2013 Two Jakes of Diamonds Aspects Red Blend, Lake County
Tasting Notes
Our vineyard on a peninsula jutting into the southeastern corner of Clear Lake is the site of the most remarkable Merlot in the State of California, resembling more a classic Pomerol’s density, depth and masculine tannins, though imparting an unctuous feminine texture. The 2013 was harvested in early October in warm, fair weather which achieved early full ripeness.
Our volcanic soils produce solid, age-worthy tannins and a lively mineral energy to the palate. Persistent sunny rays at the high altitude draw from each varietal block its unique aromatic signature, preserved by the cooling breezes of the adjacent lake. In this wine, we wanted to showcase the complex aromatic elements as a single, complex symphony of fruit with seductive undertones that can only develop with extensive age in neutral oak.
Different Cabernet Sauvignon clones will develop aromas as diverse as grenadine, cassis, raspberry, carob, Asian spice and tar, with tannins and acidity equally varied. Of these, Clone 15 is the most complete: richest in cassis fruit and most structurally solid. Clone 4 is lighter and is characterized by bright cherry aromatics coupled to firm, broad, approachable tannins. A splash of Cabernet Franc imparts high-pitched white cherry and cinnamon notes and a steely backbone to the structure.
After 90 months in neutral French oak, considerable complexity has developed. It’s enjoyable now with a veal chop, wild mushrooms or an exotic cheese. Well within the optimum drinking window, it should easily last another decade in a good cellar.
Our vineyards are located on the volcanic hillsides above the eastern shores of Clear Lake. Our grapes are some of the most sought after in Lake County. Cooling lake breezes preserve berry flavors, while our soils confer a refreshing minerality.
Specs
Vintage: 2013
88.5% Merlot Clone 181
6.4% Cabernet Sauvignon Clone 4 & 15
5.1% Cabernet Franc Clone 1
Estate vineyard, Clear Lake AVA
Harvested October 10th
25.6 Brix at harvest
Rehydrated to 23.5 brix
Fermentation techniques:
Anchor NT112 yeast
7 g/L untoasted Alliers chips
Three week maceration
Elevage details:
Three weeks microbüllage pre ML
90 months in neutral French oak
Alcohol climbed due to dry cellar to 14.9%
pH 3.78, TA 7.0 g/L at bottling
314 Cases Produced
What’s Included
3-bottles:
3x 2013 Two Jakes of Diamonds Aspects Meritage Blend Lot 2, Lake County
Case:
12x 2013 Two Jakes of Diamonds Aspects Meritage Blend Lot 2, Lake County
My name is Jacob S. Stephens III, but everyone calls me Jake. I represent the third generation in our family to embrace the life of a farmer, following in the footsteps of my grandfather Jacob, and my father Jake II.
The Diamond Ridge Vineyards name derives from the Lake County diamonds found on the property. Diamond Ridge is located on the volcanic hillsides north of the town of Clearlake, with the eastern shores of Clear Lake just over the hill. Elevations range from 500 to 800 meters. At this elevation, there is never any fog, and the bright cool sunlight creates conditions ideal for deeply expressive Bordeaux varieties as well as Petite Sirahs of unrivaled color, grace and aroma.
Our site allows us to grow fruit that is comparable, sometimes superior, to our downhill neighbor Napa County, at a fraction of the cost of land. Many experts contend that the quality of fruit produced in mountain vineyards rivals that of the valley floors. We agree! As one of our avid grape clients remarked, “Diamond Ridge is without question the diamond in Lake County’s crown.”
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Two Jakes of Diamonds Aspects Red Blend
3 bottles for $64.99 $21.66/bottle + $2.67/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $199.99 $16.67/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
That’s a great question. I’ve had the privilege to experience first hand 15 clones of Cab planted at DRV. Before I met Jake in 2007, I had no idea clones were important in Cabernet, but they are a huge factor.
Let’s use this episode to talk about the different clones I know about. Of course, some of them vary in their characteristics from place to place, so you can’t entirely generalize. I’m eager to share my experience with the DRV location and other areas I’ve made and drunk Cab clones in other sites.
