Introducing J. Moss: A Hands-On, Family-Run Napa Winery That’s Onto Something Special

It really started when I moved to California in 1998, after meeting Janet through her employer Domaine Carneros. We got some Merlot grapes from the Carneros property where we lived, made our first barrel of wine, and served it at our wedding at the Chateau in 2000. And it came out amazingly great. Crazy, right? We continued to make a few barrels each year until we decided to go commercial in 2001.

While I was working for the California distributor, one of the wineries I sold happened to be Jessup Cellars. And when I met Mark, we immediately hit it off. I really wanted to know more about winemaking, so I asked Mark if I could assist him; I wanted to learn all of the intricacies of the process. He agreed, so after my day job, I would go to Jessup winery to help out. We did everything from the crush, barrel maintenance, barrel racking, blending, bottling, and I learned about the viticulture aspect by walking the vineyards and talking to the vineyard managers. The whole nine yards!

Mark really showed me what it took to make wine. It wasn’t just come in, make wine, and go home. He taught me that you never go home until the winery was clean. So whether that was five o’clock, eight o’clock, or midnight — it didn’t matter. The job is not over until the winery is clean. It was more than the winery being clean, it was understanding what it takes to be successful — following every step to the last moment every day in that process.

A little later, I was introduced to Gustavo Brambila. When we picked the 2001 vintage we made the wine at Gus’ facility. That’s where the dream started. He really helped me understand the science of wine. He also helped me develop what I was really looking for in my mind: a wine that’s going to be approachable today, but also has an opportunity to age.

I was a big fan of a lot of Napa Cabernet. The distributor that I was working for in Texas sold a lot of allocated wines like Stag’s Leap, Silver Oak, St. Francis, Caymus, all these big Napa brands. I’ve been to all of those places, I’ve tasted so many different wines, and I’ve also worked with consumers in sales — helping the owners of wine shops sell wine to consumers and getting an idea of what people really like. By understanding people’s palettes, I began to recognize that a lot of people like some of the things that I like as well.

I really wanted to develop a Napa Valley Cabernet from regions of Napa Valley that were, in my mind, prestigious. And really wanted to make wines that were quite honestly, very extracted, very rich, very flavorful, dark, and balanced wines. Mid-tannins, but not over-the-top big tannins, something that would make people say, “wow, this has a tremendous amount of flavor.” It’s about flavor and richness for J. Moss.

It was so much fun. The best decision of my life was to take a job as a merchandiser with a wine and spirits distributor. A friend of mine suggested that I apply for this job, which I was really hesitant about. I almost didn’t take it! But my friend said, “You got to get in. Just get in, James, and you’ll be fine.” And he was right. I got in and I was promoted faster than anybody in that company’s history. Within 60 days, I was promoted to a salesperson.

And then, I just continued to change the landscape of sales, in my opinion. I became friends with another young guy at the company, Eric, who had just started there as well. We pushed each other day-in-and-day-out and quickly became great friends. It’s insane the amount of business in Texas that is done in wine sales, and spirits as well. But there’s a ton of steak houses in Texas, so red wine is flowing like water out there. It was also very educational and fun for me to get to travel to Napa and get access to wineries because I was in the business.

Started making home wine in 1998 and then went commercial in 2001. The wines were spectacular, so we started out selling them to friends and family, restaurants, wine shops… you got to keep in mind, we made very small lots of wine, approximately five barrels, because we just really wanted to do something special.

Then in 2002, we asked friends who had a vineyard at Stag’s Leap if it was possible to get some fruit from them. Even though their vineyard was under contract with a large winery, we were able to get a small amount. We made that Cab for many, many years, all the way up into 2013, so basically eleven years.

In 2003, we started making Rutherford Cabernet from a prestigious area. And that’s when I knew that we could probably continue to do this, because with of the people that we knew, and the capability to make wine in a facility with a prestigious winemaker… I knew that we could keep this going.

