2024 Squad Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles

The weeds in these vineyards get pulled by hand. Nobody does that for a wine they don't take seriously.

Rob Murray grew up on a Central Valley farm and came to Paso Robles as a grower first. He built Tooth & Nail from the vineyard up. The dirt came before the winery, and you can taste that order of operations.

The farming is the story here. Organic practices. Hand labor instead of herbicides. Deficit irrigation to save water and concentrate the fruit. One percent of profits pledged to 1% for the Planet. None of it is a badge bolted on at the end. It is just how Murray farms.

The Squad Series is the everyday line. Director of Winemaking Jeremy Leffert calls it the wine equivalent of an old pair of blue jeans. Looks great, feels great, a little nostalgia built in. Every bottle wears an augmented reality label. Scan it with the Tooth & Nail app and the character on the bottle starts playing music. Gimmick? Sure. The wine inside is not.

The 2024 Squad Cabernet is the anchor of the line. Dark, plush, built for a plate of food. This is what Paso Cabernet does when the farming is honest and the winemaker stays out of the way.

Aged for 10 months in French oak barrels (25% new oak)