2017 Jonata La Sangre de Jonata

Incorporating 2% Viognier, the Syrah-dominated 2017 La Sangre De Jonata reveals a saturated purple color as well as a heavenly bouquet of cassis, blueberries, crushed violets, spring flowers, and ground pepper. Full-bodied, concentrated, beautifully balanced, and seamless on the palate, it has polished tannins, no hard edges, and just awesome purity of fruit. While it shows the more focused, elegant style of the vintage, its tannins are beautifully managed, giving it more upfront charm than some past vintages (which is a good thing). The 2017s from the team at Jonata are terrific across the board with all the wines showing classic, balanced characters. Unfortunately, the 2018s weren’t ready to be tasted, so I’ll report on those in next year’s Central Coast report. Readers on a budget shouldn’t miss the Todos cuvée, which is always a kitchen sink blend (it’s normally Syrah heavy) of just about every varieties Jonata works with. It’s a year in, year out, stunning wine that sells for half of what the top cuvées go for.