Wine Tag: J

[Brad Ballinger]

After a longer-than-reasonable hiatus, the Wine Tag threads return. And we pick things up at J. As might be expected, most of the available wines for this letter will come from the names of producers (and probably first names) than from regions or grapes. As a matter of fact, I can't think of a single grape variety whose name begins with J, unless one counts Johannisberg Riesling.

For regions, as mentioned in the topic's subtitle, there is Julienas from France's Beujolais region. Also from France, we have Jurancon, and, more braodly, Jura. There is no correlation between them whatsoever. We can also fudge a bit and consider Saint Julien in Bordeaux and Saint-Joseph in the Rhone. From Spain, besides Jerez, there is Jumilla. From Italy, there is only one DOCG, DOC, or IGT wine that fits the theme (and it's a reach at that), which is Verdicchio del Castelli di Jesi, a DOC from the Marches.

For producers, there are some without resorting to first names, such as Jekel and Jordan (and Jordan's sparkling wine label, simply "J"). When we bring in first names, though, there is Joseph Swan, Joseph Phelps, Jean Milan, Jean-Louis Chave (get a two-fer with a Jean-Louis Chave Saint-Joseph), and Josko Gravner. But why bother with first names, when a mere initial or two will do -- J. Lohr, J. Rochioli, J. Stonestreet, J.J. Prum, J.J. Christoffel, J.J. Confuron.

If none of the above suits you, share with us wine from a Jeroboam. Or treat yourself to a jammy wine. Perhaps you'd like a Vin Jeaune (from Savoie, also sometimes called Jura). And, although a jug wine from Ernest and Julio Gallo may slip by, please no wine coolers from Bartles and Jaymes.

2004 Josmeyer Gewurztraminer "Les Folastries." Josmeyer is a biodynamic producer from Alsace, and I snapped up some of the Josmeyer wines when they hit one of the local shops. We don't get a lot where I live. The one I really wanted was the Le Dragon Riesling, but one also needs some Gewurztraminer for those hard-to-pair dishes. And for Thai cuisine. This wine was a powerful demonstration of floral and spice components, with a lychee-lime fruit combination. A hint of smoke. Explosive acidity. Dry dry dry. And a finish that seemed to last for minutes.