Three Inspired Sparkling Wine and Cheese Pairings

Holiday party season is just around the corner, so what better time to think about festive sparkling wine and food pairings? Here are three inspired ideas to get your (cheese) wheels turning. 

• Tête de Moine and J Vintage Brut. A great conversation starter, Tête de Moine or "Monk's Head" is a semi-hard Swiss cheese with a deliciously nutty aroma and a highly unusual presentation. To fully develop Tête de Moine's flavors, your cheese monger carefully pares it with a special shaving device called a Girolle. The result is a thin, delicate rosette of cheese with curled edges — a bit like an oyster mushroom. In this form, Tête de Moine has a deliciously silky body that melts in your mouth. The name of this cheese from the Swiss monks of Bellelay who began making it in the year 1292. Tête de Moine is fantastic with a dry sparkling wine like our J Vintage Brut, which has bright pear and citrus characters.
  


• Gougère and J Brut Rosé. Gougère are puffy little balls of savory cheese pastry —  delicious served right out of the oven with a chilled glass of our J Brut Rosé. We especially love these Laura Chenel Chevre Gougere because the slight tang of the gougère's goat cheese tastes so delicious with the Brut Rosé's vibrant fruit flavors and crisp bubbles. This is such a fun pairing and guests absolutely love it. Gougère are surprisingly easy to make, too. The dough freezes well, so just make some ahead, take out of the freezer in the morning, then pop a batch in the oven a half hour before guests start to arrive. Gruyere, Comté, and Emmentaler cheeses are great in gougère as well.
  
  
• Cheese and Charcuterie Platter with J Cuvée. One of the most festive food trends right now is the cheese and charcuterie platter, a great way to engage guests and show off local producers. The easiest way to pull a platter together is to include a diverse array of selections: one fresh cheese like a Burrata, a soft cheese like Brie, a semi-soft cheese like Friulano, a hard cheese like Parmigiano Reggiano, and a veined cheese like a Gorgonzola. Cured meats like salami and cooked items like pancetta will round out your platter. Treat the cheeseboard like a centerpiece and flank it with a few buckets of chilled J Cuvée. With aromas of crushed hazelnut and flavors of lemon zest, Fuji apples, and Bartlett pears, the Cuvée is a versatile sparkling wine that will pair beautifully with all your platter selections.

Club J | Directions | Event Calendar | Gift Boutique | Wine Shop

J Winemaker, Melissa Stackhouse, Harvest News!

We are looking to begin our sparkling vintage sometime early this week. First grapes will be Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier from our Nicole’s estate vineyard in the Russian River Valley.  This fruit was recently sampled at 17 Brix, and the current heat wave will certainly move it to the desired 19 Brix in the next 5-6 days.

J Nicole's Vineyard

We are on deck for a beautiful vintage this year; having luxuriated in brilliant winter and spring conditions, as well as finally getting the summer temperatures that we’ve been robbed of the past couple years.

Fruit set was spectacular in 2012, giving us relatively large and compact clusters in all varieties. We continue to green drop fruit in our varietal vineyards, ensuring even ripening and balanced fruit load for each vine.

J Nicole's Vineyard Pinot Noir Clusters (April 2012)

Since Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay grapes for our varietal programs won’t be ripe until the end of August, through September and October, our focus at this time is on sparkling wine production.   Therefore, with that said, we are expecting a “Sparkling” Harvest, one that represents the essence of J’s Russian River Valley terroir!

CLUB J | DIRECTIONS | EVENT CALENDAR | GIFT BOUTIQUE | WINE SHOP

Cheers,

J Vineyards & Winery

Harvest is Coming, Harvest is Coming!

It Takes a Wine Village to make every bottle of inspired J, especially during harvest.  We are so appreciative of our adoring J Fans that we want to share the hard-working J Harvest Team Members that bring your favorite bottles of J to your table for sharing with family and friends.

J Team Member: Eric

Position at J: Production Worker

Years working on the J Team: 2 Years

Favorite J Wine: J Brut Rosé

Eric expressed that he loves the wine business, “J is my first wine job so I never knew how much work goes into making wine.  I find it amazing that it takes such a large crew of passionate people, from harvesting the grapes, carefully blending and fermenting the wine, and lastly bottling the distintive J wines.

Eric may sometimes be a bit quiet but his J team members like his style, Eric says, “I focus on getting my work done well every day, so I don’t  spend much time with chit chat, but that is okay as my team members appreciate that I always handle my work load very well with a smile.”

