An impressive offering under $100, the 2011 Jones demonstrates the virtues of attentive vineyard work and craftsmanship from a winemaker hitting his stride in Napa today. The bouquet is expressive with aromas of sweet cherry, cassis, and baking spices. The voluptuous palate, supported by plush tannins, gives generous layers of complex black cherry, sage, mint, and cassis. This vibrant new Cabernet drink well now (after decanting) will continue to evolve in the cellar for another 5-7 years.

Jones Family Winery

In 1992 Sally and Rick Jones found a gorgeous view that came with a few acres of vineyards. After selling grapes to Stag’s Leap Winery for a few years, Rick tasted the unblended wine made from the vineyard's fruit and decided it was too good to let it be blended away in someone else’s wine. Jones Family Vineyards was born from this in 1996.

Jones Family Vineyards unique flavor characteristics grow from their special terroir – a combination of soils and micro-climate. The three estate vineyards are located in the northern Napa Valley at the base of Howell Mountain about 5 miles north of St. Helena. The soils are rocky which allows for excellent drainage, but each vine must burrow deep into the soil to find nutrients and water. Water is also a precious commodity in the land; they irrigate just enough to compensate for the drying effect of the sun.

The vineyard elevations vary from 600 feet at the base of the estate to about 900 feet at its highest point. Throughout each vineyard the slopes undulate from relatively flat, to almost 35% in slope. Each vine has adapted to its unique location, and the variation in elevation and slope allows for a layering of flavors in the fruit.

Our warm days and cooler evenings work with the full southern sun exposure to ripen our fruit earlier than most. This stressing of the vines and early ripening reduces our berry and cluster size creating a more extracted and concentrated flavor when our wines are pressed.

10 total acres of vineyards in 3 distinct blocks means each lot has a flavor profile of its own. Seven acres of cabernet sauvignon were planted between 1991 and 1993 on 110R rootstock from clone 8. In 1998 David Abreu designed and planted a 3 acre hillside vineyard of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and petit verdot. The fruit is used for blending and to create our second label, The Sisters.

We are privileged to work with some of the strongest talents in winemaking today. David Abreu has managed our vineyard since 1996. Heidi Peterson Barrett made our wines in our first decade (1996-2006) and Thomas Rivers Brown now manages all aspects of our winemaking.