“The quality control we have from start to finish results in sparkling wines that are elegant and expressive.” —Melissa Stackhouse
Making sparkling wine isn’t for the faint of heart. The same bubbles that do a happy dance in your mouth can amplify flaws in the taste of wine. Then there’s the process of developing those bubbles in the first place, which requires a minimum aging period of three years.
Consequently, the ambitious few wineries that take on the sparkling challenge must be extraordinarily precise—and patient.
J Vineyards & Winery near Healdsburg exemplifies these traits. As a result, its award-winning sparkling wines continue to earn distinction as NorthBay biz’s Best Sparkling Wine for a third year in a row.
The winery was founded in 1986 by Judy Jordan, a Stanford-trained geologist who left a position at the Western Geophysical Corporation to learn the wine trade at her father’s business, the prestigious Jordan Vineyards & Winery. Judy’s original focus at J was on sparkling wines, but now those comprise only 35 percent of the winery’s portfolio. The remainder includes varietal Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Ratafia (a dessert wine) and a pear liqueur.
In producing its sparkling wines, J follows the mêthode champenoise. It’s a fussy, intricate process that involves a series of steps: pressing; fermenting (twice); aging; riddling (trapping yeast sediment near the mouth the bottle); disgorging (freezing and then releasing the sediment); and a final laying down of six to 12 months.
Part of what makes J sparkling wines so delicious is the attention to detail shown throughout this process. French Coquard presses are used to press the grapes ever-so-gently to ensure the first juice coming from the fruit (called the cuvée) remains pristine and thus retains its more delicate fruit characteristics. The juice is fermented slowly in stainless steel tanks and then bottled. Prior to riddling, the wine becomes supple and creamy through two to three years en tirage, when the wine is resting in bottle on the lees.
“The quality control we have from start to finish results in sparkling wines that are elegant and expressive,” explains Melissa Stackhouse, vice president of winemaking at J Vineyards & Winery. “We take great care in making dosage choices for each sparkling item that maximizes balance and texture. The techniques employed at J let us capture the integrity and expression of vineyards from which we source fruit.”
The Cuvée 20 and Brut Rosé comprise the bulk of J’s annual production of sparkling wines. Both are on the crisp side and are made with a blend of grapes from vineyards in the Russian River Valley and elsewhere in Sonoma County. J’s vintage-dated and vineyard designate sparkling wines are made in limited quantities. These come from J’s estate vineyards and, because of their longer aging periods, generally offer creamier flavors reminiscent of two other examples of French genius: crème brulee and brioche.
Always an innovator, Judy Jordan has offered food and wine pairings at J’s hospitality center since the late 1990s. Today, there’s the Bubble Room, a multi-course food and wine experience featured in the 2012 BEST Of issue, and the J Legacy tasting, which offers the option to add a cheese and charcuterie plate to your choice of two different tasting flight options. The winery plans to offer special light refreshments on its terrace this summer.
The J Legacy tasting takes place on the second floor of the hospitality center, in a space overlooking the riddling room that manages to be both cozy and groovy. Chef Jason LaBue and his culinary team create all the delectable menu offerings, including the tasting options mentioned here and special catered events. On the day I tasted the cheese and charcuterie plate, it included smoked-paprika almonds that paired well with the grapefruit and angel food cake flavors of the Cuvée 20 Magnum, and an elegant fennel-orange marmalade that enhanced the hints of brioche and butterscotch in the 2006 Vintage Brut. Txiki, a sheep’s milk cheese from Marshall’s Barinaga Ranch, complemented the pear and lime notes of the 2003 Vintage Brut, Late Disgorged, while a creamy cow’s milk blue cheese from Oregon made the toasted chestnut flavors of the 2002 Vintage Brut Magnum pop. I saved the J Brut Rosé for my next visit and instead enjoyed a sip of Ratafia—a sweet ending to a sparkling experience.