“J is one of the coolest places to work, I love it here”, says Eric.  Eric’s dad has been working at J for 15 years now, “It was because of my dad that started getting me interested in the wine business as he always talked about the various job responsibilities he had on a daily basis and they all sounded very cool, so I applied at J two years ago and I am loving every minute of it.” 

When Eric is not working at J, you will probably find him fishing, Eric says, “I was pretty much born with a fishing pole in my hand.  My dad and I share a great aspiration for fishing as we take many family trips to the Klamath River, which is one of our favorite places the fish.  My second favorite place to fish is the Russian River, which is located directly behind the winery.”  Eric also spends his free time gaming, “I love the Xbox, it is my favorite gaming source for playing games on-line, and I meet and compete with people around the world which is very cool.”

Eric says, “I love the flexibility of my job in the production department as we have the opportunity to rotate positions on the bottling line so I am able to learn all of the machines, which makes my day much more interesting.  I am very excited about our new screw capper for the J California Pinot Gris; it is an impressive machine to operate as it is highly efficient, a very hip machine.”

Eric is a valued J team member, he has the sweetest demeanor and always reliable.  So when you are opening your bottle of J wine, keep in mind that Eric had a significant role in the final touches to your special bottle of J wine.  Cheers!

CLUB J | DIRECTIONS | EVENT CALENDAR | GIFT BOUTIQUE | WINE SHOP

Cheers,

J Vineyards & Winery

J Vineyards & Winery Visits The London West Hollywood, California!

Sonoma Vintners Visit The London West Hollywood, California

By Nancy Jo Saper (L.A. Examiner), that includes J Winemaker Melissa Stackhouse in an interview & video.

J Winemaker Melissa Stackhouse

The Sonoma Vintners Association was having a wine tasting event at The London West Hollywood recently. A good wine showcases a story. While tasting at The London, I was fortunate to experience superb storytellers and wines that drew me in completely. I spoke with some of the organizers, wine makers, and marketers and am delighted to share their profound experience and passion with you.

Major Sonoma wineries such as the exceptional J Vineyards and Winery were represented at the event as well. Judy Jordan, daughter of Tom Jordan (the founder of great California wines and Jordan Winery), created her own successful brand with J Vineyards and Winery. They have a unique range of wines and exceptional sparklings.

 

This day they brought their Sparkling Rose, which is a masterpiece. The lushness of this sparkling lingers on the tongue and has balance and elegance combined. To know a good sparkling wine and or Champagne is its tiny bubbles. J Rose is a standout, it is engaging, lively with fresh fruit notes and a pleasurable finish that lingers.

J Pinot Noir is another winning wine under J winemaker Melissa Stackhouse. This bountiful wine has layers of texture with a rustic quality that is quite fun to drink. The intensity of fig, dark cherries, dark plum and cocoa emerge on your palette. J Pinot Noir can be sipped with a variety of culinary selections, a little chocolate compliments the wines rich character and it is perfect to drink on its own.

J Chardonnay makes your mouth water with sensual flavors of lemon-peel and shortbread. The creaminess and flavors are inviting. J also makes a J Pear Liqueur that will knock your socks off. The pure pear essence, vanilla aromas and butterscotch silkiness drape your palette eloquently. It has cognac tenacity with a feminine touch. Melissa is an exceptional artisan and shares insight into all things J!

NJ: Speak a little bit as a winemaker as to how it is when you are creating a wine.

MS: For me winemaking has always been incredibly collaborative, so it’s not just about one person, it’s about many people coming together to make a product. That means the vineyard crew, the winemaking team, sales and marketing and PR, bringing it all together. As far as winemaking goes I’m more hands-off. We really try to make sure the fruit is rock solid when we box the wine.

NJ: Let’s hear a little bit about the grapes that you’re growing and how particular you have to be to create the wines that you produce.

MS: I think if there’s any time to micromanage my day it’s in the vineyards and you also need to have a couple plans. When harvest unfolds you never really know what you’re going to get, so we usually go in with a plan A, and that’s if everything works out, and then a plan B, and a plan C if the weather turns extreme and so we try to just be present in the vineyard, be out there and micromanage it up front and we hopefully can bring solid fruit in.

J Nicole's Vineyard

NJ: Share a little bit about your wines. Especially about your Pinot Noir, about your sparkling Rose, which is wonderful, and your J Pear after dinner drink which is superb.

MS: The J Brut Rose sparkling wine is about 65% Pinot Noir and the balance is mostly Chardonnay a little bit of Meunier as well. We’ve just put it in a new package; it’s a sexy little package - clear glass with a swoopy J on the front. It’s a sexy wine, a brilliant, nice pink color. It’s a wine that’s really vivid in strawberry, grapefruit, very crisp, very light, and I think a perfect summer wine.

