2019 Jonata, Todos, Red Wine, Ballard Canyon, Santa Ynez Valley.
The Jonata Todos Red Wine, made from Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot, Merlot and Cabernet Franc coming from Ballard Canyon in the Santa Ynez Valley, is a luxurious and full bodied wine with an opaque dark purple/garnet color, sweet floral and spicy aromatics and a rich opulent palate of black and red fruits. Again, the Syrah leads the way, with lots of whole cluster personality giving tons of excitement here with its lush dense blue and black fruits and umami background. This 2019 follows this wine’s previous style and is filled with similar layers of earthy boysenberry, black raspberry, plum, currant and dark sweet cherry fruits leading along with a touch of violets, tobacco, dried lavender, peppercorns, anise, and light woody cedar notes, but seems more complex and complete than my prior experience, it is impressive stuff again from Jonata and winemaker Matt Dees. This edition saw 48% Syrah, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petite Sirah, 9% Merlot, 2% Sangiovese, and 5% of other varietals, including white and red grapes and aged in mainly used French oak, with just about 20% being new, with helps promote transparency and still smooths out the tannin, though it seems quite firm enough to age and has nice acidity helping keep it fresh. This wine is the gateway wine to the upper end bottlings here at Jonata and represents a savvy value, especially in the vintages I’ve had over the years.
The Jonata and The Hilt wines are made by, as noted before here, the highly regarded Matt Dees, one of California’s great new generation of winemakers, with this particular bottling being a fascinating red blend from tiny yields on the Jonata estate, which is set on sandy soils. Dees, with a degree in Soil Science from the University of Vermont, has done stints at Staglin in Napa and Craggy Range in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, and is a firm believer in organic and or sustainable farming practices and is looking to transmit the terroir into the wine with transparency, with this one being a unique example of his work. I recently tasted and reviewed Jonata’s sister label The Hilt, which specializes in Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay and Pinot. This Todos cuvée was selected from separate fermentation lots, sort of a kitchen sink blend with a Rhone meets Bordeaux feel to it, while also being a pure California wine. The color and aromatic quality here is very seductive and brings all of your senses alive, this Todos gains another level of dimension with food, the simpler the better, it also allows the tannic nature to gracefully smooth out and makes the finish much longer and pleasing. Jonata has been making this Todos blend from quite a while, with great success, and the vines at Jonata are immaculately taken care of by local legend Ruben Solórzano, who is also responsible for the vineyards at Stopman, so you known the grapes are awesome here, as this intriguing red wine shows, I highly recommend it again.
($60 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive