Las Jaras, Cezanne Chenin Blanc 2023

100% Chenin Blanc

Mendocino, California, United States

This wine is named after Joel’s daughter Cézanne, who – like this wine – has a big personality. The aromatics express crushed rock, toasted hazelnut, and lime skin while the palate is taut and builds through the attack revealing layer upon layer of mineral, quince, pippin apple, and lime. Long, gorgeous finish filled with mineral, saline, and acid touches that make you salivate for more. A textural adventure for treasure hunters: roundness, minerals, and acidity, it’s all there. Enjoy this wine alongside dishes with bright flavors and fresh textures: fish tacos, oysters, salads, and grilled foods are all perfect partners.

The grapes for this wine come from the Norgard Vineyard in Talmage which was planted in 1980 and is set up with a quadrilateral cordon system. The vineyard is situated on a northwest slope on the east side of the Ukiah Valley. The soils are the famed pinole series, which is well drained and moderates vigor. The vineyard is farmed organically.

Immediate whole-cluster press after harvest to a stainless-steel tank, added 10ppm sulfur and settled at cellar temp for 24 hours. The hard press wine was kept separate and not added back. After this period, the juice was racked with the light lees to another tank and warmed enough to initiate fermentation naturally. Once the fermentation started to tick, juice transferred to three concrete eggs and new and used Stockinger 600L demi muids along with 15% of the volume in new Stockinger 228L barrels. A small amount of sulfur added in the months near the bottling date, total sulfur at bottling amounted to 41 g/L. Unfined/unfiltered VEGAN.

Las Jaras was founded in California in 2016 by winemaker Joel Burt and comedian/actor/wine enthusiast Eric Wareheim. Based in Sebastopol, these two are sourcing grapes from carefully selected growers in Mendocino, Sonoma, and other parts of California (and occasionally Oregon). The first time Eric tried Joel’s wines, he was moved. The bottle of sparkling carignan Joel made in his garage, was “so fresh and energetic, so different from the corporate Champagnes or hefty California wines I knew back then”. The winery was officially born a year after. The guys have been actively working on turning their growers into chemical-free farming, and now virtually all the vineyards they work with are practicing or certified organic.

Las Jaras is interested in freshness, acidity, lower alcohol, and vineyard expression rather than the big, ripe, heavily oaked style historically associated with California. Their goal is vibrant, delicate, supple, food-friendly wines made with minimal intervention. Joel brings the technical side of the partnership, with experience working harvests and making wine throughout California and Europe, while Eric brings an unusually deep enthusiasm for wine and a willingness to challenge the conventions of the California wine world. Together, they have built Las Jaras around the idea that wine can be thoughtful and terroir-driven without taking itself too seriously.