In the beginning, my son Westley was involved as much as possible between his studies and playing baseball. He went to college playing baseball, but in the midterm, and every chance he got, he would always help me. And I didn’t have to pull him out to go help me, he just always wanted to help. He would always say: “every time I’m home, we work.” It’s kind of cool because I really consider him to be my best friend. But even now, he helps me with events, harvest, and bottling. So although he’s not involved in the day-to-day of the business, he loves the wine business, and he’s always helping me do whatever I need when I need it.

As far as the day-to-day business, it all starts with Janet. Janet is the reason J. Moss has survived as long as J. Moss has survuved. With her ten years of experience at Domaine Carneros, her degree in Winemaking & Viticulture and a degree in Business, she handles everything from administration, accounting, sales, marketing, hospitality, and more.

My concentration is on the winemaking and viticulture aspects of the business. I do everything as far as walking the vineyards, while working with a vineyard consultant, Gus’ son Brendan Brambila, who has a degree in viticulture from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. I really respect his knowledge when it comes to the vineyards. We talk about the winemaking philosophy, the vineyards, what we’re looking for as far as the fruit quality. With the winemaking, I’m hands-on and involved in every single decision that needs to be made: when to pick, what yeast is being used, what barrels are being picked, everything.

‘Napa Valley’ is a blend of 80% French Oak and 20% American Oak. It’s basically built to be really to drink from day one. It has great upfront flavors that appeal not only to millennials, but everybody and anyone looking to drink a nice, reasonably-priced Napa Cabernet.

The wine is flavorful and easy-drinking and always makes me think of steak houses; it goes especially well with steak, lamb chops, and basically all types of meat. My take is, get some brisket or barbecue with some mashed potatoes and some greens, and enjoy this fabulous Cabernet!

‘Steffenson Vineyard’ is a very special wine that is made to age. It’s actually made for the Cabernet connoisseur who loves big Cabs, and wants something that has a tremendous amount of flavor. This is a wine that you can drink now or hold in the cellar for five or ten years down the road.

I believe that it’s going to stay in balance and that it will soften with age. The wine continues to integrate and evolve over time. It’s rich and dark with an amazing burst of flavors. It complements rich and spicy foods and goes well with beef, Asian food, and barbecue. But I’m a Texas boy, so we’re meat and potato kind of people!

The reason it’s called ‘Steffenson’ vineyard is because the vineyard itself is owned by husband-and-wife oral surgeons in Napa– their last name is Steffenson. They are a great couple who support our efforts as we expand our Cabernet wines into the newest appellation of Napa Valley, Coombsville.

Over the last twenty years, and I would even just say the last ten years, quite honestly, Napa has really turned from family-owned wineries to corporate-owned. If you look at it, you’ve got a lot of conglomerates that own a lot of wineries that used to be family-owned.

Napa is not a sleepy town anymore. It’s not this little town that doesn’t have any restaurants. There are celebrity chefs and huge hotels. And, you know, there’s a big footprint of people visiting Napa Valley. Back in the day when people said “I’m going to Napa,” they really meant Yountville, St. Helena, and Calistoga. Yountville for the French Laundry, St. Helena for shopping, and Calistoga for mud baths and massages. Today the Napa Valley has these great hotels, and a lot of restaurants with amazing wines and a diversity of food and tasting rooms. The Napa of today is just thriving with all this new energy.

Still, a lot of people don’t realize that the name on the building may not be the family behind the name. And that’s okay! You can go out and see these big wineries owned by big corporations, who are very structured but make wines very well. You can see the beautiful vineyards, and the beautiful wineries, and stand at a bar, and have someone pour for you, drink, and learn the history. There’s nothing wrong with that, at all, period. I think people that have never ever seen Napa should go visit to learn the history; there are so many cool and iconic places. I’ve even taken friends to go see those infamous wineries. But then don’t forget about the small boutique wineries… there’s a lot of family-owned businesses that are doing a tremendous job, making amazing wine that are offering unique and special tastings and tour experiences, often with the winemaker and owner.

We often have visitors tell us that visiting J. Moss was one of their best tastings of the day, because they got the personalized, small family-owned feel. Although we don’t have the big, beautiful winery and vineyards at our facility, we do have our urban, family winery with a cozy tasting room and a beautiful outdoor courtyard. It’s the Napa Valley experience you don’t expect, yet will ultimately remember… family style.