Showing posts with label Jackson Family Wines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jackson Family Wines. Show all posts

Sunday, April 6, 2025

La Crema Coastal Chardonnay with Homemade Chicken Piccata

La Crema Coastal Chardonnay with Homemade Chicken Piccata

Sunday afternoon dinner, we prepared homemade chicken piccata with corn, peas, carrots and pasta. I opened a basic Sonoma Coast Chardonnay to pair as an accompaniment. 

La Crema Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 2023 

This is from a historically family owned and operated winery that was originally named, La Crema Viñera which means "best of the vine," founded in 1979. Over the ensuing 35 years, they focused exclusively on cool-climate appellations and single vineyard sites, from their original home in the Russian River Valley, to Monterey and, now, the Willamette Valley. 

Through rigorous vineyard site selection and boutique winemaking techniques they consistently produced affordable balanced expressive wines such that they were named Winery of the Year in 2024 by Wine Enthusiast.

But the real story here is that La Crema is part of the vast Kendall Jackson portfolio of vineyards, wineries and brands. I wrote about the meteoric rise of Kendall Jackson to the pinnacle of the US wine industry, as it was featured in an earlier blogpost - Kendall-Jackson Grand Reserve Chardonnay 2018, excerpted below

Building on the premise of affordable quality wines, Jackson Family Wines have amassed no less than forty leading brands including historic widely popular labels such as Freemark Abbey to ultra-premium labels/brands such as LaJota, Cardinale, Mt Brave and Lakoya. One can’t say enough about the astonishing powerhouse Jackson Family has become in the global wine industry.

The whole story is chronicled in the book A Man and His Mountain, the story of self-made billionaire Jess Jackson and his pursuit of his dream to build a brand of premium varietal based wine for the mass market. His accomplishments over the ensuring two and a half decades exceeded all expectations achieving the art of the possible building a multi-billion dollar wine empire. 

While the book focuses on Kendall Jackson Reserve Chardonnay and its rise to the number 1 selling Chardonnay in America, the same story and principles apply to and strongly parallel La Crema as well. 

The Jackson family acquired La Crema in the early ‘90s, with a belief in “dreaming big (our entrepreneurial energy is intense) and an unwavering commitment to wine quality”. The family cultivated La Crema, as told by Jackson’s daughter, Jenny Jackson Hartford:

“When my father, Jess Jackson, and Barbara Banke acquired La Crema in 1993, my husband, Don Hartford, with my sister Laura and I, set out on a mission to craft wines that truly express the essence of cool-climate vineyards. We were hands-on in those early days, managing operations, building the winery where we still make wine today, and sharing our passion with wine lovers across the country. That vision lead to recognition with the award of  “American Winery of the Year” by Wine Enthusiast Magazine.

The Kendall-Jackon Jess Jackson Story

In 1974, Jess Jackson purchased an 80-acre pear and walnut orchard up in Lake County, California, just north of Napa Valley, and replanted it with Chardonnay grapevines. In 1982, Jess and his family set out to make a premium, yet affordable, California wine.

In 1982, he set out for New York City to establish distribution for his new concept wine and unknown brand. That same year, that inaugural vintage of Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay won the first-ever Platinum Award for an American Chardonnay at The American Wine Competition.

Soon thereafter, President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy, native Californians, wanted to serve a California wine in the White House. Nancy discovered and fell in love with the taste of Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay and selected Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay as their 'house wine'. San Francisco Chronicle's Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Herb Caen, caught wind of the story and wrote a column about the wine referring to the Chardonnay as "Nancy’s wine." The brand was established, demand exploded, and the company grew exponentially.

By 1991, Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay had become the #1 selling Chardonnay in America, and remains so to this day.

In 2007, Jess Jackson was honored with the Wine Enthusiast Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award, awarded each year to the individuals and companies that have made outstanding achievements in the wine and beverage world. Jess Jackson was one of the first and largest winemakers to introduce America to varietal-specific wine, not only increasing the public’s understanding and appreciation of wine, but also making it affordable.