NJ: You have little bubbles, and that’s one thing when you’re looking for a good champagne or sparkling, you want little bubbles bubbling up to the top and that is what J does.

MS: Right, it’s got what we call formability. It’s got little bubbles and that’s a good thing and it’s not too fruity and really not too sweet either. And that’s the thing with wine; it can be fruit forward without being sweet. And the Pinot Noir is, for me mostly plum and cherry, a little bit of tobacco, just a kiss of rustic-ness. I love Pinot Noir and have been making it for many many years.

NJ: It’s very popular right now too and I think California Pinot Noir has more substance than when you think of a light Pinot Noir of days gone by.

MS: Yeah, especially in the Russian River Valley- that Pinot Noir is a little more brooding, it’s darker fruit - it’s more of a Cabernet wine drinker’s Pinot.

NJ: What else would you say regarding J Vineyards and the wines that you produce and being a woman owned vineyard and a woman winemaker? That also is an exceptional thing.

Judy Jordan, J Founder & President

MS: Well, Judy’s a cool lady. She has owned the winery for 25 years, which is amazing to me. She founded the brand when she was 25 years old and I think back to when I was 25 years old and I can’t imagine being mature enough to do that. She’s a neat lady and I feel very proud to make wine for her.

CLUB J | DIRECTIONS | EVENT CALENDAR | GIFT BOUTIQUE | WINE SHOP

Cheers,

J Vineyards & Winery

The Chef Series Wine Mixer, Featuring J Premium Varietal & Sparkling Wines Hosted by Peter Dills of Dining with Dills on March 8, 2012!

Raise your glass with Peter Dills from KABC Talk Radio on March 8th for the next Chef Series "Mix & Mingle" Wine Tasting at The Winery Restaurant & Wine Bar from 6pm-8pm. They will be tasting the premium varietal & sparkling wines from J Vineyards & Winery.  

The Winery Restaurant & Wine Bar

2647 Park Avenue

Tustin, CA  92782

Mix & Mingle Reservations: (714) 258-7600

Space is limited.

ABOUT J

Founded in 1986 by Judy Jordan, J Vineyards & Winery is an independently-owned Sonoma County winery. The Winery continues its 25th Anniversary celebration.

J Vineyards & Winery focuses on non-vintage Brut, Vintage Brut, and Brut Rosé sparkling wines, as well as Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris Estate varietal wines, all produced from grapes farmed primarily within Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley appellation.

The J Vineyards & Winery Visitor Center and Bubble Room is located at 11447 Old Redwood Highway, south of Healdsburg. To learn more, or to join the J WineClub, go to www.jwine.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook.

J Vineyards & Winery at 12th Annual World of Pinot Noir on March 2nd & 3rd 2012 at the Cliffs Resort in Shell Beach, CA!

J Vineyards & Winery looks forward to seeing you at the 12^th Annual World of Pinot Noir Grand Tastings on Saturday, March 3.  We will be pouring our exceptional 2009 Russian River Pinot Noir and the 2009 Nicole’s Vineyard Pinot Noir!  When you stop by our tasting table, let us know you are a J Fan and you will have the opportunity to taste the J Brut Rosé as well, a perfect way to start and end a tasting event with colleagues and friends!

In addition, if you are attending the Seaside Fête Dinner on Friday, March 2, J will be there sharing a bit of our Brut Rosé, making your evening a bit more sparkling under the stars. 

You will experience a seaside feast with cuisine from Central Coast chefs, and Pinot Noir from host wineries. The WOPN Seaside Fête will take place at the beach and under the stars. The area's most-revered chefs will prepare a fresh, seasonal, local cuisine that will seduce the palate of Pinot Noir lovers. A beach bonfire and live band are the exclamation to an evening that will be one to be remembered. 

Enjoy Worldwide Pinot Noir, complemented by fresh, and locally produced, creative cuisine at the World of Pinot Noir on March 2nd and 3rd 2012 at the Cliffs Resort in Shell Beach, CA.

ABOUT J

Founded in 1986 by Judy Jordan, J Vineyards & Winery is an independently-owned Sonoma County winery. The Winery is celebrating its 25th Anniversary.

 

J Vineyards & Winery focuses on non-vintage Brut, Vintage Brut, and Brut Rosé sparkling wines, as well as Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris varietal wines, all crafted from grapes farmed primarily within Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley appellation.

The J Vineyards & Winery Visitor Center and Bubble Room is located at 11447 Old Redwood Highway, south of Healdsburg. To learn more, or to join the J Wine Club, go to www.jwine.com. You can also follow us on Facebook.