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!

J and Judy Jordan featured in Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal's Dorothy Gaiter asked J's own Judy Jordan why some champagnes and sparkling wines have more bubbles than others and whether the number of bubbles signifies quality. Judy explained how "the bubble size and number of bubbles can be directly proportional to the amount of tirage time, in other words, the amount of time the wine ages on yeast. At J Vineyards and Winery, we age our sparkling wines for a minimum of four years on the yeast... The older, creamier and more viscous sparkling wine has less room for bigger bubbles to form. As a result, more and more small bubbles appear to release the effervescence present inside the wine. The lovely visual for our taster of this aged sparkling wine is a more delicate and bountiful flow of beautiful small bubbles which look like elegant beads in a glass."

You can read the full article by clicking here or pasting the link below into your web browser:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123327629894131423.html

J Vintage Brut Featured in Forbes.com!

J Vineyards & Winery and winery's 2000 Vintage Brut was listed by ForbesLife editor Eric Arnold and StarChefs.com Wine and Spirits Editor Jim Clarke as one of their favorite sparkling wines to kick start 2009. Clarke, who is also the wine director at the New York restaurant Megu Downtown, noted that with J's sparkling wines, "you get that Champagne-like weight with the brioche character, and really ripe fruits", and went on to say that J's 2000 Vintage Brut will continue to gain complexity in the coming years.

You can read the full article by clicking here or pasting the link below into your web browser:

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

91 Points and Two Puffs for J Pinot Gris in Connoisseurs' Guide!

J Vineyards & Winery has started the new year right! The Connoisseurs' Guide To California Wines just gave J's 2007 Pinot Gris Russian River Valley 91 points, calling it "Among the deeper and more substantial Pinot Gris bottlings to be had...long on blossomy fruit with touches of sweet limes merging with elements of nectarine, peach and subtle shadings of wet stones."

You can read the review by clicking here or paste the link below into your web browser:

http://www.jwine.com/jblog/j_07pinotgris_sellsheet_1.pdf

J Cuvée 20 Featured in WSJ.com "Red, White and Brut: Inaugural Bubblies"

This weekend's Wall Street Journal featured J Cuvée 20 Brut as a great sparkling wine to celebrate the upcoming inaugural at home. Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher think J Cuvée 20 "hits all of the right notes, with good fruit, toast and some almonds, especially in the long finish. Classy wine. Would age well."

You can read the review and watch their video podcast by clicking here or paste the link below into your web browser:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123154157534169485.html