Jess Jackson passed away in April of 2011.

In 2013, Wine Enthusiast named Barbara Banke, Jackson's second wife and long-time partner who helped him build the business, and succeeded him as its leader, as its 2013 Wine Person of the Year. The first woman to win the award, Barbara shares it with Jess, the magazine’s inaugural recipient in 2000.

In 2017 Kendall-Jackson was awarded Winery of the Year by Wine Enthusiast Magazine.

https://www.kj.com//wine/grand-reserve/chardonnay

Like Kendall Jackson, La Crema was a pioneer, begun at a time during which few wineries in California were making Pinot Noir, and even fewer were doing so with a single-vineyard focus. A group of wine lovers ran the show back then using old-world techniques such as whole-cluster pressing and open-top fermentation. This was the basis for making fine wines, but with stellar fruit from exceptional vineyard sites. La Crema, like KJ took a different approach. 

That evolution took shape in the early 1990s when Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke instilled in the winery the artisan ethos and simple vision: “That Pinot Noir should be as popular as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and La Crema could be the vehicle to do that.”

Jackson and Banke purchased La Crema in 1993 and produced the first vintage in 1994. Two years later a new winery was constructed in the fog-shrouded, redwood-lined Russian River Valley appellation. Jackson’s daughters, Laura Jackson Giron and Jenny Jackson Hartford, along with his sons-in-law, Rick Giron and Don Hartford, took on leadership roles at La Crema: managing the day-to-day operations and representing the winery out in the market. 

Right after the new millennium, La Crema set out to nurture an estate vineyard program comprising the best cool-climate sites along the West Coast. The winery began working extensively with fruit from appellations including Sonoma Coast, Green Valley, Anderson Valley, and Los Carneros, extending its reach into Monterey in 2008, and then to Oregon’s Willamette Valley in 2012.

Over the next decade, the winery added wines from cool-climate vineyards in California and Oregon. In 2013 they bought the historic Sonoma Valley property owned by Richard and Saralee McClelland Kunde. They launched a three-year rehabilitation of the circa-1900 barn on the property and reopened it as the La Crema Estate at Saralee’s Vineyard in 2016. Today, this serves as their hospitality center and modern tasting room in downtown Healdsburg.

Since 2009, the winery operated under the expertise of Head Winemaker Craig McAllister overseeing production from Willamette Valley in Oregon to Sta. Rita Hills in California. McAllister samples grapes from every block of every vineyard, tasting each lot to craft the best wines possible, applying high-touch but low-intervention, something that’s a rarity for wineries at La Crema’s scale.

A New-Zealand native, Craig McAllister spent his first 20 years in Christchurch, New Zealand, and Lincoln University in New Zealand, where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in viticulture and enology.

Craig pursued his passion for winemaking traveling from New Zealand to Australia, Chile and Cyprus before coming to the US and joining La Crema team in 2007 as the Harvest Enologist, and then full-time in 2009. He was promoted to head winemaker in 2017.

La Crema’s story follows the long legacy of chairman and proprietor, Barbara Banke and Jess Jackson, who discovered new vineyard terrains to establish and grow the brand. Today it is operated by the next generation Laura Jackson Giron and Jenny Jackson Hartford, Jess Jackson’s eldest daughters, along with Jenny’s husband. Katie Jackson and Julia Jackson, daughters of Barbara and Jess, and Hailey Jackson Hartford Murray, daughter of Jenny and Don, are the next generation to carry forward the family’s legacy and business going forward. 

Hailey Jackson Hartford Murray, granddaughter of the legendary Jess Jackson, and daughter of Jenny Jackson Hartford and Don Hartford, grew up in the iconic wine family, growing up amidst the century-old Zinfandel vines in her Sonoma backyard. After working harvests in France, Chile, and the Russian River Valley, she chose to leave her biology degree to dive fully into winemaking. She participated in harvests at Yangarra Estate in McLaren Vale, Australia, and Château Lassègue in Bordeaux. Today she works at La Crema and lives with her husband, Max Murray, and their two children where it all started: Sonoma County.

