JAX – The Quintessential Small, Family Winery of the Napa Valley

JAX – The Quintessential Small, Family Winery of the Napa Valley

Above: Dan Parrott, Kimberly Jackson, & Trent Jackson.


Hand-harvested, family-owned, & earth-friendly Napa Valley wines.

The team at JAX is innovative, agile, and perhaps best of all, is producing some of the most competitive expressions of Napa and Sonoma out there, a true snapshot into the luxury of California wines at an accessible price point.

The secret is simple: everything produced by JAX is hand-harvested, family-owned, and earth-friendly. The fruit-forward profiles of each of their wines are driven by top-quality fruit from esteemed Napa and Sonoma vineyards.

We interviewed Dan Parrott, CEO of JAX Vineyards, to talk about this family winery’s beginnings, the three ‘levels’ of JAX wines, winemaking, climate change, fires, farming, & the landscape for Napa wine at large.


Give us the story of JAX — the beginnings, the name, & philosophy.


Walk us through the three ‘levels’ of JAX: the estate line, the Y3 line, and Block 3.


Tell us about you and your partners’ farming practices?


How is JAX improving with every vintage?


Tell us about working with Kirk Venge.


Can you tell us about your experience with the fires?


What’s your favorite part about JAX?


THE WINES

Wine and Spirit Label 1

Chardonnay ‘Napa Valley’, Y3 [Jax]

• Practicing Sustainable

• 100% Chardonnay

• Sourced from a single vineyard in Carneros

• Napa Valley AVA

• Benefiting from the cooling effects of the Pacific Ocean

• Fermented in concrete tanks

• 10% Malolactic fermentation allowed

• 13.2% abv

• 1300 Cases produced

 


 

Wine and Spirit Label 2

Sauvignon Blanc ‘Napa Valley’, Y3 [Jax]

• Practicing Sustainable

• 100% Sauvignon Blanc

• Sourced from a single vineyard in Napa Valley

• Fermented in concrete tank

• Aged in neutral oak barrels

• 13.2% abv


 

Wine and Spirit Label 3

Pinot Noir ‘Russian River Valley’, Y3 [Jax]

• Practicing Sustainable

• 100% Pinot Noir

• Hand-harvested into small bins in the early morning

• Partially de-stemmed

• Aged in French oak barrels

• 14.1% abv

• 2,200 cases produced

• Bottled unfiltered and unfined


 

Wine and Spirit Label 4

Red Blend ‘Taureau – Napa Valley’, Y3 [Jax]

• Practicing Sustainable

• 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 47% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot

• Napa Valley AVA

• Hand-harvested

• Aged 22 in 30% new French oak

• 14.7% abv


 

Wine and Spirit Label 5

Cabernet Sauvignon ‘North Coast’, Y3 [Jax]

• Practicing Sustainable

• 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot

• Hand-harvested

• North Coast AVA

• 15-30-days soaking on the skins

• Aged 22 months in French oak barrels (35% new)

• Bottled unfiltered and unfined

• 14.1% abv

• 3,800 cases produced

 


 

Wine and Spirit Label 6

Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Napa Valley’, JAX

• Practicing Sustainable

• 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc

• Jax Estate Vineyard (Calistoga AVA)

• Alluvial loam soils

• Fermented in a combination of small-lot stainless steel fermenters and open-top barriques

• 15-30-days on the skins

• Aged 21 months in French oak (70% new)

• Bottled unfined and unfiltered

• 14.8% abv


 

Wine and Spirit Label 7

Chardonnay ‘Dutton Ranch’, JAX

  • Practicing Sustainable
  • 100% Chardonnay
  • Dutton Ranch (Russian River Valley AVA)
  • Fine grained, moon dust soil
  • Hand harvested
  • Aged 10 months in 30% new Damy French oak barrels
  • 14.2% abv
  • Bottled unfined and unfiltered

 

Wine and Spirit Label 8

Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Block 3’, JAX

  • 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Clone: 337
  • Practicing Sustainable
  • Hand harvested100% Estate Vineyard
  • Sourced from their prized block 3 on the JAX estate
  • 100% native, spontaneous yeast
  • Whole berry fruit was fermented in a concrete tank fermenter
  • Bottled unfiltered and unfined
  • 14.9% abv

 

Wine and Spirit Label 9

Pinot Noir ‘Calesa Vyd’, JAX

  • Practicing Sustainable
  • 100% Pinot Noir
  • Calesa Vineyard (Petaluma Gap AVA)
  • Hand-harvested
  • Partially destemmed into small open top fermenters
  • 5-7-day cold soak
  • 10-12-day fermentation
  • Aged 18 months in French oak (40% new)

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