I have a love/hate relationship with Clone 6. Clone 6 has wonderful structure, rich and oily tannins, good color and is full of cassis. It makes exquisite wine but is very difficult to manage in the vineyard and has shitty and unpredictable yields. We hardly get any yield off the 5 acres we grow. So it really isn’t economically viable except in areas like Napa where you can get 10x price per ton and shitty yields are considered a virtue. Unfortunately it is hardly ever planted there, but the exceptions are worth seeking out.
Why do you ask? Who is making it? Any recommendations?
@winesmith I ask because some years back on the rpm tour in Napa we stopped by Bell Cellars and had a tasting with Anthony Bell. He worked with Tchelistcheff back in the day and stayed working with the individual clones when he went out on his own.
We did a tasting of (iirc) individual clonal bottlings of 337, 4, and 6. Some blends of these clones as well. While I didn’t care as much for clone 4, the clone 6 was downright amazing. I’ve picked up a few bottles of it here and there, but they’re hard to find. Bell made them, and BV sometimes does as well. But that’s it.
Apparently the yield issue you mention is part of the problem.
I have the privilege of ratting this Meritage blend from Two Jakes of Diamonds. This was previously sold on Casemates in May 2019. Full disclosure – I bought a case at the time.
This wine arrived in time for us to take it on the road to my in-laws’ house. My sister- and brother-in-law, my wife, my father-in-law, and I collaborated to produce our various responses, sitting on the back porch in the shade on a lovely Lancaster, PA afternoon. I decanted and sloshed it occasionally for roughly an hour before we began.
Everyone agreed on the initial aroma. As soon as we began pouring, the air was filled with an intense, bright berry aroma. It was this opening cherry smell that set up our expectations. There was also a light overtone of dusty leather.
The wine’s mouthfeel and flavor were much harder to pin down.
Father-in-law: “That’s good!”
Sister-in-law: Strong mid-tongue, with a secondary punch on the soft palate. Bold flavor, a little spicy, and dry.
Brother-in-law: Very dry and bold, a lot of alcohol. He felt it needed to open up.
Wife: Dry with a zing of flavor in the middle of the mouth – a dark, thick wine with an almost raisin tang.
Me: It had a puckery-dry mouthfeel. Initial front flavor was tart cherry with a big fruit hit. This was contrasted with an intense cranberry tartness on the back of the tongue.
We determined that the wine needed more time in the decanter and left it for about six hours, but when we sampled it later, all of us agreed that it hadn’t changed much between tastings, despite the time gap.
Our conclusions:
Sister-in-law: It would be good with venison or duck with cranberries.
Brother-in-law: This is not an easy solo drinker; it needs to be matched with food, but might clash with any pasta with a tomato-based sauce. He was disappointed because the flavor didn’t match the berry smell, and he wanted it to taste like its aroma.
Wife: This wine needed much more time to decant, but it would soften, given time. It is a high potential wine that isn’t quite ready.
By the way, we tried several musical pairings as well, to no avail – selections ranging from Shostakovich 5 mvt 3 to Boston’s “Smokin”.
I should have known that any of Clark’s wines need, at times, from a full day to a week and a half to open up. It was my fault not to honor that complexity with a longer decant. We were going to save the last bit until the next day, but then my brother-in-law doled out the remainder. C’est la vie! Anyone purchasing a WineSmith or Two Jakes wine must know that these are exceptional and individual wines, but those wishing to pop-n-pour will need to give these wines the patience and space they will need to shine.
Thank you for the opportunity to rat the “aspects” of this wine!
@ejrunion I certainly agree with this assessment. I’m very proud of the profundity and yet freshness the nose delivers even now but it’s not a pop-and-pour (few of my wines are) although with the right food (steak) or music matches it can deliver well now.
On that subject, Dwight Furrow and I have just completed the manuscript for “A Practical Guide to Pairing Wine & Music,” to come out in early September as an eBook on Amazon and elsewhere for $9.99. It’s a passport to a whole new world of wine appreciation. Check out www.pairingwineandmusic.com for free Spotify playlists for any wine type. For this, even though it’s predominately Merlot, I recommend the Cabernet Sauvignon playlist.
