstakes award winner, Best of class, Best of Region, the coveted Pichon Lalande trophy for "World's Best Blended Red Wine" and Wine Spectators Top 10 Wines of the World. Vintages have received numerous accolades by capturing Decanter Magazine's "4 Stars", Restaurant Wine's "3 Forks" and Connoisseurs Guide's" 3 Puffs". Justin has consistently earned the praise of the wine press with recognition from the likes of Robert M. Parker Jr. naming Justin Baldwin one of his "Wine Heroes of the Year" and the "Star of Paso Robles", the James Beard Foundations "Great American Winemaker Award", Quarterly Review of Wine's "Top 3 Cabernet Producers of the Year", and Wine Enthusiast's "Top Cabernet and Blended Wine Producers List" for seven years running.
Food and JUSTIN wines go together. In fact, JUSTIN is the only winery on California’s Central Coast to retain a full-time chef whose kitchen works daily to pair acclaimed JUSTIN wines with fresh seasonal and vineyard grown offerings. Justin is an active participant in the wine world. He is a frequent panelist at prominent food and wine events worldwide, is a board member of the Family Winemakers of California, board member of the Wine Institute, board member of the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance, vice-chair Paso Robles AVA committee, co-founder of the West Side Grand Crew, the Far out Wineries of Paso Robles and The Wellness Community Central Coast. For their contributions he and his wife have been named the Paso Robles Wine Industry persons of the year and Justin has been made a Commandeur d’ Honneur De L’Ordre Du Bontemps Du Medoc.
Justin lives on the vineyard with his wife, Deborah: their children Evan and Morgane, and their dogs Sunny, Zamboni and Francois. In addition to the vineyards, winery, and tasting room, they own and operate the highly acclaimed country inn, The JUST Inn, and its intimate gourmet restaurant, Deborah's Room, also on the property.
To reach Justin Baldwin, Justin@JUSTINwine.com
Deborah Baldwin
Co-Proprietor
Former Mortgage Banker, Deborah Baldwin founded JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery with her husband in 1981 when they purchased 160 acres of land in the beautiful Adelaide Hills, 15 miles West of Paso Robles, California.
Deborah's past business experience in sales and marketing has been a natural to the never-ending needs to promote the JUSTIN brand to their various levels of distribution. Luckily the job promoting their winery has not been so difficult, due to the various honors JUSTIN Winery has enjoyed over the last 15 years since their inception. She has also been recognized by her peers and was elected in November of 2003 as a Winery Board of Director on the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance as well as the Central Coast's Winery Board member for the Wine Institute in the year 2000.
In addition to handling the marketing for JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery, Deborah also runs and is the General Manager for their well known and highly acclaimed Country Inn called the JUST Inn, and the only Winery Restaurant in the Central Coast called "Deborah's Room" (amply named) where their Executive Chef produces a world class California/French cuisine for their guests and to the public seven nights a week.
Her marketing experience, past and present adds perspective to create alternative ways to further promote JUSTIN Winery and the Paso Robles Wine Community, as a whole, as she travels around the country on various marketing trips.
Deborah lives a very full and enriched life on the vineyard with her husband Justin, their two children Evan and Morgane, their three dogs, Zamboni, Sunny and Francois--and their two horses, Rocky and Polly.
To reach Deborah Baldwin, deborahbaldwin@JUSTINwine.com
Fred Holloway
Vice President, Director of Production & Winemaking
Fred has been a successful winemaker for more than 28 years. He has worked with big, medium and small wineries, Mom and Pop to corporate, from hands on experience to supervising over 800 people. He believes that "truly great wines come from the people you work with." His career began on the Central Coast shortly after receiving his Enology degree from Fresno State University. Until the mid 1990's he worked in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties initially building a small boutique winery and then supervising production at one of the largest wineries in the state. Subsequently, he moved to the North Coast where he collaborated in producing the award winning Artisan Series for the Jess Jackson Family of Wines. There from 1996 -1998, he worked with the brand winemakers of Lokoya, Cardinale, Verite, Stonestreet, Hartford Court, La Crema, Robert Pepi and Edmeades in consistantly producing 19 wines rated 90-95 by Robert M. Parker Jr. and 15 wines scoring 90-98 by the Wine Spectator.
He returned to the Central Coast in 1999 as Winemaker at Cambria Winery. There he continued to distinguish himself with high recognition from industry pundits. Parker rated 5 of his wines 90-93 and Wine and Spirits Magazine placed him on their list of Estate Wineries of the Year naming 2 of his wines to their Top Ten wines of the Year list.
"The Central Coast has long been a breeding ground for excellence in winemaking. We were pleased that we did not have to go outside to attract such a highly talented and experienced individual," said Deborah Baldwin co-proprietor for JUSTIN.
Justin Baldwin, co-proprietor of JUSTIN Winery states that, "Fred brings a wealth of experience in both winemaking and management. Each are vitally important to our continued growth as we reach for new heights in our industry."
To reach Fred Holloway, fredholloway@JUSTINwine.com
Rich Richardson
Vice President, Director of Sales & Marketing
Rich W. Richardson, joined the JUSTIN family of wines as Director of Sales & Marketing on June 1st, 1999. Rich is a California native who, prior to working for JUSTIN Winery performed various sales responsibilities for the Robert Mondavi Winery for 14 years. During the last seven years of his career with Mondavi, he was Western Regional Sales Manager for Opus One winery.
Here, at JUSTIN he is responsible for all sales and marketing activities that include working with JUSTIN's marketing company, The San Francisco Wine Exchange and Vin-de Cal International for all export markets. In addition Rich manages and oversees the California market, which is handled directly by JUSTIN's Regional Sales Manager, Steve Lister. Rich's extensive history, experience and contacts within the wine industry has helped evolve the JUSTIN brand nationally and internationally. His peers and his superiors respect him equally.
To reach Rich Richardson, richrichardson@JUSTINwine.com
Cheryl Wieczorek
Vice President, Director of Finance & Human Resources
Cheryl Wieczorek joined our team in the beginning of 1998 as our first "Controller". She came to us with extensive experience as a corporate controller with an emphasis in manufacturing and cost accounting. Cheryl is a CPA and worked for a large regional firm in Long Beach.
Cheryl traded her city lifestyle for country living with her husband and her furry-four-on-the-floor children, (two horses, two dogs and four kitties). When not working on the financial end of our business, she can be found riding through the trails of Paso Robles. We are ecstatic to have Cheryl's experience and cheerful disposition working on our behalf.
To reach Cheryl Wieczorek, cherylw@JUSTINwine.com