How SLO County winery look over a long-standing tasting space and made it their own
Truss Wines’ first priority isn’t to impress guests with a great glass of wine.
Owner Kyle Jury wants guests to have an entire experience.
“In a competitive market, you’ve got to differentiate yourself, and because everyone’s making good wine, it’s all about the experience and the hospitality,” Jury said. “We’re going to be waiting on you hand and foot and tell you our story, and really, hopefully, have you fall in love with us. Wine is just kind of a bonus.”
“The wine has to be good — the consumer is not dumb — but having all the elements in one spot, we’re hoping that’s what makes us unique,” he added.
Between Jury and his two right-hand men at the estate in the Willow Creek District Estate, which sits along Arbor Road on the west side of Paso Robles, Jury said you’re guaranteed to meet a principle player at any time in the newly renovated tasting room that faces the property’s pond and grape vines.
What’s the Truss story?
Truss Wines is new to the Paso Robles’ viticulture community, having only been softly opened for about a year after Jury purchased the old T.H. Estate Wines property from former NFL football player Terry Hoage in 2022.
Funny enough, the NFL-star-turned-winemaker offered Jury a job at T.H. Estates in 2016, but Jury turned it down, having accepted an assistant winemaker position at competitor Booker Vineyard instead.
“But in their defense, I always stayed in close touch with Terry. He never took it personally,” Jury said. “We have the community here that’s really tight-knit, very communal based. Everyone helps each other out and everyone’s friends, which is the only way that we can be successful.”
Jury went to Cal Poly with the intention of pursuing architecture initially, he said. Which actually inspired the label name “Truss,” which is a bridge that provides structural support.
But after a study-abroad trip in Adelaide, Australia, Jury was convinced that architecture wasn’t his path forward.
“I spent the whole quarter there studying. But any off day or off time, we were going to different vineyards and wineries and learning how they do things down there,” he said. “Upon my return, I was like, ‘OK, this is what I want to do.’”
After graduating with a degree in agribusiness, Jury got an internship at Justin Vineyard & Winery, then eventually started at Booker, where he worked for nine years before buying the T.H. Estates.
If he hadn’t declined that T.H. Estates job offer years ago, Jury said he doesn’t think he’d be sitting as the owner of the property now.
“A lot of changes and growth happened in that time, and I learned an incredible amount of things during my time (at Booker Vineyard). Probably the most influential part of my career,” Jury said. “So to end back up here is pretty crazy, because I do think that if I took that job here in 2016, I don’t know if we would be sitting here like we are today. I think that everything would have happened a lot differently. ... My time with Booker, I was always encouraged to have this entrepreneurial spirit.”
What’s on the vintage menu?
When he first started making wine, Jury focused on chardonnay and pinot noir, chardonnay being his and his wife’s favorite. He’d use grapes grown in the San Simeon region because they needed a cooler climate.
But after acquiring the 26-acre property, 16 acres of which are grapes, he’s focused primarily on the Rhône variety, which were already well established on the “turnkey” property, he said.
Truss Wines’ tasting menu currently includes six varieties: 2025 rosé, 2024 chardonnay, syrah and grenache, a 2024 “raw materials” blend and what Jury coined a “club exclusive” blend which will change yearly, but is currently a syrah.
The syrah, grenache and raw materials blend are all the same price per bottle at $75.
Jury said this is to help guests determine which flavor they truly like best, as opposed to being influenced by price.
“I don’t want any mind games. I want you to drink the wine, all the wines, without any preconceived notions, and drink and buy the wine that you like the most based on what you tasted,” he said.
And while Rhône might be the emphasis at Truss, Jury said he’ll continue to make the chardonnay and pinot noir in small batches, priced at $50 per bottle.
“I think that I’ll always make the chardonnay just out of respect. That’s what the brand kind of started on, and I think my wife would kill me if I stopped,” he said with a laugh.
What’s the vibe?
Truss Wines’ tasting room is elegant, modern and comfortable, intentionally designed to encourage guests to cozy up at the estate, Jury said.
Jury renovated the existing tasting room, which used to have a more rustic barn look when it was T.H. Estates.
“It had a lot of charm to it, nothing wrong with it whatsoever. It was just we didn’t want to be perceived as the new T.H. Estates — we wanted to be Truss,” he said. “The previous owners were great friends and mentors of ours, and we wanted to pay tribute to the property, but also make it to where we can distinguish ourselves as our own entity and just freshen it up a little bit.”
The structure is open and light. A chalk art piece, featuring the property’s pond, catches the eye immediately. Chairs are plush and inviting. There are no standing tables.
“It feels like you’re in a living room coming in. We’ve definitely been vocal about not having a bar because that is like sort of the traditional setting,” he said. “The goal with that is just really for this to feel like a less transactional experience, not a server or bartender behind a bar just telling you our story. It’s like, we’re going to sit here at the table with you, if you want.”
Not feeling social enough for that, though? Jury said you can opt out of conversation.
“We’ll always do like a vibe check on who’s coming in first because there’s people who want to know the whole story, want to know everything, and if that’s what you want, we’re going to be there for two hours with you, start to finish,” he said. “But some people are veteran wine drinkers, and they just want to come in and sit down and relax and drink the wine and be left alone, and that’s what we’ll do.”
Jury said he knows the intentionality behind the tasting room isn’t revolutionary. But what makes Truss unique is its ability to try in difficult times.
“We’re sort of running while maybe other people are walking, and so that’s unique in our experience, and that’s only possible because I have great support, not only financially, but just for my wife and my family,” he said. “I don’t think we’re reinventing the wheel. I think it’s just cool that we’re able to do it in a time that most people are sort of holding back a little bit, and if we’re able to take advantage of being the shiny new thing during the current climate of the industry, hopefully we build ... that following while we’re new and fun ... and then we’ll just kind of continue that on.”
The Truss Wines tasting room is open Thursday through Monday from 10 am. to 4 p.m., but Jury said the gate is open all other days too if visitors happen to trickle in. Tastings cost $20 each, and reservations are appreciated but not required.
For more information, visit www.trusswines.com.
