The wines
of Kendall-Jackson
Vineyard Estates, California
‘We’re
hoping to stay a family business forever’, says Barbara Banke (right)
of the Jackson Family Wine Estates, adding that this is one of the few
remaining family wine businesses of this size in the USA. Barbara was
over in London to host a press lunch at Claridges; her husband Jess
Jackson was supposed to be there, too, but he was busy with his new
hobby, thoroughbred race horses – he had to stay in the USA to
negotiate the syndication of one of his horses which had just come
third in the Kentucky Derby.
‘Jess and I started the winery for relaxation 25
years ago’, recalls Banke [the ‘e’ is pronounced, by the way].
‘We were both practising barristers, we were going crazy and we
needed to relax.’ They bought a small property in Lake Country and
were planning to sell grapes. It all changed in the 1982 vintage when
they couldn’t sell the grapes and do decided to make some wine
instead.
The
famous Kendall Jackson 1982 Vintners Reserve Chardonnay was made from
eight different vineyards from cool coastal areas in California (such
as Monterey and Santa Barbara). One of the fermentations stuck and so
the resulting wine was a little sweet. It proved to be a winning
formula: the wine got an award and sold out in six weeks. Since then,
Vintners Reserve Chardonnay has followed this successful blueprint:
leave a little residual sugar in, and perhaps a touch of botrytis, and
people love it. It has achieved tremendous commercial success, to the
extent that one of its competitors has packaged their similarly priced
Chardonnay with a label that bears some resemblance to Kendall
Jackson’s, sharing the same vine leaf in autumn design.
Since 1982 Jackson Estates have been on a
vineyard-acquiring exercise. ‘Essentially, we are collectors of
these little vineyards’, says Banke. At a time when other producers
have fled from the capital cost of vineyard ownership, and bought in
grapes, Jackson Estates have become totally estate-based, with their
vineyard portfolio now totalling some 14 000 hectares.
They make everything in small lots from separate
blocks, and use traditional winemaking techniques. For 10 years they
have had a stave mill in the Vosges in partnership with a Missouri
cooperage. 80–85% of the wines are barrel fermented or aged, which
is a very high proportion for this size of company. ‘We don’t use
oak chips; we don’t use teabags; we take no shortcuts with the
wine’, says Banke.
They are still busy growing their vineyard holdings. In
the last year or two they’ve purchased Byron Vineyards and also a
vineyard in Carneros that used to belong to the Mondavis. They have
also planted another 450 acres of Pinot Noir. As an example of the
appliance of vineyard technology that Jackson Estates employ, in one
vineyard in the Sonoma mountains they have micro-emitters that mist
the vineyard, taking the temperature down by 10 degrees to stop the
vines from stressing.
And the wines? They range from solid and commercially
astute at the bottom end, to complex and serious at the top end. I was
particularly taken by the Hawkeye Mountain and Stature Cabernet
Sauvignons. Indeed, Kendall-Jackson seem to be doing quite well what
other sizeable wine companies can't manage at all - producing good
commercial wines in sizeable volumes, and also making some very nice
high end wines as well.
Kendall
Jackson Vintners Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2005
A bit of grassiness on the nose, but also some sweeter, more
honeyed notes. The palate is generous with a bit of brightness and
grassiness that stops it from being fat. 87/100
(Available in the UK at Tesco, £8.99)
Kendall Jackson Vintners Reserve Chardonnay 2005
This is the number one seller in its category in the USA. A rich
Californian style with sweet, rich fruit. There’s a richness to the
texture with a nice grapefruity, minerally tang keeping it fresh. A
rich style with some complexity. Nice. 88/100 (Quite widely available
in the UK)
Kendall Jackson Grand Reserve Chardonnay 2004
Bold and rich with sweet, almost fudgey fruit and complex toasty
notes. Generously textured. A rich style with nice acidity and
minerality. It’s complex but accessible. 90/100
Kendall Jackson Hawkeye Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
2003 Alexander Valley, Sonoma
Very impressive: dark and intense, but still fresh and expressive.
There’s a mineral freshness to the ripe dark fruits which leads to
lovely earthy structure on the palate. Complex, fresh and expressive.
Big but balanced. 93/100
Kendall Jackson Stature Cabernet Sauvignon 1999 Napa
Aromatically very fine with a bit of earth, some subtle spice and
smooth, ripe fruit. Classy and quite complex. The palate is fine,
smooth and spicy with elegance and class. Stylish and quite European
in style. 92/100
La
Crema Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2005
Nice bright cherryish fruit with a bit of herbiness. Fresh and
expressive with a bit of spice. 89/100
[When La Crema was purchased by KJ in 1992 it was bankrupt. At the
time it was making 500 000 cases; they cut this production down to 50
000 cases. Now it is profitable.]
Hartford Court Land’s Edge Vineyard Pinot Noir
2005 Russian River Valley, Sonoma
This is a small winery in the Russian River Valley, and the
vineyard is carved out of redwoods, one hill range back from the
coast. It shows a lovely focused nose of sweet cherry and berry fruit.
The palate is sweetly fruited with nice spicy structure. Elegant and
quite primary with lovely purity of fruit. 91/100
Vérité La Muse 2002 Sonoma
This is a Merlot-based blend from two Sonoma vineyards. The first
is in Bennett Valley and is planted with Petrus clone, with 32
separate blocks in the 80 acres. Enough rocks were removed when this
vineyard was first planted to construct a small building. The other is
in Knight’s Valley, with some Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon
as well as Merlot. Lovely fresh pure aromatic nose with a richer,
chocolatey, spicy edge to the fresh black fruits. The palate is quite
firm with lovely spicy tannins underneath the pure fruit. A fresh,
expressive style of wine. Quite serious. 94/100
Château Assègue 2003 Saint Emilion,
Bordeaux, France
This is from a 24 hectare property owned by the Jacksons, located
near Pavie in Saint Emilion. This was from the first year they had the
property: they took possession in July 2003. Fine, pure, ripe
expressive nose with elegant red fruits and subtle chalkiness.
There’s a bit of herbiness, too. The palate is bright but with some
austerity to the structure. Fine and expressive although the tannins
clamp down hard on the finish. 90/100
Lokoya 2003 Diamond Mountain, Napa
Just 200 cases of this big-style Napa Cabernet are made. It weighs
in at 14.9% alcohol and sells for US$200 a bottle. Sweet ripe
blackcurrant fruit nose is aromatic and full, with a mineral and chalk
edge to the pure fruit. Not overblown. The palate is sweetly fruited
but has a lovely mineral spiciness and firm tannic structure hidden
under the fruit. There’s a bit of alcoholic heat, but otherwise the
spiciness offsets the fruit really nicely. 93/100
Wines tasted 06/07
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