Bottle Jack Wines: Sipping & Skyping

As you may know Moldova influenced a lot of my wine tasting and I can often be seen on the wine trails with some of my friends from Moldova, well Americans I met there like Dan, Debbie, Megan & Scott. See we were all bound together in a crazy family commonly known as "the Peace Corps."  Family can be hard to avoid, leave or permanently ignore in general. Add that to living in a place where bathing is weekly and indoor plumbing is rare that familial bond fuses.  We look out for each other and stick together as much as we might  frustrate each other from time to time.

One of my friends from those Peace Corps days, John, took his introductory knowledge of house wine making from Moldova back to California, expanded his education more formally and began making Bottle Jack Wines. His first batch of wine from 2008 was bottled in 2011 and includes 3 varietals: Firenze, Zinfandel & Syrah. Since us regular Virginia wine tasters are in DC and John and his wife Katharine (yet another Moldova alum) are out in Santa Cruz we ordered his wines and requested a Skype date to have him walk us through his varietals.

Bottle Jack, photo by Debbie

We started with the Firenze, an 86% Sangiovese blend with 10% Petite Sirah & 4% Zinfandel. This was a very smooth wine aged in French Oak, as we learned Sangiovese tends to be acidic which cleanses the palate  and why it is so good with pasta. Dan, who spent a year in Italy, gave it two thumbs up.  Next we were on to the Zinfandel, I was a bit of  a skeptic when it came to the Zin, but I was pleasantly surprised by its peppery taste. This was Megan's favorite as she enjoyed the tart kick it had, also French Oak aged. Last, but not least was the Syrah, which may have been the over all favorite. It was aged in new American Oak which really brought out a wonderful vanilla nose and taste. We concluded that it would be great with a steak, but you could also enjoy it on its own.

What is "Bottle Jack?"

All of these wines are bold, distinct reds, which is what I really like.  Much bolder than a lot of the reds we try at young Virginia wineries, but since John is a relatively new winemaker I was really curious as to how he achieved such distinct flavors. Was it the age of the vines? Is it the California climate? Is it the type of barrels used? After asking John some follow-up questions and browsing through my Virginia notes I came to the conclusion that it is all of the above. Virginia (typically) gets a true winter and is humid in the summer. California and more specifically Santa Cruz where the Zin & Syrah are from have rocky, sandier soils that drain well from their slopes. The Firenze which comes from Gilroy which isn't too far from Santa Cruz has a similar mild, climate. The vines producing Bottle Jack grapes are probably a couple years older than those at younger Virginia wineries. In addition to enjoying a glass, learning something new by asking these types of questions is just another reason why I enjoy the wine tasting journey.

Not only are Bottle Jack wines quality wines, they are also sustainable; the wine is bottled in reused bottles from Wine Bottle Renew, the labels are tree-free made from a blend of bamboo, cotton & bagasse, plus they don't use foil capsules which all adds up to a lot of natural resource savings. The Zin & Syrah are fairly close to being organic as well, the only exception is an occasional sulfur spraying they do to keep mold at bay.

We all enjoyed the wines so much and catching up with John & Katharine, we're getting ready to place another order. If you like reds and decide to give Bottle Jack a try, you won't be disappointed!