Justin Harmon didn’t set out to be a winemaker, but the journey found him anyway. After studying in Philadelphia and working as a chemical engineer, he returned to Chicago in his mid-20s to pursue software engineering. Somewhere in between coding and commuting, his love for wine began to take over. What started as the occasional bottle at dinner soon filled his apartment closets, and weekends were spent roaming Chicago wine shops, devouring books, tastings, and seminars, with every trip planned around a vineyard visit. Curiosity eventually pulled him out of the tasting room and into the cellar. By 2005, Justin was in Sonoma County for his first harvest, followed by internships in 2006 and 2007 that gave him a hands-on education in the craft. Not long after, the chance to buy grapes and ferment them in a professional winery presented itself, leading to the very first bottling under his own label: Argot Wines. Today, Justin blends science, passion, and a relentless curiosity into every bottle. His story is proof that sometimes obsession really does lead to a calling. [Ep 384] argotwines.com @argotwines
