J Cuvee 20 Brut NV on Wine List at Nonni's Ristorante Italiano (Santa Rosa, CA)

J Cuvee 20 Brut NV

On the wine list
by-the-glass & by-the-bottle at:
Nonni's Ristorante Italiano
420 Mendocino Avenue
Santa Rosa, CA 95403
nonnis-ristorante.com

Reservations: 707-527-0222
Lunch: Monday thru Friday 11:AM - 5:PM
Dinner: Sunday thru Thursday 5:PM - 9:PM, Friday and Saturday 5:PM - 10:PM

Brett Anderson of the Robb Report - J Vineyards’ Bubble Room Revisited

Robb Report
June 19, 2009
J Vineyards’ Bubble Room Revisited

I recently had the pleasure of revisiting the Bubble Room at J Vineyards and Winery—an elegantly appointed salon with views of the property’s garden’s and lily ponds, where guests can gather, enjoy a glass of sparkling wine before their vineyard tour, and later sit down to regale their senses with the extraordinary wine and food pairings created by chef Mark E. Caldwell. After a walk through the breeze-strewn Nicole’s Vineyard in California’s Russian River Valley, I tasted the current vintage of Pinot noir from that particular site. The J Vineyards 2006 Nicole’s Vineyard Pinot Noir has a brilliant garnet color and a jam-like character. The nose exudes pomegranate, raspberry, cranberry, and lovely rose-petal aroma. The palate is intense and juicy with wild cherry and lingonberry, more pomegranate, and caramel. The long finish shows sturdy tannins and a creamy final note of cherry vanilla.

Back in the Bubble Room, we tasted through J’s current releases of still wine (owner Judy Jordan originally focused on sparkling wines when she founded the winery in 1986) and the non-vintage sparkling rosé—all of which were accompanied by Chef Caldwell’s creations. The 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay, paired with spring asparagus soup topped with crème fraîche, has an intoxicating hazelnut nose and a beautifully rich viscosity. Nectarine and lemon-lime flavors refresh the taste buds, and the finish culminates with a tingling minerality. The wine is reminiscent of a Puligny-Montrachet.

The 2006 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir—accompanied by Masami beef in roasted-garlic vinaigrette—is one of the most complete expressions of the region and includes a wide variety of blocks of fruit that represent the diversity of soils found there. Garnet in color with a slight copper tinge, this pinot has a nose of spice, cherry, and smoked game. The palate is dominated by rich cherry, cranberry, smoky sage, wild mushroom, and a piquant touch of rusty minerality.

Although all of the still wines made a good showing, my favorite of the tasting was definitely the Non-vintage Brut Rosé. This extraordinary sparkling wine, light salmon-pink in color, has a nose of buttery brioche and brine. Its texture is magnificent—a fluffy meringue that coats the mouth, especially on the mid-palate, with flavors of white raspberry and a cherry-lozenge sweetness. To learn more about the Bubble Room experience or make reservations, visit www.jwine.com/bubbleroom

—Brett Anderson
Robb Report’s Senior Vice President, Editor in Chief

95 Points & Editor’s Choice - Wine Enthusiast: 2000 J Vintage Brut

Sparkling wine: the view from California
By Steve Heimoff
July 2009






A great California bubbly, right up at the top. It’s unusual for a sparkling wine house to hold back their basic vintage brut this long, but J did, and consumers benefit. The wine has some bottle age, and is softly picking up nutty, dried fruit, floral and yeasty notes. Enormously complex, it should continue to develop for many years.
— S.H. (12/31/2008)

91 Points & Featured Wine - Wine Review On-line: 2006 J Russian River Pinot Noir

91 Points & Featured Wine - Wine Review On-line

J Vineyards & Winery, Russian River Valley (Sonoma County, California) Pinot Noir 2006 ($38)

This fragrant Pinot Noir, made under the guidance of George Bursick, formerly of Ferrari-Carano, was aged for 12 months in French oak barrels and draws admirably on the potential of Russian River fruit. Forward and fragrant with traces of anise, boiled tea and red berries, there is a sweet fruit attack, with medium fruit and tannins and a long finish at 14.3% alcohol. Made from J's estate vineyards in the Russian River Valley, it shows a lot of class and potential. 91 Gerald D. Boyd