Sonoma County native Lisa Valtenbergs serves as Facility Winemkaer at La Crema. Inspired by Sonoma’s agricultural traditions, she got her degree in Agriculture Business with a minor in Viticulture from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She studied international wine marketing at the University of Adelaide in South Australia and earned a Winemaker’s Certificate from UC Davis.

After stints at several wineries in California, Lisa re-joined Jackson Family Wines as a production enologist for Kendall-Jackson in 2004, and in 2006, she was promoted to assistant winemaker. In 2008, she became assistant winemaker for Stonestreet Estate Vineyards, then eventually winemaker in 2014, producing a string of six vintages of widely-acclaimed high elevation Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Following a year-long global travel sabbatical with a vintage in South Australia’s McLaren Vale, Lisa joined the La Crema winemaking team in July 2022. 

Lisa is joined by Winemaker Eric Johannsen, a native of Santa Cruz Mountains wine country in Northern California. After receiving undergraduate degrees in Chemistry and Philosophy, with some restaurant work on the side, Eric began to pursue a Master of Science in Enology at the University of California, Davis.

Before joining the La Crema team in 2004, Eric worked at Mount Eden Vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Cuvaison Estate Wines in Napa, and Williams Selyem Winery in Healdsburg. Eric has pursued understanding of wines from around the world visiting Argentina, Australia, and France, including the Grand Cru vineyards of Burgundy.

La Crema Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 2023

Winemaker notes - “Nose of Meyer lemon, white flowers and subtle hints of oak. Golden peach and pineapple, are followed by flavors of graham cracker crust, with a vibrant and concentrated acidity that drives a lingering ‘

“Aromas of Meyer lemon, pear and white flowers are supported on the nose by subtle hints of oak. Followed by flavors of crisp apple, golden peach, and pineapple. On the palate, flavors of graham cracker pie crust add a vein of richness. Fleshy, vibrant, and concentrated, juicy yet a balanced acidity drives a lingering finish.”

Good QPR - (Quality Price Ratio) in this entry level every day Chardonnay. 

Straw colored, medium bodied, full round crisp fruit flavors of peach peak through the subdued lemon citrus background with notes of apple and hints of pineapple with pleasant balanced acidity on the lingering finish. 

RM 87 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=5091822

https://www.lacrema.com/

https://twitter.com/LaCremaWines


Friday, February 11, 2022

Arrowood Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

Arrowood Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

Linda prepared hearty Chicken Cacciatore in a zesty sauce of tomatos, mushrooms, onions, herbs of provence and sherry. Cacciatore means “hunter” in Italian, and it is hunters who first ate this dish. It is thought that the first Chicken Cacciatore was not made with chicken, but with rabbit or other wild game, sometime during the Renaissance period, between the 14th and 16th centuries. Chicken Cacciatore’s simple but delicious recipe was likely developed to satisfy the appetites of hunters who may have been on the track of a larger animal or herd of animals for several days, and who needed a tasty, filling stew that could easily be cooked outdoors to keep them going.

This warranted a nice hearty red wine  - not too big or complex, but not too small/light, not too fruity, but firm enough to stand up to the sauce. I selected from the cellar this Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon and it proved to be an ideal pairing for maximum enjoyment of both the food and the wine. 

Before I write any more about this wine or this food pairing, I found this ..... Amazingly, the last time we tasted and I blogged about this wine was exactly a year ago tonight! Wine karma? In any event, history repeats itself, and tonight's tasting was a recreation of that earlier evening and the experience was consistent with that last year in every respect when I published the following post.

