A: The first thing I do after bottling is finished is take a few days off and recuperate. Getting your wine in tank and getting the wine bottled is stressful! What I do while waiting for harvest is a lot…vineyard visits, mind the latest vintage (09’s) of wine, write blogs, help sell wine on the road (lots of travel), write newsletters and tasting notes, check in new barrels and equipment, maintain equipment and the list can go on and on and on…. Oh, and I totally forgot, I do go on vacation and spend time with the family and of course drink a lot of great wine.

As a winemaker I also try to keep up to date with the latest and greatest, whether it’s new wines or equipment. Yes, I read Wine Spectator, Connoisseurs’ Guide for California Wines, Wine Advocate, ERobertParker.com and a slew of other wine publications. I try to design new experiments for the future and sometimes I just like to taste our wines and try to figure out how I could do it better. Come by the tasting room in Oakland, you might find me hanging out there as well.

Cheers!
Jeff

I feel fortunate that I have had enough years and made enough wines that I was able to put a blend together in a very short amount of time and feel positive about it. But there is always the lingering question dangling in my mind, “Is this best I can do?” Only time will tell.

Bottling went without a hitch. We bottled Ripken Late Harvest, The First Date, Stagecoach Marsanne, Rockpile Rosé, Eaglepoint Petite Sirah, The Impostor, Smoke & Mirrors, Rockpile Syrah, Buffalo Hill, So Serine, Sweetwater Zinfandel, and finally Sweetwater Petite Sirah. Next month there’s eight more to go, including a brand new blend called Misc Stuff. This is a blend of Carignane, Grenache, Tempranillo and Syrah. Pure yum!

We tried a new bottling company this time, A&T. The truck reminded me of one that is used at Cirque du Soliel. Big, bright yellow. This truck was amazing. All the bells and whistles that any winemaker could ask for. Plus, it was much more energy efficient then others we have used in the past. I wish each of you could spend a day on the bottling line and take in the joy and excitement of putting ones dream into a bottle, only to open it up one day to enjoy the magic that is wine.

In all the hustle and bustle, all of here at JC Cellars would like to thank you for your passion towards JC Cellars and hope that the New Year brings you health, happiness and prosperity.

Enjoy!
Jeff

We also have put the Sweetwater Springs Zinfandel back into the cement Hippo that we fermented in. This should prove to be a classic match. In my mind the Sweetwater zinfandel reminds me a touch of Grenache from the south of France with a big hit of raspberry! These of course are my thoughts…

Oct 28th is almost here! This is my daughter Isabel’s 10th birthday and the date Rhodes Zinfandel came in on the year of her birth in 1999! To celebrate, the family is going to Estate Restaurant, my good friend Sondra Bernstein’s second restaurant in Sonoma, and Isabel’s favorite place to dine. We will be opening a bottle of 1999 Cuvée Isabel Rhodes Vineyard Zinfandel, a 2007 Isabel Stagecoach Syrah and maybe something else.

So as you can see things are starting to mellow out a touch and I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Half-full,
Jeff

Slow fermentations produce great wines, but are slightly nerve-wracking. You just have to believe in magic, your gut instinct and in the end science. I like to think this gives wines more character and complexity.  What to do when things don’t go as planned?  In the case of slow fermentation…you watch and wait.  Things will eventually turn around and new opportunities will reveal themselves.

Due to the fantastic results from our cement egg, which we used last year to ferment Roussanne, we decided to take another leap and add another cement vessel for production. The 2.5-ton beast of a cement tank will be used to ferment a little Rockpile Syrah or perhaps a bit of Eaglepoint Ranch Petite Sirah.

Last week was a micro-bottling day here at JC Cellars. For the third year in a row, we produced a Syrah for The Girl and the Fig restaurant in downtown Sonoma. This is the perfect place to eat if you enjoy dining with a French flair and the wine list is fantastic, dedicated completely to Rhône-style wines from all parts of the world. I totally recommend the Top Sirloin burger with a bottle of the 2007 Trés Bonnes Annés Rockpile Vineyard Syrah, produced by yours truly.

We also bottled 46 cases of our first Pinot Noir EVER, from the Russian River Valley. This is a true departure for us, but at the same time it has finesse and signature JC minerality which is the backbone of all our wines. Aromatically intoxicating, it brings a pure floral explosion that excites all the senses, with a rich and incredibly silky finish.

Many of our tasting room visitors have already met Bryan’s great cellar dog Piper, a Welsh Corgi. The newest addition to Team JC Cellars is Abby, a Welsh Terrier puppy, maintaining order in our office by spending most of her day sleeping or chewing her rawhide bone. Yet another reason to stop by, taste some wine and say hello by petting some of the staff (canines only).