J Vineyards & Winery wins Gold & Silver at the 2009 San Diego International Wine Competition

Winereviewonline.com
By Robert Whitley
Mar 25, 2009

J Vineyards & Winery
Gold 2006 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley $38.00
Silver 2000 Vintage Brut Russian River Valley $50.00

J - Classic. A holy grail of California Pinot Noir - Five Stars - Gremolata.com

California Bacchanalia
Inside The World of Pinot Noir
April 6, 2009, By Adam Leith Gollner

Part of the lure of Pinot oenophilia is the challenge of finding a truly exceptional bottle. Connoisseurs, affectionately known as "Pinot wienies," can go on and on about the ways in which quality varies from vintage to vintage, from vineyard to vineyard, and from bottle to bottle (even in the same year). "Pinot Noir takes a lot of education to understand," Mike Sinor (Sinor-LaVallee), a founder of the World of Pinot Noir, told me. "And 80% of it sucks."

As intricate as the wine is, it's pretty easy to tell when it sucks. "You can't hide the flaws," explained George Bursick, the vice president of winemaking at J Vineyards. "Pinot Noirs are unforgiving. There's no margin of error. Skilled winemakers can fix bad Cabs, but you can't do that with Pinots. They're so pure. It's all purity. It's such a difficult grape to bring to consumers in an elegant way."

Before spiraling into this Burgundelicious haze, I'd spent the afternoon tasting many Californian Pinots at the festival tents in Shell Beach. I don't remember most of it. This much is certain: world-class wines are being made in the sunshine state. Here are my top five, with the adjectives I found in my notebook the morning after:

J - Classic. A holy grail of California Pinot Noir.
Hirsch - Harmonious and perfect.
Foxen - Foxy. The Central Coast at its best.
Patz-Hall - So drinkable. Their bottlings of Hyde grapes = liquid gold.
Arcadian - Raw mouse.

"The French have had centuries to figure out what grows good where," explained Bursick. "They had 700 years of noblemen and monks killing each other over the best plots of land. The conditions are completely different. Burgundy has decomposing limestone; we have tectonic plates, sandstone, exposed beaches, prehistoric marshes, geysers and all sorts of Pleistocene issues. We don't have time to do trial and error, but we do have technology. We do electromagnetic conductivity tests by sending computerized probes into the soil to measure the parameters. Then we plant rootstock accordingly. Nobody in the world is doing anything like this - it's way trick."

2006 J Pinot Noir Nicole's Vineyard - FIVE Stars
Compliments: Duck Confit & Soft Cheese

This is the sort of California Pinot Noir I would be happy to drink always as balanced and refined as it is nuanced and elegant. The nose is subtly spicy, and it drinks velvety: raspberries, blackberries, pomegranates, a bit of chocolate silk.

91 Points for 2006 Nicole's Vineyard Pinot Noir - 7th Annual Pinot Noir Shootout 2009

7th Annual Pinot Noir Shootout 2009, Affairs of the Vine

J Winery 2006 Nicole's Vineyard Pinot Noir Russian River Valley, $65.00
1409 cases produced
(91 Points)

Male: Cocoa, strawberry and cranberry aromas deliver the same onto the palate, forest notes and brown baking spices highlight the finish on this many layered wine. Round and delicious.

Female: Beautiful, expressive aromatics with earth, mushroom, and nutmeg melding seamlessly with bright cherry, wild berry and forest floor notes. Wow! Rich and elegant with a long finish.

The tasting panels are comprised of a diverse range of wine industry professionals from varying disciplines including restaurant and retail trade, winemakers, wine writers, wine educators, and consultants.