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2021/02/arrowood-sonoma-county-cabernet.html

Thursday, February 11, 2021 

Arrowood Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

The deep freeze in Chicago continues and we remain shut in for winter and of course Covid. Having a deep and broad wine cellar reduces the dread of cabin fever and makes for enjoyable evenings dipping in to our collection. 

Tonight, Linda created a delicious medley of grilled steak, sweet potatoes and mushrooms. This was a wonderful pairing that suited this Sonoma County Cabernet perfectly. As I've written several times recently, an ideal food and wine pairing such as this accentuates the enjoyment of the whole experience, enhancing the wine and the food. 

We've visited or stopped by the Arrowood winery a couple times during visits to Sonoma, the winery sitting just north of town back off the highway. We hold a collection of this label dating back to 1991 of which we acquired a case upon release and still hold just a couple remaining bottles, along with a half dozen other vintages including this '04. 

My opinion and experience is that the Sonoma County Cabs tend to be lighter and softer (than Napa's) and therefore a bit more approachable and less challenging, more suitable to casual sipping and lighter or less complex food pairing. 

This is the craftwork of winemaker producer Richard Arrowood. Born in San Francisco and raised in Santa Rosa, he started his winemaking career in 1965 at Korbel Champagne Cellars just north of St Helena. He earned degrees in organic chemistry at California State Sacramento and graduate work in enology at California State, Fresno. He moved from Korbel to United Vintners, then Sonoma Vineyards. 

From 1974 through 1990, he was winemaker at Chateau St. Jean, where he developed some of the first vineyard-designate Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon produced in Sonoma County. His role there grew to be winemaker and Executive Vice President of Chateau St Jean.

He and his wife, Alis, founded Arrowood Winery with the 1985 vintage where they produced small-lot varietals and vineyard designates. In April 1990, after sixteen years at Chateau St. Jean, Richard set out to devote himself full-time to Arrowood where he was producer/winemaster. He originally planned to produce reserve quality Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon only, but his passion for making wine lead him to explore and develop unusual varietals that he believed had potential to produce exceptional fruit. The Arrowood portfolio expanded to include Merlot, Viognier, Pinot Blanc, Late Harvest wines, Malbec, Syrah and a few special reserve wines.

Richard and Alis were successful building the Arrowood brand and portfolio which they sold to Robert Mondavi in 2000. Richard and Alis stayed on, but left after Constellation Brands purchased Mondavi in 2004 and subsequently sold Arrowood in 2005 to the (now bankrupt) Legacy Estate Group. 

Jackson Family Wines acquired Arrowood Vineyards & Winery through the bankruptcy court in September 2006. I wrote recently about the Jackson Family history upon reading the book, A Man and His Mountain, a chronicle about Jess Jackson. 

Richard continued as winemaster there until June 2010, when he founded and left to devote his energies full-time to Amapola Creek Vineyards and Winery. They sold Amapola in 2019 and set out to retire after 54 years in the wine business.  

Arrowood Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

This release is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (89.9%), Merlot (7.2%), Malbec and (1.6%), Petit Verdot (1.3%), all from Sonoma County.

Winemaker notes: "This 2004 Arrowood Caberent Sauvignon is a lovely, complex wine that exemplifies our distinctive style. Beginning with exceptional fruit from several Sonoma County vineyards, we selected and blended small lots of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Malbec. Each key component was aged for nearly two years in French and American oak. To retain maximum complexity, we chose not to fine or filter this wine, hence a small amount of harmless sedimentation may occur. Although delicious now, this rich and complex claret will develop well beyond the next decade.' 

"Our 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon is a complete wine. It is a testament to both vintage and the vineyards. The growing season opened with a heat wave in the first half of March triggering an early bloom. The remainder of the year was awash in warm days, cool nights and morning fog. All in all, we feel it was one of the finest Cabernet vintages of the last decade.'

"For vineyards, this Cabernet combines our favorite bench, hillside and mountain sites (many organically farmed) in Sonoma, Alexander and Dry Creek Valleys. By blending lots from a variety of sources Richard was able to capture the character of the vintage and the essence of Sonoma County Cabernet."

