Jonata Todos 2012

Defined by exuberant fruit, both red and black. Also shaped by familiar Jonata notes of smoked sausage, black pepper, and black plum skin. Fruit sweetness and power also mixed with fennel and Indian spices. Plush fruit on the attack, remaining pure throughout the attack and mid-palate. Tremendous depth from the seemingly endless 2012 summer. Truly a pleasure to drink today. Perfectly balanced and evolved tannins. By no means a shrinking violet, managing to retain exceptional overall balance.

2012 was one of those rare vintages when both quantity and quality were very high. In a year where Mother Nature gave us a beneficially stacked deck with basically uninterrupted sunshine and warm days, I believe we played our hand perfectly at Jonata. What appeared to be three tons per acre turned out to be six+ tons at harvest in some other vineyards. At Jonata, we decided early in the growing season to make a move toward continued quality and thus went about a very vigorous yield-thinning followed by an equally aggressive green drop at veraison. The resulting small yields gave us wines that are densely packed with fruit, but also alive with an invigorating tension. Even at an early stage, many of them were already mesmerizing.