Jayson - Red Wine Napa Valley 2018 (750ml)

Notes

 

Jayson Red Wine is a distinctive blend from some of Napa Valley’s finest vineyards, crafted to express each vintage with intensity and richness. Grapes for this wine were hand-picked and hand-sorted before undergoing fermentation in stainless steel tanks to enhance its fresh fruit profile and retain its bright acidity.

 

The wine was then racked to 35% new French oak barrels for 16 months of aging. The 2018 Jayson Red offers bright, fresh-picked fruit notes, as notes of dark plum, raspberry and black currant weave playfully with hints of smooth caramel and butterscotch that linger on the finish. Velvety, expansive and deeply expressive, this is a Merlot-based blend at its fullest potential.

 

Blend: 70% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Malbec, 4% Zinfandel, 3% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petite Sirah

 

95-Points James Suckling

 

A creamy, full-bodied red with aromas of stewed blackberries, blackcurrants, dark chocolate, black tea and sweet tobacco. Ripe, polished tannins support a velvety core of dark fruit and chocolate. Delicious finish. Tight and so together. Drink or hold.

 

Pairing

 

Wild Boar ossobuco, short ribs.

 

Mountain Fruit

 

Jason Pahlmeyer understood that making wines with exceptional concentration, complexity, and ageability required venturing to extremes. That’s what drew him to the rugged parcel of vines on the ridgeline of Atlas Peak that would become his iconic estate vineyard. That is why, more than 35 years later, Pahlmeyer remains defined by mountain fruit, possessing the soulful character born of demanding terroir and exacting fieldwork.

 

Vineyards above 1,400 feet—such as our Water’s Ranch, Stagecoach, and Antica parcels—typically benefit from three more hours of sunshine per day compared to lower altitudes that are often cloaked in morning fog. This additional sunlight ensures the berries achieve a deep, rich color and complex flavor compounds.

 

With daytime temperatures averaging 5-10 F cooler, our mountain vines respire less acidity to produce energy; the acidity retained in the grapes results in greater freshness and balance in the wines. Cooler temperatures also prolong the growing season, allowing the clusters to hang longer on the vine and achieve optimal flavor development. Our Rancho Chimiles parcel, while slightly lower in elevation, sits close to the San Pablo Bay and enjoys cooling afternoon breezes that moderate temperature.

Low-Fertility, low-vigor soils yield smaller berries with greater concentration.

 

Thinner, rockier, poorer, and better-drained high-elevation soils naturally stress the vines, reducing yields by generating fewer shoots with limited clusters and smaller, thicker-skinned berries. The higher skin-to-juice ratio brings higher acidity, more tannin, and greater flavor concentration.

 

We farm responsively for balance and depth.

Farming our mountain parcels vine-by-vine, we can achieve a careful balance between broad structure and phenolic maturity. Dramatic mountain terrain challenges us with various slope grades, sun aspects, and microclimates. Through meticulous fieldwork, we optimize hang time and reach optimal ripeness, moderating Brix levels (e.g., 26.7 Brix for Cab and 24.5 for Chardonnay) so that our wines possess focused fruit and tremendous finesse.

We vinify gently for honest and vivid expression.

 

From vine to barrel, we handle the fruit with extreme care. We hand harvest, block by block only when each vine has reached optimal ripeness. The fruit, picked before sunup when skins are cool and firm, are gravity-fed to tank. Throughout the fermentation process, we employ little to no pumping, extracting juice gently with a basket press and bottling unfined and unfiltered to retain the purist, most eloquent expression of the wine.

Jayson Red Wine is a distinctive blend from some of Napa Valley’s finest vineyards, crafted to express each vintage with intensity and richness. Grapes for this wine were hand-picked and hand-sorted before undergoing fermentation in stainless steel tanks to enhance its fresh fruit profile and retain its bright acidity. The wine was then racked to 35% new French oak barrels for 16 months of aging.

The 2018 Jayson Red offers bright, fresh-picked fruit notes, as notes of dark plum, raspberry and black currant weave playfully with hints of smooth caramel and butterscotch that linger on the finish. Velvety, expansive and deeply expressive, this is a Merlot-based blend at its fullest potential.

Blend: 70% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Malbec, 4% Zinfandel, 3% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petite Sirah

A creamy, full-bodied red with aromas of stewed blackberries, blackcurrants, dark chocolate, black tea and sweet tobacco. Ripe, polished tannins support a velvety core of dark fruit and chocolate. Delicious finish. Tight and so together. Drink or hold.