Just for comparison, I opened the 2013 Lot 1. It is a totally different wine. Other than some alcohol blow-off, it is much more PnP. Same aromas, but perhaps more muted. Not nearly as dry. Much more roundness and unity but no “mineral buzz” as the newer wine has. I agree with Clark’s statement that the Lot 2 release of the 2013 is more of a Reserve wine, and I think that given proper time decanting, this wine will show itself to be far more complex than its first-born twin.
@kaolis@karenhynes@TimW Well, it’s a combination. The 2019 price was always too cheap for this wine, and holding it to a truly Reserve status justifies the modest price hike to where it should have been in the first place.
We did in fact experience the expected shrinkage and flavor concentration over this period. In a dry California cellar, this means the alcohol goes up because water evaporates through the barrel skin preferentially to alcohol.
But in the last couple years, the cellar humidity has remained higher, partly due to misting and partly an artifact of reduced in/out activity and a more “buttoned up” policy due to COVID danger. So the alcohol at 14.9% is exactly where it was in 2019.
Yes, exactly. So here we have much more development and complexity, but also with the pickup of a bit of oak tannins which still makes the wine slightly hard. I think I have taken this wine to a new level through ths extra time, so you may regard it as a Reserve style version of the wine presented two years ago. As ejreunion points out, it is still full of bright, fresh red fruit, in fact enhanced, but continues to beg for time in the cellar to come into full glory. This is an excellent wine to invest in a case or two to start drinking now and track its progress over time.
Not a lot of Voodoo. I’m eager to be candid and answer questions about what I do. That said, the magic of wine is that it’s fundamentally mysterious. We don’t really make it - we create the conditions for it to make its mysterious magic. I do my best to be a good parent ant create the conditions for this to thrive.
Here’s my methodology.
I start with picking early by current standards, avoiding raisining, and paying no attention to brix but much attention to fruit inspection. I have 25 parameters I look at, and I’m happy to expand on these if you guys are interested.
I work with California fruit. Its dry air makes it an easy place to grow grapes with low insect and mold pressures but with the downside that the dry air causes water to evaporate so sugar and the resulting alcohol can run away before we have good phenolic and flavor ripeness. The trick is to pick when the berry is ripe but not field-oxidized as a raisin. Generally, this happens a a somewhat elevated brix above what we would desire in the wine.
My general way of working is to add water to 23.0 brix, which results in 13.8% alcohol and aids in color and flavor extraction, so paradoxically you get more concentrated flavor and color and better colloidal structure and longevity, to say nothing of the benefits for balance. I also adjust pH to 3.60 with tartaric acid. My online class explains the logic if you are curious.
Here’s another trick I use. I also added to the fermentation untoasted Alliers three-year air-dried oak chip which provides ellagitannins. These break down into gallic acid, a great co-pigmenter that also adds antioxidative properties and polysaccharides that create a round texture. It also has whiskey-lactone, a subliminal coconut character that enhances fruit aromas.
That’s about it. I lay it down in neutral French oak for a long time.
This is a classic Bordeaux style and I hope you to do your part in cellaring a bottle or two of it into full maturity. I wouldn’t say it’s a yummy, fruit-forward style, but is pleasurable even now with a porterhouse steak.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2013 Two Jakes of Diamonds Aspects Red Blend - $60 = 23.06%
@Springbank
It’s very much in the same wheelhouse - a sturdy, highly structured wine with firm tannins, great ageworthiness and tons of fruit. The difference is fruit complexity from the more varied varietal composition and tertiary development due to the extended time in neutral wood. The 2011 was two years in oak, this is 90 months.
BTW, there are still a few cases of the 2011 left, which you could buy direct from WineSmith for the same deal they were offered on Casemates long ago. Call Sandra at 707-332-0056 if you’d like to arrange something.
@winesmith
Thanks Clark. I’ve still got some of the Merlot left, and really want to try this one. In for a case. Loved your book as well. Stretched my ancient college chemistry knowledge to the limit, but as you have said, a great read even without it.
@Springbank@winesmith you got my attention on the Merlot, I’ll be calling tomorrow:) trying to clear out space but having difficulty in drinking out of my bunny cove to bring more juice in!
@gillisr
This is a from an ad campaign from 20 years ago for our second label, Cheapskate. We used the reverse of standard psychology and sold the wines for $7.01.
