Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesBlackcurrants and blueberries on the nose with some spice and sandalwood undertones. Medium to full body with creamy tannins and a firm, racy finish. Lots of dark-berry and crushed-stone character at the end. Focused and well crafted. Drinkable now, but better in two or three years.
Another great value is the 2019 Red Blend Jayson, which has a rich, medium to full-bodied, elegant profile as well as notes of darker currants, cherries, dark chocolate, coffee beans, and scorched earth. It needs a short decant if drinking any time soon, and it has the balance and depth to keep for 10-12 years.
Less concentrated and rich than the Jayson Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2019 Jayson Red Wine features scents of cherries, cedar and vanilla. It's a medium to full-bodied wine that's supple and easy to drink, with a silky finish. Best After 2022
Pahlmeyer was founded in 1986, by a desire to be great by its eponymous creator Jayson Pahlmeyer. With a dream to create a California Mouton, Jayson and his partners spared no resource to make this dream a reality. Whether it was finding the perfect piece of land high atop Napa Valley’s Atlas Peak or covertly smuggling in Bordeaux cuttings, all pieces of Pahlmeyer’s history have led to its place as one of the top brand names from Napa Valley. From the very beginning, Pahlmeyer has been dedicated to crafting fine wines from the best fruit sources possible. In California, this means high elevation mountain sites, where the grapes are afforded more sunlight, cooler temperatures, and less fertile soils, which together create ideal conditions. Pahlmeyer sources the majority of their fruit from four key locations: Pahlmeyer Estate (Atlas Peak), Stagecoach (Atlas Peak / Pritchard Hill), Rancho Chimiles, and Antica.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.