$85pp?? Dear Baby Jesus!! Jonata makes great wines but it’s such a bummer that they charge that price to taste.
Thanks for all the input. Sounds like they make great wine.
There are two tasting options, and one is $50pp, but appears to limited to 4 persons. The higher priced visit includes additional bottles, and is not limited to 4 persons. I shot them an email to see if there are other options…
I don’t mind paying tasting fees, so long as there is a way to recoup them if I buy a few bottles. That’s only fair, at least to me, seeing how it costs money to provide this service.
I had The Paring syrah 2019 this weekend. It’s pretty dang good for $22. Jonata - have opened and enjoyed 1 Fenix, haven’t opened the Alma or any other since purchasing the 2014s.
Have you seen their new facility? They have to recoup costs somehow, right?
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No, only Visions of Johanna.
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Agree about The Hilt. I started buying their Pinots with the 2014 vintage based on the Vinous outstanding reviews. Antonio also put the drinking windows for these wines way out there. I recently sampled bottles from the 2014 vintage (poor), 2015 (better but very simple wines lacking in complexity, and 2017 (very fruity but again lacking complexity). All the wines were ready to drink now, and didn’t seem to have the stuffing for further development. Bottles of 2016 and 2018 are on deck.
IMHO those Vinous reviews and drinking windows were way off, and likely more a reflection of Matt Dees reputation than any unbiased tasting of the The Hilt wines. My guess is Matt may be an outstanding winemaker for Jonata, but he is definitely having to go thru the Pinot Noir learning curve!
I first encountered these wines at a visit to the Santa Barbara Wine Collective and have been impressed. Agree that pricing is challenging, but the quality is there.
The two most singular wines from them that I have tried were the Petit Verdot (Fuerza, I think) and the Sauv Blanc (Flor). Really compelling, if pricey. I have liked the Todos blend, too.
Really enjoy most of the Pairing wines, which are solid QPR.
A lot of great wines made by Jonata.
Their Syrah based wine, Sangre, is usually one of their better bottles.
To me, their wines are completely different in style than most regions producing same varietals—Typically get a lot of complexity, with secondary and tertiary characteristics shining through. This is especially on the Merlot (Fenix).
Their dessert wine, Miel, is absolutely delicious as well.
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I don’t think anyone questions the quality of the wines that they produce whatsoever - and Matt’s wines are very distinctive indeed.
With the purchases of the vineyards they’ve made, it’ll be interesting to see where they go from here.
Cheers.
Jonata is one of my favorite New World producers. The Flor white wine is splendid. A really beautiful effort by Matt Dees.
It definitely is one of the more unique SBs out there.
Cheers.
Dislike their label and, who is ‘Jonata’?
The name was taken from land grant rancho in the area, Rancho San Carlos de Jonata. Not sure how the original owners chose the name (it was mid 1800s).
-Al
Opened and enjoyed my last bottle of 2014 Fenix last night with dinner. Well balanced and restrained fruit/wood/acidity, some licorice and cherry notes and super fine tannins. Decanted with no sediment to speak of. Good wine to pair with food, and had it with carbonara (oddly the first time ever making or having that dish). Finished the bottle with some Iberico and Italian cheeses.