We had a lot of fun with that brand. Note that the lion is dancing on a skateboard instead of an anvil and everything is in screwcaps (part of the image). What happened? Everything got a lot more expensive. I couldn’t bottle air today for that kind of money.
@winesmith Thank you, Clark. I really enjoyed that anecdote. Also, your Faux Chablis sampler pack was the first “expensive” wine purchase I made (without telling my wife!), and one of those bottles changed our perception of what wine could be. I can’t remember which year it was, but we drank one of the bottles with food and the flavors and “feel” changed completely with food. It was like we were drinking something totally different than before we had the meal. It really was an eye opening experience, and we have been seeking something to replicate it ever since.
@gillisr I’m deeply touched by this comment. No winemaker is drawn to their work so customers can get a pleasant buzz. It’s something else. They say “Never become a jazz musician unless you have to.” The same is true for winemakers. We talk about “getting it,” something almost impossible to explain.
Let me illustrate by sharing a candid story from a few years back. I joined the ranks for 28% of the California driving population that have bagged a DUI. Part of my judgment was that I attend a series of educational lectures and group therapy sessions, so I got to spend a couple hours each week with 35 of my fellow miscreants.
The shrink passed a question around the room: “Why do people drink?” There were two answers:
To get high.
To socialize more easily.
When they came to me, I said I was a winemaker and wasn’t prompted by either of those. I tried to explain ideas like beauty and profundity. The laughter in the room was deafening. Every single person thought I was completely full of shit, and they insisted that there was no such thing.
It was like trying to explain television to somebody in the 19th century. Or trying to explain the joys of sex to an 8-year-old. Inconceivable.
The bottom line is that you have to have an “Ahha!” moment. You can’t “get it” through reading, talking, or observing. Wine appreciation does not exist on the internet. You have to experience it yourself.
Unfortunately, most wines today are made either to be yummy or to blow you away - Disney comedies and action/adventure flicks. There’s not a lot of consumer appetite for dramas and foreign films.
I have found that if you make a solid, balanced wine with good structural integrity, Mother Nature will give you mysterious profundity you could never manufacture purposefully. Wines that are understated in youth are the best canvas for her to paint a masterpiece. This is pretty much a formula for disaster in today’s broad market.
This is why you Casemates, all of whom have had that moment of getting it, are such a great match for my style. It ain’t easy being that kind of winemaker, and I live for these moments of acknowledgement and connection. I think you will have no trouble re-experiencing that moment in this wine.
@winesmith Thanks again for the deeply personal reply. My wife and I will share the first bottle from the case the next time I make it home (adult child with a disability/quadriplegic needs help, but is pursuing a PhD In mathematics at Cornell–seems to be a first in this neck of the woods). And he is learning to enjoy your wines compared to many (not all) of the Finger Lakes offerings .
@gillisr If he is drinking Finger Lakes wine, Riesling or dry rosé are the top wines and some Cabernet Franc as well. Most varietals that thrive in CA don’t work here, not a warm enough growing season. We’re in Rochester. The Riesling and rosé are world class!
First, my apologies for the late review. We received the bottle and promptly went away for the holiday weekend and neglected to bring it.
On pnp, the wine showed some alcohol and strong tannins. After several hours the alcohol blew off and it began to open up with raspberry, cherry and a definite oak influence. The oak surprised me as I first read it was done in neutral oak, but it was definitely present, though not in a bad way. I had to go back and re-read the description to see the use of oak chips.
Even after a few hours the tannins were still strong and acidity was right where I wanted it to be. This is definitely a food wine and should work with a variety of meats and strong flavors. My favorite aspect of Aspects was the finish. It was long and had a very nice buzz of minerality. It has the stuffing to age a good long while, and I’d recommend putting it away for a few years if possible.
I wish I’d had a chance to have this wine with a steak or short ribs and really put it through its paces, but schedules did not allow for this. Overall, I think this is a good, fairly priced wine that should get better with time.
Thanks, as always, to WD and Alice for a chance to participate!