Back in 2016 I wrote about this release, "I have two left in the cellar and I wish I had more. At a dozen years old, it must be at the apex of its drinking window - it was delicious and a perfect compliment to the steak and to the anti pasta caprese salad.'

"We often turn to Sonoma County Cab's for more casual sipping as they are thought to be a bit lighter and softer than their Napa counterparts. There was nothing wimpy or second class to this Big Cab."

While the Arrowood winery and vineyards are located in Sonoma Valley just north of the town of Sonoma, they source the fruit for this label from three different Sonoma County AVA's - Knights Valley, Alexander Valley and Sonoma Valley. We consider Arrowood to be a benchmark, representing the best of Sonoma Cabernet.

We have visited the Arrowood properties on several of our trips to Sonoma Valley. 

This wine represents great value, high QPR as Arrowood seem to have held the price on this label as similar Napa and Sonoma labels have risen by 30-40% over the decade.

At sixteen years, this was drinking very nicely, probably still at its apex, not likely to improve any further with aging, but not showing any signs of diminution whatsoever. The filled level was proper and the cork was in perfect condition.

Wine Enthusiast gave this release 93 points. 

Blend: 89.9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7.2% Merlot, 1.6% Malbec, 1.3% Petit Verdot
 
Back in 2016 I wrote, Dark blackish garnet color, medium-full bodied, the berry fruit aromas filled the room on opening, bold expressive black cherry accented by a layer of leather, mocha and hint of cedar and spice on the long smooth soft tanning finish.

Tonight this was dark garnet colored, medium-full bodied, complex yet nicely integrated and balanced rich elegant dark berry fruits with floral notes turning to cassis, hints of black tea and oak with smooth soft tannins and balanced acid on a lingering finish. 
 
RM 91 points. 
 
 
https://www.amapolacreek.com/

Thursday, February 11, 2021

Arrowood Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

Arrowood Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

The deep freeze in Chicago continues and we remain shut in for winter and of course Covid. Having a deep and broad wine cellar reduces the dread of cabin fever and makes for enjoyable evenings dipping in to our collection. 

Tonight, Linda created a delicious medley of grilled steak, sweet potatoes and mushrooms. This was a wonderful pairing that suited this Sonoma County Cabernet perfectly. As I've written several times recently, an ideal food and wine pairing such as this accentuates the enjoyment of the whole experience, enhancing the wine and the food. 

We've visited or stopped by the Arrowood winery a couple times during visits to Sonoma, the winery sitting just north of town back off the highway. We hold a collection of this label dating back to 1991 of which we acquired a case upon release and still hold just a couple remaining bottles, along with a half dozen other vintages including this '04. 

My opinion and experience is that the Sonoma County Cabs tend to be lighter and softer (than Napa's) and therefore a bit more approachable and less challenging, more suitable to casual sipping and lighter or less complex food pairing. 

This is the craftwork of winemaker producer Richard Arrowood. Born in San Francisco and raised in Santa Rosa, he started his winemaking career in 1965 at Korbel Champagne Cellars just north of St Helena. He earned degrees in organic chemistry at California State Sacramento and graduate work in enology at California State, Fresno. He moved from Korbel to United Vintners, then Sonoma Vineyards. 

From 1974 through 1990, he was winemaker at Chateau St. Jean, where he developed some of the first vineyard-designate Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon produced in Sonoma County. His role there grew to be winemaker and Executive Vice President of Chateau St Jean.

He and his wife, Alis, founded Arrowood Winery with the 1985 vintage where they produced small-lot varietals and vineyard designates. In April 1990, after sixteen years at Chateau St. Jean, Richard set out to devote himself full-time to Arrowood where he was producer/winemaster. He originally planned to produce reserve quality Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon only, but his passion for making wine lead him to explore and develop unusual varietals that he believed had potential to produce exceptional fruit. The Arrowood portfolio expanded to include Merlot, Viognier, Pinot Blanc, Late Harvest wines, Malbec, Syrah and a few special reserve wines.

