2014 Jonata El Desafio de Jonata
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Tasting notes
The 2014 El Desafio de Jonata is a baby that needs to be forgotten for 5-6 years. A blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, and 4% each of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, it offers terrific notes of blackcurrants, lead pencil shaving, licorice, tobacco leaf and roasted meats. Seamless, elegant and gorgeous on the palate, with a phenomenal texture, ultra-fine tannin, and a great finish, it's a tour de force in Santa Barbara County Cabernet Sauvignon. It will keep for 2-3 decades. Based out of Ballard Canyon and run by superstar winemaker Matt Dees (Michel Rolland also consults here), Jonata makes a bevy of brilliant wines from Rhône, Bordeaux, and Burgundian varieties. The El Desafio de Jonata release is the Cabernet Sauvignon-based release, and it normally includes upwards of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon with the balance Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. The elevage is in plenty of new oak, yet I rarely find any noticeable oak in the cuvee. The 2005 is just now entering its prime drink window, and this is unquestionably one of the longest-lived cuvees coming out of Santa Barbara today.
Critic scores
Jeb Dunnuck
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
Matt Dees observed that the 2014 El Desafio de Jonata has really begun to open up from its rather surly state six months ago, and he opened a bottle to prove his point. While the wine is certainly still quite tightly coiled, it unfurls in the glass with an attractively complex bouquet of cassis, smoky herbs, charcoal, burning embers and espresso roast, its new oak already nicely integrated. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, with a rich chassis of structuring tannins, nice concentration and depth and a crunchy core of fruit underpinned by succulent acids. I'd be inclined to wait another year or two and then drink this over the following 6 years.
Despite having been bottled a year ago, the 2014 El Desafio de Jonata is still very closed. Dark, dense and brooding, the 2014 is going to need at least a few years to unwind. The tannins are quite powerful, while the aromatics are reticent, both of which suggest readers will have to be patient.
A Cabernet Sauvignon dominated blend that includes 13% Merlot and 4% each of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, the 2014 El Desafio de Jonata gives up lots of blackcurrant, cedar, lend pencil and licorice aromas and flavors, medium to full-bodied richness, a light, elegant texture and notable, yet ripe tannin. It will merit an even higher score if it gains weight in bottle. Aug 2017, www.jebdunnuck.com
About the producer
Jonata is amongst a handful of truly exciting wineries from Santa Ynez Valley near Santa Barbara – a unique fine wine region of incredible versatility.