WTN: El Alma de Jonata 2007

Lockdown Wine #52. From Jonata's inaugural vintage, this wine from Santa Ynez is mostly Cabernet Franc with a little Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot. The big deal about Jonata was that it's owned by the same person who owns Screaming Eagle.

Left in the glass for about 45 minutes. Very dark, unevolved color. Nose is black fruit, a bit of vanilla, fragrant wood, tobacco, and milk chocolate. Pretty austere and dry at first. More Old Worldy than New. Needs food and about an hour decant to express itself better. Rich and dense, black berries and plums. Touch of dust and dried herbs, cocoa powder, mint. Soft tannins. Still on the dry side. The fruit and sweetness are fairly subdued. Finishes slightly bitter. Good length. Very polished. Good wine, but somehow I find it boring.

Although you could drink it now with about an hour decanting, and preferably with food, I think this is worth cellaring a few more years and hopefully it becomes more interesting.

[Jenise]

Love that you had this wine, loved reading this note. I own a bottle of a later vintage and have had no idea what to expect but secretly hoped for something Harlan The Maiden-ish considering the price tag. Words like "austere" and "subdued" are certainly not what I expected to read about. That's a fairly cool-vintage kind of description for what generally wasn't a cool vintage, though it isn't always wise to presume Napa-Sonoma weather conditions this far south.

[Jenise]

Okay, so checked out recent notes on my 2013, and feel a bit reassured. These are the most recent two:

Deep ruby/some purple. Blockbuster nose - stewed plum, blueberry, mint, inky, vanilla, gaminess/savoury note, earthy. High acidity, medium(+) satin tannins, full bodied - very dense flavours on the palate. Long, pronounced finish. Huge wine in typical Jonata fashion - very dense, fruit forward.

Inviting nose of stewed blueberries, mint, roses. Palate shows tremendous balance of acidity, tannic structure, and alcohol (ABV 13.5% - relatively low for a California wine these days!). Nice finish. El alma is the cab franc-based Bordeaux blend by Jonata, a winery I have tremendous respect for. Great finesse on display with this wine.

[David M. Bueker]

I have always wanted to achieve finesse in my stewed blueberries.

Jenise, glad you found the review useful. Note that it was "austere and dry" at first, and got more fruit as it was exposed to air and with food. I have one more bottle of this and will probably keep it for 5 years or so to see how it develops.

[Jenise]

Oh, I got that. Really the most concerning element was that in the end you found it boring. I can't come up with a name just now but I can certainly relate to feeling that way about a lot of modern wines.