Anyone else notice that the 2 Aspects lots (the 66 month one offered here a few years ago and patiently waiting in my cellar vs the new 90 month Lot 2 offered here) have 100% identical labels (even the ABV says 14.9% on both)? I was expecting at least some sort of differentiation. It is easy enough for me to mark the new bottles, I was just a little surprised.
@KitMarlot That’s a good HU for those that may have both in the cellar.
Used to have a similar issue with the Wellington Duke. No way to know in which vintage year it was released. I though capsule differences may be a clue, but not according to Peter; they used whatever was handy…
@KitMarlot@rjquillin I mark the labels for anything like that. I also use the “bottle note” feature in CellarTracker to keep those things straight. Another good use of that technique is with NV bubbles that have annual releases, like the TJ’s Brut Rose. They do well with a couple years on them, so I note the bottles physically and in CT.
Opened one today. Decanted at about noon, to hopefully be ready after I got back from a doctor appointment. Took a long sniff, and it seemed a bit closed. Strong aroma, Some alcohol. Some kind of fruit, but hard to place. About six I poured a glass. Intense aromas. I got red raspberry and cherry. Incredible flavors of fruit. Raspberry and cherry again, something else, with nice tannins. An incredibly long finish. Might be finally tasting the minerality that Clark talks about. Not really sure what I would have guessed this was, but I would never guessed that this was mostly merlot. Clark mentioned cab franc, and if that’s what it is, I want some more. Missed that last offer. A really fantastic wine that I will be hard pressed to keep my hands off of to see how it develops. But at my age, that’s not so important any more. One of the best I have got here.
2013 Two Jakes of Diamonds Aspects Red Blend, Lake County
Tasting Notes
Specs
Fermentation techniques:
Elevage details:
What’s Included
3-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
Not for sale online, $480/case MSRP
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Friday, Sep 17 - Tuesday, Sep 21
Two Jakes of Diamonds Aspects Red Blend
3 bottles for $64.99 $21.66/bottle + $2.67/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $199.99 $16.67/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2013 Two Jakes of Diamonds Aspects
Clark - do they grow any clone 6 Cabernet at the vineyard? If so, any thoughts of making a single clone wine from it?
@klezman
That’s a great question. I’ve had the privilege to experience first hand 15 clones of Cab planted at DRV. Before I met Jake in 2007, I had no idea clones were important in Cabernet, but they are a huge factor.
Let’s use this episode to talk about the different clones I know about. Of course, some of them vary in their characteristics from place to place, so you can’t entirely generalize. I’m eager to share my experience with the DRV location and other areas I’ve made and drunk Cab clones in other sites.
I have a love/hate relationship with Clone 6. Clone 6 has wonderful structure, rich and oily tannins, good color and is full of cassis. It makes exquisite wine but is very difficult to manage in the vineyard and has shitty and unpredictable yields. We hardly get any yield off the 5 acres we grow. So it really isn’t economically viable except in areas like Napa where you can get 10x price per ton and shitty yields are considered a virtue. Unfortunately it is hardly ever planted there, but the exceptions are worth seeking out.
Why do you ask? Who is making it? Any recommendations?
@winesmith I ask because some years back on the rpm tour in Napa we stopped by Bell Cellars and had a tasting with Anthony Bell. He worked with Tchelistcheff back in the day and stayed working with the individual clones when he went out on his own.
We did a tasting of (iirc) individual clonal bottlings of 337, 4, and 6. Some blends of these clones as well. While I didn’t care as much for clone 4, the clone 6 was downright amazing. I’ve picked up a few bottles of it here and there, but they’re hard to find. Bell made them, and BV sometimes does as well. But that’s it.
Apparently the yield issue you mention is part of the problem.
2013 Two Jakes of Diamonds Aspects
Happy Labor Day!
I have the privilege of ratting this Meritage blend from Two Jakes of Diamonds. This was previously sold on Casemates in May 2019. Full disclosure – I bought a case at the time.
This wine arrived in time for us to take it on the road to my in-laws’ house. My sister- and brother-in-law, my wife, my father-in-law, and I collaborated to produce our various responses, sitting on the back porch in the shade on a lovely Lancaster, PA afternoon. I decanted and sloshed it occasionally for roughly an hour before we began.