The 7th Annual Pinot Noir Shootout judging panel included:
Anthony Austin, Winemaker
Scott Clemens, Editor, Epicurean Traveler
Susan Darwin, Wine Consultant
Debra Del Fiorentino, Wine Consultant, Wine Radius
Barbara Drady, Wine Evangelist, Affairs of the Vine
John Drady, Vintner
Rusty Gaffney, The Prince of Pinot, http://www.Pinotfile.com
David Heppberger, Wine Consultant, Buyer Menlo Circus Club
Ellen Landis, Wine Director, Landis Shores Oceanfront Inn, Half Moon Bay, CA
Ken Landis, Chef, Landis Shores Oceanfront Inn, Half Moon Bay, CA
Paul Manchester, Vintage 59 Imports
Ben Narasin, Freelance Food & Wine Writer
Mike Potashnik, PhD, Co-Publisher, International Wine Review
Sid Sall, Wine Director, Great Chefs of Marin
Christopher Sawyer, National Wine Writer, Sommelier: Carneros Bistro at the Lodge at Sonoma
Edgar Vogt, Wine Educator, Wineworks
Walter Vornbrock III, Wine Consultant
Liza Zimmerman, Wine Writer & Educator

Q&A with George Bursick - "The Rocking, Vagabond Winemaker"

George Bursick has been vice president of winemaking at J Vineyards & Winery since May of 2006. The Russian River Valley winery was founded in 1987 by Judy Jordan who originally intended it to be a boutique sparkling wine producer. Since then the winery has expanded beyond its signature J Vintage Brut and other sparklers to become a vigorous and creative producer of cool-climate Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and other still varietal wines, and Bursick is now leading the charge. Previously, he was executive winemaker at Ferrari-Carano, a position he held for 22 years. In his spare time, Bursick is a musician: since 1992, he has played in the winemaker rock group Private Reserve.

Check back soon for a link to the full article once it's available on-line at Wine Enthusiast

Steve Heimoff Finds Beauty In J Vineyards' Pinot Noirs

Steve Heimoff, in his blog report on the World Of Pinot Noir event in Shell Beach, CA this past weekend, called J Vineyards' Pinot Noirs "beautiful."

J's winemaker George Bursick had the good fortune to discuss with Steve the thoughtful Pinot Noir winemaking techniques that he and owner Judy Jordan have put in place, including use of indigenous and rare yeast strains, specific lot fermenter punch down regimes, slow and extended fermentations, gravity flow processing, French Burgundian cooper impression on different wine lots, as well a thoughtful “batonage” during aging.

You can read Steve's full report on WOPN at:

http://steveheimoff.com/

Chef Mark Caldwell on ABC's View from the Bay!

J’s Executive Chef Mark Caldwell opened the February 25th episode of KGO-TV’s “View from the Bay” with a cooking demo of his famous Tiger Prawns with Blood Orange Cream Sauce and Angel Hair Pasta dish, which pairs with J’s recently released 2008 Vin Gris and Brut Rosé wines. As Mark unveiled the 2008 Vin Gris, he also offered the public debut of J’s re-designed varietal wine packaging. To see the segment and Mark’s recipe, click here or paste this link into your browser:

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=view_from_the_bay/food_wine&id=6678181

J Cuvee 20 on Better TV!

Imbibe Magazine Publisher Karen Foley recommended J’s Cuvée 20 Non-Vintage Brut for Valentine’s Day on the nationally syndicated Better TV television show. The wine was noted for being an “excellent value” for quality that is “extremely high.”

Better TV is produced by Meredith Corporation (publishers of Better Homes & Gardens) and airs on Fox affiliates. The segment, which originally aired February 12th on, can be seen by clicking here or by pasting the link below into your web browser:

http://better.tv/bettertv/?cid=507869917&lid=1425856195&tid=10619122001

A Valentine's Day Recipe To Pair With J's 2008 Vin Gris

Recently, a Facebook friend of J sent us this request: "We received our club shipment this week and can't wait to try to the Vin Gris. I was thinking of surprising my husband with a homemade dinner on V-day and opening the bottle. Do you have any food pairing suggestions? Thank so much."

J's Executive Chef Mark Caldwell suggests a nice soft goat cheese pairs well with our Vin Gris. He also offered up this recipe for Tiger Prawns with Blood Orange Cream Sauce from our Bubble Room menu archives. He comments that "the blood orange sauce in the recipe mirrors the finish on the Vin Gris, and the Vin Gris tartness cuts through the cream and is a nice accent for the prawns."

You can download a PDF of the recipe by clicking here or paste the link below into your web browser:

http://www.jwine.com/jblog/j_vg_recipe_1.pdf

Enjoy Valentine's Day with a glass of J!