Richard and Alis were successful building the Arrowood brand and portfolio which they sold to Robert Mondavi in 2000. Richard and Alis stayed on, but left after Constellation Brands purchased Mondavi in 2004 and subsequently sold Arrowood in 2005 to the (now bankrupt) Legacy Estate Group. 

Jackson Family Wines acquired Arrowood Vineyards & Winery through the bankruptcy court in September 2006. I wrote recently about the Jackson Family history upon reading the book, A Man and His Mountain, a chronicle about Jess Jackson. 

Richard continued as winemaster there until June 2010, when he founded and left to devote his energies full-time to Amapola Creek Vineyards and Winery. They sold Amapola in 2019 and set out to retire after 54 years in the wine business.  

Arrowood Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

This release is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (89.9%), Merlot (7.2%), Malbec and (1.6%), Petit Verdot (1.3%), all from Sonoma County.

Winemaker notes: "This 2004 Arrowood Caberent Sauvignon is a lovely, complex wine that exemplifies our distinctive style. Beginning with exceptional fruit from several Sonoma County vineyards, we selected and blended small lots of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Malbec. Each key component was aged for nearly two years in French and American oak. To retain maximum complexity, we chose not to fine or filter this wine, hence a small amount of harmless sedimentation may occur. Although delicious now, this rich and complex claret will develop well beyond the next decade.' 

"Our 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon is a complete wine. It is a testament to both vintage and the vineyards. The growing season opened with a heat wave in the first half of March triggering an early bloom. The remainder of the year was awash in warm days, cool nights and morning fog. All in all, we feel it was one of the finest Cabernet vintages of the last decade.'

"For vineyards, this Cabernet combines our favorite bench, hillside and mountain sites (many organically farmed) in Sonoma, Alexander and Dry Creek Valleys. By blending lots from a variety of sources Richard was able to capture the character of the vintage and the essence of Sonoma County Cabernet."

Back in 2016 I wrote about this release, "I have two left in the cellar and I wish I had more. At a dozen years old, it must be at the apex of its drinking window - it was delicious and a perfect compliment to the steak and to the anti pasta caprese salad.'

"We often turn to Sonoma County Cab's for more casual sipping as they are thought to be a bit lighter and softer than their Napa counterparts. There was nothing wimpy or second class to this Big Cab."

While the Arrowood winery and vineyards are located in Sonoma Valley just north of the town of Sonoma, they source the fruit for this label from three different Sonoma County AVA's - Knights Valley, Alexander Valley and Sonoma Valley. We consider Arrowood to be a benchmark, representing the best of Sonoma Cabernet.

We have visited the Arrowood properties on several of our trips to Sonoma Valley. 

This wine represents great value, high QPR as Arrowood seem to have held the price on this label as similar Napa and Sonoma labels have risen by 30-40% over the decade.

At sixteen years, this was drinking very nicely, probably still at its apex, not likely to improve any further with aging, but not showing any signs of diminution whatsoever. The filled level was proper and the cork was in perfect condition.

Wine Enthusiast gave this release 93 points. 

Blend: 89.9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7.2% Merlot, 1.6% Malbec, 1.3% Petit Verdot
 
Back in 2016 I wrote, Dark blackish garnet color, medium-full bodied, the berry fruit aromas filled the room on opening, bold expressive black cherry accented by a layer of leather, mocha and hint of cedar and spice on the long smooth soft tanning finish.

Tonight this was dark garnet colored, medium-full bodied, complex yet nicely integrated and balanced rich elegant dark berry fruits with floral notes turning to cassis, hints of black tea and oak with smooth soft tannins and balanced acid on a lingering finish. 
 
RM 91 points. 
 
 
https://www.amapolacreek.com/