In all fairness, I guess I have been a little busy watching the time go by. I feel like we just ended harvest and it is slowly creeping up on us again. From what I can tell so far the growing season has been perfect (cross your fingers).

In the winery, we finished bottling in March and have been slowly releasing the 07’s. The Fess Parker, Smoke & Mirrors and the return of The Impostor have been a lot of fun to taste so soon after bottling and the fact these wines are bottled in our new package makes it even more exciting. We also just released our one of a kind: Trials and Tribulations. A dessert wine made with grapes dried on trays, until the sugars reached 44-48 brix. It took 2 years to ferment, before it finally stopped. We ended up with only 10 ½ cases out a ½ ton of fruit, so as you can guess, this wine is very limited and extraordinarily special.

As harvest approaches, certain decisions will need to be made concerning the bottling of the white wines. As Dan and I monitor The First Date components, we have come to the conclusion that the wine needs a few months in barrel and will be bottled in February, instead of July. We believe this will give some extra length and mid-palate richness. We have now realize that the cement egg has added an extra layer to the wine and we really want to take advantage of this as long as we can as we age 150 gallons of Roussanne in it.

Talking about cement eggs! We have answered the age old question, what came first The Egg or The Hippo, and yes The Egg did come first. This question is not as popular as what came first the chicken or the egg, or why did the chicken cross the road, but never mind all that. The Hippo is another cement vessel we are bringing to ferment and age our red wines in. I believe our delivery date is just two weeks away and we are all excited as we wait patiently.

Last, but not least, I am going on a sales trip to Washington D.C., Maryland…my home state…blue claw crabs, Yummy! and on to New York…bagels and pizza! Then I fly to Orlando for a little work and some good times with my family at Disney World. As the saying goes, all work and no play will make my hair even grayer.

Have Fun,

Jeff

On our last day of bottling this month we will bottle the Caldwell Syrah, which could even be darker then the Eaglepoint Petite Sirah and most likely the richest example of this vineyard we have ever produced and Broken Compass which is pure decadence - enough said. The Stagecoach Syrah is like black licorice melted over roasted earth and topped with blackberry jam. We know it sounds different, but it truly is magic in a glass. The Ventana Syrah for 2007 is even more intense the 2006 (Wine Spectator 93 points and called a full bodied expression of syrah). Just so you know, no one was hurt making our wines and we never add full bodies to them. Also from Ventana, we produced our first Grenache. I love wines from the South of France and this one has all the right components - black cherry, smoked meats, Herbs de Provence, a touch of raspberry parfait and vibrancy that brings warmth to a cold winter’s day, or an added touch to a summer picnic.

Then we have one more wine to bottle in February, the Musci Syrah from Alexander Valley. We have been producing wine from this vineyard for last few years and felt that the vineyard has matured enough to stand on its own. Just 50 cases of this sumptuous beauty will be available. The best way to guarantee getting this one is through the Wine Club.

Lastly, our most exciting news is that we have made a drastic change in our logo as many of you have noticed as you reviewed our new web site. Gone is the waiter, in is an elegant classic French Colonial JC in script. We are very excited for this change and hope to hear from you over time with your opinions.

That’s it for now. Drink it up,

Jeff

Over the past few weeks Alexandra and the girls went on a trip to Arkansas and left me to fend for myself. I survived and saw three movies during this time. This also reminds one how important time by oneself is and that we need to pamper ourselves. So I treated myself to a massage and opened a couple of really great bottles of wine. Time does slip by, so try and take it all in, but also leave some down time just for you.

The winery is starting to become busy again. Dan and I just finished tasting through all 07’s and 08’s and we are getting prepped to start bottling. The 07’s are rocking great! I think this is the first time I have been this excited to bottle since my first vintage at Rosenblum Cellars.

We have some new wines coming out for 07, such as the Smoke and Mirrors, a amazing Syrah based wine that was aged mainly in a 600 gallon Foudre; So Serine, a small production of Rockpile that we use a special clone of Syrah from the Les Grandes Places Vineyard in Cote Rôtie; and a Grenache, cool climate, from sandy, rocky soils that produces a wine of elegance and intensity. We start to bottle this month and look forward to sharing these wines with you in the near future. In fact, I may have a few under the table at the East Bay Vintners Passport tasting on April 4th at the winery.

Hope to see you there.

All the best,

Jeff

It’s now time for me, my family and Dan, my assistant winemaker to get some well deserved rest.

We will be back next year, and start all over again.

Our 07’s need to be bottled and the 08’s need to be tasted again and again and again.

We wish you all Happy Holidays and a great New Year.

And never forget that JC Cellars is a great present to give, or at least that’s what I hear.

Thank you and Happy Holidays from the JC Cellars Family