Everyone agreed on the initial aroma. As soon as we began pouring, the air was filled with an intense, bright berry aroma. It was this opening cherry smell that set up our expectations. There was also a light overtone of dusty leather.
The wine’s mouthfeel and flavor were much harder to pin down.
Father-in-law: “That’s good!”
Sister-in-law: Strong mid-tongue, with a secondary punch on the soft palate. Bold flavor, a little spicy, and dry.
Brother-in-law: Very dry and bold, a lot of alcohol. He felt it needed to open up.
Wife: Dry with a zing of flavor in the middle of the mouth – a dark, thick wine with an almost raisin tang.
Me: It had a puckery-dry mouthfeel. Initial front flavor was tart cherry with a big fruit hit. This was contrasted with an intense cranberry tartness on the back of the tongue.
We determined that the wine needed more time in the decanter and left it for about six hours, but when we sampled it later, all of us agreed that it hadn’t changed much between tastings, despite the time gap.
Our conclusions:
Sister-in-law: It would be good with venison or duck with cranberries.
Brother-in-law: This is not an easy solo drinker; it needs to be matched with food, but might clash with any pasta with a tomato-based sauce. He was disappointed because the flavor didn’t match the berry smell, and he wanted it to taste like its aroma.
Wife: This wine needed much more time to decant, but it would soften, given time. It is a high potential wine that isn’t quite ready.
By the way, we tried several musical pairings as well, to no avail – selections ranging from Shostakovich 5 mvt 3 to Boston’s “Smokin”.
I should have known that any of Clark’s wines need, at times, from a full day to a week and a half to open up. It was my fault not to honor that complexity with a longer decant. We were going to save the last bit until the next day, but then my brother-in-law doled out the remainder. C’est la vie! Anyone purchasing a WineSmith or Two Jakes wine must know that these are exceptional and individual wines, but those wishing to pop-n-pour will need to give these wines the patience and space they will need to shine.
Thank you for the opportunity to rat the “aspects” of this wine!
@ejrunion I certainly agree with this assessment. I’m very proud of the profundity and yet freshness the nose delivers even now but it’s not a pop-and-pour (few of my wines are) although with the right food (steak) or music matches it can deliver well now.
On that subject, Dwight Furrow and I have just completed the manuscript for “A Practical Guide to Pairing Wine & Music,” to come out in early September as an eBook on Amazon and elsewhere for $9.99. It’s a passport to a whole new world of wine appreciation. Check out www.pairingwineandmusic.com for free Spotify playlists for any wine type. For this, even though it’s predominately Merlot, I recommend the Cabernet Sauvignon playlist.
@ejrunion In for a case: obedient-emerald-horn.
[1]:
@ejrunion Thanks to you and the whole family for the fine reporting.
@WCCWineGirl Thanks for trusting me!
Just for comparison, I opened the 2013 Lot 1. It is a totally different wine. Other than some alcohol blow-off, it is much more PnP. Same aromas, but perhaps more muted. Not nearly as dry. Much more roundness and unity but no “mineral buzz” as the newer wine has. I agree with Clark’s statement that the Lot 2 release of the 2013 is more of a Reserve wine, and I think that given proper time decanting, this wine will show itself to be far more complex than its first-born twin.
@ejrunion Went in for a case here as well. Nice gif, lol!
@ejrunion very cool to be able to compare the 2. thanks for sharing that info.
Howdy Clark!
Good to see you, as always!
Is this the same wine offered back in May 2019, but with an additional 2 years in barrel??
@karenhynes hey good catch! The previous offering said 66 months in neutral French oak…this one says 90 months!
@karenhynes @TimW @winesmith Was $50/case cheaper I see then.
@kaolis @karenhynes @TimW @winesmith is that a 2 day shipping surcharge, inflation, or the fact that you know we can’t resist?
@karenhynes @KitMarlot @TimW @winesmith evaporation charge?
@kaolis @karenhynes @TimW Well, it’s a combination. The 2019 price was always too cheap for this wine, and holding it to a truly Reserve status justifies the modest price hike to where it should have been in the first place.
@kaolis @karenhynes @KitMarlot @TimW This is a very astute question.
We did in fact experience the expected shrinkage and flavor concentration over this period. In a dry California cellar, this means the alcohol goes up because water evaporates through the barrel skin preferentially to alcohol.
