2009 Flor

Winemaker Matt Dees told me that he considers 2009 to be a remarkable vintage for syrah "because we were able to get both richness and energy in the wines.They also express red fruit qualities, which people don't usually expect that we can get here."We talked for a bit about the sujet du jour of my trip, which was the pursuit of finesse.Dees averred that "it's really difficult to achieve finesse with young vines.You get intense fruit but to get real elegance the vines have to be mature, and that's starting to happen now."He is very pleased with the fruit he gets from Ballard Canyon "because it holds its acidity for a really long time, meaning you don't have to rush the harvest."In addition, Dees went on, "the tannins in Ballard Canyon fruit are smoother than from other places, which gives the wine more upfront appeal."

Jonata truly stands out in the Central Coast as a producer of exceptionally refined wines. This year I tasted with Winemaker Matt Dees and General Manager Armand de Maigret. According to Dees, macerations were quite long in 2009 because the grapes had very high levels of phenolic ripeness. Vintage 2010 was trickier, especially with regards to rain that claimed at least one victim, the Cabernet Franc- based El Alma de Jonata, which was not produced that year. The 2009 reds were all in bottle, while the 2010 reds were in barrel. I also tasted the new releases from The Hilt, a new Pinot/Chardonnay project that is reviewed separately in these pages.

General Manager Armand de Maigret, Assistant Winemaker Drew Pickering and Vineyard Manager Ruben Solorzano showed me a wide range of wines at Jonata. The estate is currently owned by investor Stan Kroenke. Matt Dees is Winemaker, while Michel Rolland is the consulting oenologist. This large, sprawling estate spans 600+ acres, 82 of which are under vine, in Ballard Canyon, a newly proposed AVA that is under review for approval in the Santa Ynez Valley. Vintage 2008 was a colder year overall, with significant amounts of shatter and heat spikes towards the end of the growing season. The 2009s show more overt, fruit forward personalities. Both vintages are quite beautiful. I also tasted a number of older wines. With the exception of the Sangre, the wines appear to be aging at a fairly fast pace. Of course, drinking windows remain a highly personal aspect of wine appreciation, but readers who own the estate's older vintages should be checking in on the wines periodically to chart their development. I don't see too much upside potential from cellaring those wines, the 2005s and 2006s in particular, further. Accordingly I have kept drinking windows for the 2008s and 2009s relatively short. I will be thrilled if the wines end up exceeding my expectations, but at this stage only the Sangre appears to be a wine with medium and long-term aging potential.