J. Cole Wines

We spied this wine when on a covert mission to another Sonoma County winery. We showed up on bottling day and spotted a rugged, soil-of-the-vineyards looking guy loading boxes of wine into his aging cargo van. As we sidled in for a closer look at what this fellow was loading, we spied a wine label on the boxes that we have never seen before. Our dialog went a little something like this:

Agent Sparkle: “Whatcha got there?”

Guy loading boxes: “These are my wines. I just bottled them and I’m taking them to my cellar to age.”

Agent Sparkle: “I’m Agent Sparkle from the Wine Spies.”

Guy: “Agent Sparkle?! Cool name. I’m Jene Chapanar.”

Sparkle: “Hi Jene, can we introduce your wine to new wine drinkers?”

Jene: “Of course!”

That led to an introduction of Jene to Agent Red and an on-the-spot and in-the-parking lot tasting. Lucky for us, Jene had a few bottles of his wonderful reds with him.

This is an unusual zin and we like it. Especially for the price we are offering it to you for.

This zin is composed of 75% Zinfandel from vines that are as old as 90 years old - and from a vineyard that has some amazing heritage. Grown on the historic Forchini Vineyards in the Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma, California, these zin vide pre-date prohibition.

Also found in this wine are California Carignane (a popular Spanish varietal), Brunello and Barbara (both Italian reds). We even have it from a confidential source that Jene snuck in some white grape juice.

Deep ruby in color, this wine has a great fruity nose (smells like fruit punch) with hints of pipe tobacco, mixed berries and spice. Right on opening we took dainty sips and big fat swigs. This wine can be enjoyed either way, which we find unusual in bigger red wines. This is a zin which drinks more like a juicy syrah, but also has the pepperiness we love in California zins.

All J. Cole wines are great red wines. Jene makes wines that are, so far, little-known and difficult to find so we are very happy to bring you this great and easy-drinking Zin. This wine is ready to drink right now, but will cellar for quite a few years for even better drinking. Be sure to buy at least one for now and one for your library.

Your mission, should you be lucky enough to get some before it sells out, is to drink this wine!

_A message from Jene Chapanar, wine maker, J. Cole Wine: _

For the past 30 years I have devoted myself to learning all I could about wine. Even as competing career demands kept me from the vineyard, my desire to create wine was always closeat heart. In 2002, using my mother’s family name of Cole to honor the woman who first launched my wine interest, the j.cole winery was established.

The focus of j.cole wines is to produce the finest Syrah, Zinfandel and Carignane that time and talent will allow. Handcrafted in small lots, these affordable, full-figured wines are aged in French oak and bottled unfiltered and unfined. This important process means that what goes into the bottle is the true essence of each grape, which in turn, makes a better tasting wine.

Here’s what one Zinfandel fan said about the 2003 Zin, “What a delightful experience…I opened, tasted and closed the bottle in 3 successive nights…it was concentrated and rich in color…very pleasing to thenose, showing spice and light oak…gave me a sense of a high quality wine. Rich wild berries coat the entire palate, giving extra depth to the wine. The lip-smacking finish showed more than the typical fruity finish of Northern California-style wines…It is an excellent wine and definitely worth the purchase.”

I hope you enjoy these wines as much as I enjoy making them.

Jene Chapanar , Winemaker