Kevin & Paula Jussila, Proprietors kukkula

kukkula (kook-koo-luh), Finnish for ”hill”, or “high place”
Finnish, because both Kevin Jussila’s parents are Finnish.

The dream started around 1990, when Kevin & Paula Jussila built their first home in Topanga, California. It was about then that Kevin became somewhat infatuated with wine. He was already interested in farming, and the 2 ½ acres they purchased provided the opportunity for Kevin to dig his heels in the dirt when he planted 1 ½ acres of vines. Little did he realize where it would lead!

After several years of basement winemaking and farming the small vineyard, Kevin convinced Paula to explore Paso, a burgeoning Rhône appellation. That was the fall of 2003. On that first trip, they discovered the Adelaida community and were instantly taken by its rugged beauty and the potential for growing amazing fruit.

So, in December of 2004 they purchased an 80-acre walnut orchard in Adelaida, moved to the Central Coast, and started the process of building a home, winery, vineyard, and olive orchard.

Because the terroir is so similar to the Rhône region of France, and Kevin’s love of Rhône wines, they are Rhône-centric and produce almost exclusively blends from the 42 acres they’ve planted. Other than Cabernet Sauvignon, they grow Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Counoise, Petite Sirah, and Roussanne.

Kevin believes the hard work is done in the vineyard. And, if they maintain this discipline, farm organically and without irrigation, they will create wines of intense aromatics, flavors, and color, that are a true expression of place, and the essence of our unique terroir.

All fermentations use native yeasts. The red blends are never fined or filtered. They only make blends from estate fruit and don’t adhere to conventional notions and trends. Rather, curiosity and creativity dictate what goes into the final blends.