Jeriko Estate

Appellation America Reviews Jeriko

September 19, 2007

Thom Eljker, Mendocino Wine Editor, reviewed Jeriko's Chardonnays for Appellation America.  Appellation America is an organization and publication dedicated to promoting knowledge and awareness about specific American wine appellations.

Jeriko Estate Reserve Chardonnay 2005  BUY NOW

This Chardonnay was organically grown, and most of it was fermented in stainless steel. But then winemaker Jeff Cichocki took a left at the light and went in a different direction, barrel-fermenting the other 20 percent of the fruit and putting the whole wine through malolactic fermentation. Obviously he wanted to produce a Chardonnay that is mostly crisp but with some richness, and I think he hit it. (If you like higher pH and alcohol, get the Jeriko Reserve Chard.)

In my blind tasting, I found the aromas seamless – there were several different tropical and citrus fruits plus very ripe honeydew melon, yet it was all one scent experience. The flavors were totally true to the aromas, making the wine a delicious sipper if that’s all you want. It’s also a well-textured and well-balanced food wine, however, that warms up in your mouth without verging into heat. Best of all, that sweet honeydew flavor continues all through, giving the wine a sustained fruit signature that augurs well for aging if you put this down for a year or so.

Jeriko Estate Chardonnay 2005 BUY NOW

This wine came from an unusual combination: Dijon clone 76 (a small-berry strain of Chardonnay developed in France), Daniel Fetzer’s certified organic vineyard, and winemaker Jeff Cichocki’s unabashed affection for the whole buttery-oaky Chardonnay thing. Normally I don’t go in for the third item that much, but I could not deny this wine when I had it in my mouth. It made me feel rich to sip it, and it made me feel virtuous to take off the wrapper and find out about the organic angle. As to clone 76, the small cluster and small berries increase the ratio of skins to juice, which is what you want when you’re going to barrel-ferment in new oak.

When the tasting flight was poured out, I could smell this wine from across the table - and I say that as praise . There was green apple, ripe pear and clover honey, plus all the buttery oak you could ask for. The wine is rich and viscous in your mouth, yet still very well knit. Despite the opulent, mouth-filling quality, it’s sweet without cloying and big without clomping around. Acid is on the light side, so don’t drink this for refreshment or to wash down appetizers: it’s a cocktail worth sipping on its own.