But in the last couple years, the cellar humidity has remained higher, partly due to misting and partly an artifact of reduced in/out activity and a more “buttoned up” policy due to COVID danger. So the alcohol at 14.9% is exactly where it was in 2019.
Yes, exactly. So here we have much more development and complexity, but also with the pickup of a bit of oak tannins which still makes the wine slightly hard. I think I have taken this wine to a new level through ths extra time, so you may regard it as a Reserve style version of the wine presented two years ago. As ejreunion points out, it is still full of bright, fresh red fruit, in fact enhanced, but continues to beg for time in the cellar to come into full glory. This is an excellent wine to invest in a case or two to start drinking now and track its progress over time.
@winesmith
…In for a case - dejected-jumping-pancake. Thanks as always Jake/Clark
Two Jakes of Diamonds Aspects…WineSmith’s Voodoo wine making skills
Not a lot of Voodoo. I’m eager to be candid and answer questions about what I do. That said, the magic of wine is that it’s fundamentally mysterious. We don’t really make it - we create the conditions for it to make its mysterious magic. I do my best to be a good parent ant create the conditions for this to thrive.
Here’s my methodology.
I start with picking early by current standards, avoiding raisining, and paying no attention to brix but much attention to fruit inspection. I have 25 parameters I look at, and I’m happy to expand on these if you guys are interested.
I work with California fruit. Its dry air makes it an easy place to grow grapes with low insect and mold pressures but with the downside that the dry air causes water to evaporate so sugar and the resulting alcohol can run away before we have good phenolic and flavor ripeness. The trick is to pick when the berry is ripe but not field-oxidized as a raisin. Generally, this happens a a somewhat elevated brix above what we would desire in the wine.
My general way of working is to add water to 23.0 brix, which results in 13.8% alcohol and aids in color and flavor extraction, so paradoxically you get more concentrated flavor and color and better colloidal structure and longevity, to say nothing of the benefits for balance. I also adjust pH to 3.60 with tartaric acid. My online class explains the logic if you are curious.
Here’s another trick I use. I also added to the fermentation untoasted Alliers three-year air-dried oak chip which provides ellagitannins. These break down into gallic acid, a great co-pigmenter that also adds antioxidative properties and polysaccharides that create a round texture. It also has whiskey-lactone, a subliminal coconut character that enhances fruit aromas.
That’s about it. I lay it down in neutral French oak for a long time.
This is a classic Bordeaux style and I hope you to do your part in cellaring a bottle or two of it into full maturity. I wouldn’t say it’s a yummy, fruit-forward style, but is pleasurable even now with a porterhouse steak.
@winesmith
Thanks Clark. Easiest decision I’ve made in weeks!
/giphy kissable-baffled-company
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2013 Two Jakes of Diamonds Aspects Red Blend - $60 = 23.06%
How would you say this compares with the 2011 Merlot? That was one of the first of your wines I tried, and I love it.
@Springbank
It’s very much in the same wheelhouse - a sturdy, highly structured wine with firm tannins, great ageworthiness and tons of fruit. The difference is fruit complexity from the more varied varietal composition and tertiary development due to the extended time in neutral wood. The 2011 was two years in oak, this is 90 months.
BTW, there are still a few cases of the 2011 left, which you could buy direct from WineSmith for the same deal they were offered on Casemates long ago. Call Sandra at 707-332-0056 if you’d like to arrange something.
@winesmith
Thanks Clark. I’ve still got some of the Merlot left, and really want to try this one. In for a case. Loved your book as well. Stretched my ancient college chemistry knowledge to the limit, but as you have said, a great read even without it.
/giphy snotty-tired-hall
@Springbank @winesmith you got my attention on the Merlot, I’ll be calling tomorrow:) trying to clear out space but having difficulty in drinking out of my bunny cove to bring more juice in!
/giphy attractive-nearsighted-mink
More expensive than the last time, but one penny under $200, my automatic limit for asking my wife if it is OK to buy wine.
@gillisr
This is a from an ad campaign from 20 years ago for our second label, Cheapskate. We used the reverse of standard psychology and sold the wines for $7.01.
