Jess

9.2

Deeep purple color.
Aromas of cassis, vanilla.
Dry. Flavors of cassis, dark chocolate, vanilla. Rich, velvety tannins!

Intensity: 5/5
Complexity: 3/5
Balance: 4/5
Finish: 4/5 — 3 months ago

Louis Martin

8.9

Smooth, medium body, a bit dry on its own, rounds out nicely when paired with Chateaubriand. — 4 months ago

Paul T HB

9.7

Gifted from David T,
4 hour decant was still a little tight,
Bottled it back up to try on the 2nd day and that made all the difference for me. Definitely worth searching out if you treat it correctly, not a pop & pour — 8 months ago

Allison Lyzenga

9.0

Pale gold; medium intensity aromas of lemon, pear, Asian pear, golden apple, green apricot, mineral; dry, medium plus acid, medium alcohol, medium body, medium intensity flavors consistent with aromas; very well balanced if not terribly complex — 2 years ago

Doug Powers

8.9

76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Cabernet Franc, 3% Zinfandel, and 4% other red varietals. This is one of Dave’s best Cabernets (IMHO), lovely fruit, probably better 5 or so years ago, but still quite good!! — 4 months ago

with Jim

Amanda Starr

9.0

Good dry and light. Minimal pepper. Easy drink. — 5 months ago

Alaina Hohnarth

9.4

Really great! Cranberry, cherry, and a lil funk. Pleasantly dry with nice tannins. — 2 years ago

Bernie Gavin

9.2

Fabulous, very drinkable, and a good price — 2 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.6

The follow up to the 03 Leonetti. @Paul T- Huntington Beach & I have been telling readers about older Jones Family Vineyards for some time. If you haven’t had or not tried this producer it will be the last time I try to entice to you to try this producer. Talking about it more will only drive up the prices on the secondary market.

This 09 is damn beautiful after nearly a four hour decant but it is still fairly youthful.

It is ruby, lush, gorgeous, ripe fruits of; blackberries, black raspberries, black plum with skin, dark cherries, plum, hues of purple, blue fruits & raspberries, poached strawberries, black licorice, mixed, dark berry cola, steeped black tea, dry crushed rocks, limestone minerals, dry top soil, dry herbs, hints of eucalyptus, dry clay, dry tobacco, new leather, spice, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon & vanillin, withering red & dark florals framed in violets & lavender, beautiful round acidity, beautiful; balance, tension, structured, smartly polished finished that lasts minutes.

Still needs another 5-8 years to show its best self.

The Jones Family vineyard is located off Bale Lane in Calistoga and was planted to all five Bordeaux varieties by David Abreu in the early 1990s. Heidi Barrett made the wines until 2008, and Thomas Rivers Brown now makes the wines. — 4 months ago

Nolan Berlin

9.0

Light and dry but funky, almost yeasty tannins mixed with berries. Distinct old vine Chilean varietals that I would like to see more of. — 2 years ago