2011 El Alma de Jonata

Producing consistently great wines often comes down to knowing when and how to make small adjustments. Few do it better than Matt Dees at Jonata. Over the last few years, Dees has put together a seriously impressive range of wines here. The 2011s and 2012s go from strength to strength. All of that is especially impressive considering Jonata has come a very long way. Some years back, a well-known French winemaker was asked what he thought would grow well on the property. The answer? Asparagus.

Jonata was one of the most pleasant surprises of my trip in the Central Coast this year. The wines have been terrific for some time, but winemaker Matt Dees seems to be taking things to a new level. A slightly less pushed style, more reliance on slightly larger barrels and less new oak are all relatively recent developments here. Of course, the vineyards are also getting older, and that has a huge impact on quality and complexity. In the past, the Jonata wines haven't always aged gracefully, but I get the sense that is going to be less of an issue going forward. This is a superb set of wines across the board. I tasted all of the wines from two sets of bottles; one was opened just prior to my arrival, the other set was opened and immediately re-corked about twelve hours in advance. In most cases, the bottles that had been opened overnight were more expressive, so I suggest giving these wines a healthy decant it possible.