You’d think with a last name like Jury that Los Gatos native Kyle Jury would have been drawn to a legal career. Instead, he’s got building in his bones. His grandfather, Bill Jury, started South Bay Construction in San Jose, and his father founded Jury Development Company, initially for commercial construction. It is now a property management firm.

Young Kyle, who attended Union Middle School and graduated in 2007 from Leigh High School—both in San Jose—often worked with his father and grandfather at job sites, sweeping construction floors and parking lots.

Although Jury knew this wasn’t the business he wanted to pursue, he appreciated the firm grounding in a solid work ethic.

Jury, who grew up playing baseball in Los Gatos Little League, was accepted to Cal Poly, where he studied architecture. Although the subject fascinated him, as a lover of outdoors, he found himself pulled into the very strong wine culture that pervades the Central Coast. Transferring to the wine and viticulture track, he earned a degree in agribusiness, spending part of his third year studying abroad in south Australia, where he fell in love with everything the wine business represented. “I was all in to make this my career after that,” Jury says.

Upon graduating in 2011, he worked for a year and a half in vineyard management in the Central Valley, with a goal of coming back to Paso Robles. In 2013, he jumped at the chance to do an internship at Justin Winery, where he worked as a grunt in the cellar for three years until becoming a cellar master. In 2016, ready to build on his solid foundation, he left Justin for a job at Booker, where he became a senior winemaker.

In doing so, he turned down a job at TH Cellars, a Paso Robles Willow District property established by Terry Hoage and his wife, Jennifer. Hoage, an All-American from the University of Georgia, played for six NFL teams, winning a Super Bowl in 1992, with the team now known as the Washington Commanders.

Jury admits he was really on the fence at the time, but the buzz around Booker was hard to ignore.

In 2021, met his wife Brittany, and for their wedding, he made two barrels of chardonnay to drink and give out as party favors and gifts. At that point, he didn’t have a game plan other than to make wine for the wedding. Then, in 2022, they were expecting their first child, Nora, and while getting ready for the baby, he found a box in the garage with drawings from his drafting class in high school.

“It was of a truss bridge,” says Jury, “and the triangle shape reminded me of the family we were creating. We sat up late in the night brainstorming names for the baby and for the winery, and I really liked TRUSS” for the latter. The triangle theme appears on the TRUSS labels, designed by Crystal Matthew.

That year, Jury made two barrels of chardonnay from Spanish Springs Vineyard, a source he learned about from his friend Scott Hawley of Torin.

In 2023, Jury met a couple of guys who loved Booker wines and were longtime Paso Robles wine drinkers, looking for someone to help them with a new vineyard in the Adelaida District called Bowstring. “I wasn’t getting paid, but took on the new project because they were new to grape growing and I really liked working with them,” says Jury. They became his financial partners.

Also that year, the Hoages decided to retire and sell their property. Jury approached the Hoages with an offer on their 26-acre home, vineyard and winery property, closing the deal in July 2024.

“We’d always kept in touch, even after I went to Booker,” says Jury. “There were never any hard feelings, and we became great friends. I have so much respect for Terry. We played pickup baseball together at Booker, so we always kept in touch.”

With a facelift and quick remodel, they were ready to launch as TRUSS, pouring both chardonnay and pinot noir for visitors. While the tasting room was being renovated, they served guests by the pond, a perfect setting for enjoying wines that aren’t much grown in Paso Robles. The house is now an AirBnB rental, as the Jurys, who now have two toddlers, live in Templeton.

Like many in that part of Paso Robles, the 17.5-acre estate vineyard is planted to Rhones. Jury made his first estate wines from the TRUSS Vineyard in 2024, including a syrah, grenache and a GSM blend, as well as grenache and mourvedre rosé, that sold out quickly. The 2025 is on the way.

The vineyard also contains a renowned block of white Rhones (grenache blanc, picpoul, roussane and viognier) that is under contract to Turtle Rock, which makes a fantastic white blend. Jury is toying with grafting some rootstock to white varieties to supplement the chardonnay from Spanish Springs. “We find ourselves drinking a lot more whites these days, especially on warm summer evenings,” he says. “And everyone wants to taste the wines from where they are sitting.”

Most visitors come to TRUSS by referral. “There are new people that walk in and don’t expect pinot noir and chardonnay, and it’s refreshing for them after all the heavier reds Paso is known for. We are far busier in the afternoons than mornings because of referrals.”

Jury is thankful that the vineyard was almost entirely replanted beginning in 2018, so the vines are relatively young and create wines with vibrancy and energy.

With two vineyards at his disposal, he has way more fruit than he needs for a new brand, but is happy to have the space afforded by the Bowstring Vineyard, which is suited for larger events like the 5k fun runs they’ve held. TRUSS wines can be found at local downtown restaurants like Le Petite Canailles, In Bloom and the brand-new Grace & Rose. The TRUSS Spanish Springs chardonnay retails for $45 and the TRUSS Spanish springs pinot noir for $60. Estate TRUSS wines mostly retail for $75. They also have a 2024 Derbyshire Vineyard Chardonnay as well as a 2024 Derbyshire Pinot Noir.

“Eventually we do want to be all estate,” says Jury, “but we really love those wines from Spanish Springs.”

Whatever their next step is, they are well-positioned, thanks to the hard work already done by the Hoages.

“We started on second base here with this place,” says Jury. “Honestly, I am still pinching myself to this day.”

TRUSS Wines is located at 870 Arbor Road, Paso Robles. Tasting hours are Thursday-Monday, 10a.m.-4p.m. 805-468-7877; trusswines.com.