Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2005 El Alma de Jonata is a blend of 95% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. One of the greatest Cabernet Francs to emerge from California, it boasts gorgeous notes of bay leaf interwoven with blueberries, black currants, licorice, flowers, and subtle smoke. A wine of exquisite precision, outstanding richness, astonishing elegance as well as finesse, this is a brilliant achievement that must be tasted to be believed. As the wine sits in the glass, a notion of lead pencil shavings (graphite) also emerges. Drink this beauty over the next decade.
Cabernet Franc, a proud parent of Cabernet Sauvignon, is the subtler and more delicate of the Cabernets. Today Cabernet Franc produces outstanding single varietal wines across the wine-producing world. Somm Secret—One of California's best-kept secrets is the Happy Canyon appellation of Santa Barbara. Here Cabernet Franc shines as a single varietal wine or in blends, expressing sumptuous fruit, savory aromas and polished tannins.
Ranging from cool and foggy in the west to warm and dry in the east, the Santa Ynez Valley is a climatically diverse growing area. The most expansive AVA within the larger Santa Barbara County region, Santa Ynez is also home to a wide variety of soil types and geographical features. The appellation is further divided into four distinct sub-AVAs—Sta. Rita Hills, Ballard Canyon, Los Olivos District and Happy Canyon—each with its own defining characteristics.
A wide selection of grapes is planted here—more than sixty different varieties, and counting. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir dominate in the chilly west, while Zinfandel, Rhône blends, and Bordeaux blends rule the arid east. Syrah is successful at both ends of the valley, with a lean and peppery, Old-World sensibility closer to the coast and lush berry fruit further inland.