J Cuvee 20 Brut NV Russian River Valley

Quick Overview

This J non-vintage Brut gracefully opens up with crisp lemon peel, honeysuckle and delicate yeast aromas. Upon entry, these notes follow through to a mix of Fuji apple and grapefruit interlaced with toast, caramel and almond flavors on the mid-palate. The acidity adds just enough liveliness and the citrus zest leads to a lingering, warm pear and lush finish.

J Cuvee 20 Brut NV Russian River Valley
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Product Description

The Vineyards
Celebrating twenty years of winemaking excellence, J Cuvee 20 proudly displays an exceptional, stylish assemblage from our best cool-climate vineyard sites in the Russian River Valley.

Processing
All grapes at J are hand-harvested into small quarter-ton bins and placed as whole clusters, without destemming, into our special Coquard press for a gentle pressing cycle. Grape juice from the various vineyard lots is fermented and kept separately until blending decisions are made in mid-November. The cuvee (blend) was assembled in December of 2003, cold stabilized to remove excess tartrates and then bottled in the spring of 2004. The cuvee included 25% oak cask aged non-vintage wines that were carefully selected for this blend.

Aging
After the secondary fermentation occurred in the bottle, the wines aged for more than three years in J's cool cellar. In early 2007, the wines were carefully riddled to remove the yeast sediment responsible for the aging character. Following disgorging, a dosage liqueur of reserve wine and pure cane sugar was added to balance the wine. An additional six months of aging on the cork before release ensured a perfect balance of flavors.

Appellation: Russian River Valley
Residual Sugar: 1.65%
Final Analysis: Alcohol 12.5% by volume
Final Blend: 49% Chardonnay, 49% Pinot Noir, 2% Pinot Meunier
Production: 18,000 cases

Additional Information

Food Pairings	Asian Watercress Salad with Salmon
Varietal	Chardonnay
Appellation	Russian River Valley
Accolades	90 points -- Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine
Winemaker Profile	George Bursick Throughout his career, George Bursick has proven his expertise in all aspects of the wine industry - winery design, vineyard management, ultra-premium winemaking and marketing. Many milestones have been achieved in his career, and countless awards and accolades have been awarded to his wines. He brings his extraordinary wealth of knowledge and experience to J Vineyards & Winery in his new role as Vice President of Winemaking. George is considered to be among the winemakers who have shaped the current era in California's wine industry and who brought it to the forefront of the international wine world. Wineries were relatively few in the early 1970s and the ambition of making a living as a winemaker was rare. Born and raised in Sonoma County, however, he was exposed to winemaking early on. George attended UC Santa Barbara, and when he returned home to Santa Rosa, he received the classic fatherly wisdom, "get a job." Just over the mountains from home at Beringer Winery, George was hired to assemble Christmas gift packs for the tasting room. Soon after in 1970, he graduated to the cellar, quickly rising through the ranks and learning the wine business from the ground up. He then returned to college and received his Masters in Enology from UC Davis. His first solo winemaking job was at McDowell Valley Vineyards in Mendocino County. After nine years at McDowell, George joined Rhonda and Don Carano as Director of Winemaking while in the early stages of their plans for a new winery called Ferrari-Carano and he remained Executive Winemaker there for 21 years. Recognized as an expert in sensory evaluation, George has found a delightful playground at J Vineyards & Winery. "At first, my motivation to work with J was friendship. Judy and I have been close friends for over two decades, and the timing for me was right," he says. "J has always made consistently good wines, but when I discovered Judy's desire to 'shoot for the moon' and position J as a world-class producer of Russian River Valley Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, I realized I had the chance to shake things up a bit and be a part of something special." Since joining J in 2006, George has already taken steps towards Judy's vision for J by cutting back on yields, increasing the number of lots used to blend J's Russian River Valley Pinot Noir seven-fold in the first year, and he's even acquired six very rare yeast strains from Burgundy "that have not been used since the 1930s!" He and Viticulturist John Erbe are also on the hunt for more vineyards in the Russian River appellation. While wine is a passion for George as well as a profession, his secret love is playing the drums in a band called Private Reserve. Started in 1992, Private Reserve is a mix of wine colleagues that currently include Mike Martini, Ed Sbragia, Jess Knubis, Steve Buehl and John Hawkins. "We usually play gigs mostly at wine and winery related events. But it's really just an excuse to get together every few weeks, eat a burrito, drink some wine and rock and roll." George lives in Alexander Valley with his wife JoAnn and their two sons, John and Dylan.
Case Price	Buy 6 for $ 26.60 each -- 5% discount Buy 12 for $ 25.20 each -- 10% discount Mix and match for quantity discount