I first sampled the Jones Family wines while on a business trip in Napa Valley - I was in the "business" of drinking wines - at the Napa Valley Wine Co who basically allowed small wineries to use their facilities to crush, ferment then bottle wines. And though 1998 wasn't a great vintage by Napa Valley standards or even considered a good vintage, the Jones Family Cabernet Sauvignon (along with the Whitehall Lane Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon) stood out as one of the better Cabs. It wasn't over-the-top concentrated fruit to the hilt but rather had a nice balance of fruit, wood and acid with a pleasing palate flow. So since that trip years ago, I signed up on the mail list and regularly purchased their wines including their 2nd label "Sisters" for several years (I dropped off several years ago when their wines crossed the three figure mark $$$). So for quite some time, I've had a vertical from 1998 to 2007 or so... Until this past week when I uncorked the lone bottle of 1998 procured at the Napa Wine Co.
OMG!!! The nose on this beauty was pure Old World! Green tobacco and stone to the hilt with nary a whiff of fruit. At about 1 hour, it finally gave a little dried red fruit but still with loads of tobacco, stone, mineral and a touch of old cigar box. It also had quite a nice palate flow with a medium finish. A lot more Pessac-Leognan than Napa Valley! If I didn't know any better, I'd say proprietor Rick Jones purchased a barrel of 20 year old Bordeaux and accidentally bottled it with his own label...
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