Like a clear sky on a calm summer day, the clarity and color of J Vineyards & Winery's selections shine from the bottle as though lit from the inside.
Believe it or not, the bottle a wine is put in can dramatically affect its eye appeal as much as a glitzy label. J wines are put into the clearest, most transparent bottles we have yet to encounter in the world of wines. The bottles and the wine inside them seem to glow as though they were radiating sunlight.
All this eye candy is meaningless, however, if the wine is not of the best quality. J wines are quality and considerably better than they look.
J Vineyards 2013 Pinot Gris ($16) If you are a lover of pinot gris wines, or as it also is known, pinot grigio, this offering from J Vineyards panders to that love. True to the tradition, this wine is one of the finest examples of the variety we have yet to sample.
Just opening the bottle fills the room with the aromas of pear, pineapple and lemon. The first sip offers the flavors of pear and citrus and a delightful mineral flavor. The finish is as interesting and memorable as the flavor, which is highlighted by a suggestion of lemon. Buy it for the flavor or buy it for the color; no matter which, buying it will reward your palate perhaps beyond your greatest expectations.
J Vineyards 2013 Vin Gris Rose ($20) Take some of the 2013 vin gris and add a bit of pinot noir, and you are greeted by a new wine flavor and aroma experience. This wine was made by allowing the pinot gris juice to come in contact with the skins of pinot noir grapes for a short period of time - just enough time to allow the skins to color the wine and add a suggestion of the pinot noir flavors and aromas to meld with the juice.
The resultant wine presents an attractive pink color and a flavor aroma that retains all of the characteristics of the pinot gris, and also displays the cherry and strawberry of a pinot noir.
J Vineyards 2012 Chardonnay ($28)If you are expecting a massive, continental, austere chardonnay, forget about it; this wine is as Californian as they come: big, open and very enjoyable.
This easy drinking wine runs the gamut of aromas and flavors in a chardonnay: peach, apple, vanilla, honey, pear and, of course, oak. None of these flavors are overpowering and none dominate. They mingle and merge into a glorious flavor experience that should not be missed.
J Vineyards 2013 Viognier ($30)Yes, this is an expensive wine, but we feel it is worth every penny of the price. We hope we have not overdone the superlatives with the other J Vineyards wines, but we can’t help it, so here we go again. There will be no long-winded dissertation on the rarity of the grape and its difficulty to grow, but rather an homage to the outstanding wine made from them.
The J Vineyards 2013 Viognier is golden in color with an intensely floral aroma, accented by apricots and mixed with orange blossoms. It has a similar mouth feel as a fine chardonnay, but the flavors are stronger and more pronounced. Apricot, mango, pineapple, anise, guava, kiwi and tangerine abound in the flavor. The finish also is loaded with fruit and ends in an incomparable creamy mouth feel. This wine is a great escape from familiar white wines.
Nixa resident Bennet Bodenstein is a wine columnist and manages ArticlesOnWine.com. He can be reached at frojhe1@att.net.
