2023 Squad Red Blend Paso Robles

Cabernet is the straight answer. This is the one Jeremy Leffert gets to have some fun with.

Tooth & Nail sits in the Willow Creek District on the west side of Paso Robles. Cool marine air pushes through the Templeton Gap.

The soils are limestone and clay. Rob Murray grew up on a Central Valley farm and built the place as a grower first. The Squad fruit comes from Paso Robles vineyards his team farms under its own control.

The farming is where the money goes. Organic practices. Weeds pulled by hand instead of sprayed. Deficit irrigation to save water and tighten the fruit. One percent of profits pledged to 1% for the Planet. That is a lot of care for a wine meant to be opened without ceremony.

The Squad Series is the everyday line, and the Red is the rule-breaker in it. The producer's own words, not mine. Where the Cab plays it straight, Leffert blends across varieties here instead of chasing one.

The 2023 Squad Red is what Leffert builds when one variety isn't the answer. Fifty-eight percent Cabernet Sauvignon for structure and dark fruit; 25% Petite Sirah for density and grip; 15% Syrah for the savory thread that runs through the finish.

Twelve months in French oak at 15% new, bottled unfined and unfiltered.