We had a lot of fun with that brand. Note that the lion is dancing on a skateboard instead of an anvil and everything is in screwcaps (part of the image). What happened? Everything got a lot more expensive. I couldn’t bottle air today for that kind of money.
@winesmith Thank you, Clark. I really enjoyed that anecdote. Also, your Faux Chablis sampler pack was the first “expensive” wine purchase I made (without telling my wife!), and one of those bottles changed our perception of what wine could be. I can’t remember which year it was, but we drank one of the bottles with food and the flavors and “feel” changed completely with food. It was like we were drinking something totally different than before we had the meal. It really was an eye opening experience, and we have been seeking something to replicate it ever since.
@gillisr I’m deeply touched by this comment. No winemaker is drawn to their work so customers can get a pleasant buzz. It’s something else. They say “Never become a jazz musician unless you have to.” The same is true for winemakers. We talk about “getting it,” something almost impossible to explain.
Let me illustrate by sharing a candid story from a few years back. I joined the ranks for 28% of the California driving population that have bagged a DUI. Part of my judgment was that I attend a series of educational lectures and group therapy sessions, so I got to spend a couple hours each week with 35 of my fellow miscreants.
The shrink passed a question around the room: “Why do people drink?” There were two answers:
When they came to me, I said I was a winemaker and wasn’t prompted by either of those. I tried to explain ideas like beauty and profundity. The laughter in the room was deafening. Every single person thought I was completely full of shit, and they insisted that there was no such thing.
It was like trying to explain television to somebody in the 19th century. Or trying to explain the joys of sex to an 8-year-old. Inconceivable.
The bottom line is that you have to have an “Ahha!” moment. You can’t “get it” through reading, talking, or observing. Wine appreciation does not exist on the internet. You have to experience it yourself.
Unfortunately, most wines today are made either to be yummy or to blow you away - Disney comedies and action/adventure flicks. There’s not a lot of consumer appetite for dramas and foreign films.
I have found that if you make a solid, balanced wine with good structural integrity, Mother Nature will give you mysterious profundity you could never manufacture purposefully. Wines that are understated in youth are the best canvas for her to paint a masterpiece. This is pretty much a formula for disaster in today’s broad market.
This is why you Casemates, all of whom have had that moment of getting it, are such a great match for my style. It ain’t easy being that kind of winemaker, and I live for these moments of acknowledgement and connection. I think you will have no trouble re-experiencing that moment in this wine.
@winesmith Thanks again for the deeply personal reply. My wife and I will share the first bottle from the case the next time I make it home (adult child with a disability/quadriplegic needs help, but is pursuing a PhD In mathematics at Cornell–seems to be a first in this neck of the woods). And he is learning to enjoy your wines compared to many (not all) of the Finger Lakes offerings
.
@gillisr Very impressive! I love such stories.
@gillisr If he is drinking Finger Lakes wine, Riesling or dry rosé are the top wines and some Cabernet Franc as well. Most varietals that thrive in CA don’t work here, not a warm enough growing season. We’re in Rochester. The Riesling and rosé are world class!
Love the prospect of some age worthy blended juice from Clark
/giphy steep-shady-druid
/giphy flabby-exuberant-church
Always in for 2 of Jakes… good wine!
/giphy perfunctory-rested-voyage
2013 Two Jakes Aspects
First, my apologies for the late review. We received the bottle and promptly went away for the holiday weekend and neglected to bring it.
On pnp, the wine showed some alcohol and strong tannins. After several hours the alcohol blew off and it began to open up with raspberry, cherry and a definite oak influence. The oak surprised me as I first read it was done in neutral oak, but it was definitely present, though not in a bad way. I had to go back and re-read the description to see the use of oak chips.
Even after a few hours the tannins were still strong and acidity was right where I wanted it to be. This is definitely a food wine and should work with a variety of meats and strong flavors. My favorite aspect of Aspects was the finish. It was long and had a very nice buzz of minerality. It has the stuffing to age a good long while, and I’d recommend putting it away for a few years if possible.
I wish I’d had a chance to have this wine with a steak or short ribs and really put it through its paces, but schedules did not allow for this. Overall, I think this is a good, fairly priced wine that should get better with time.
Thanks, as always, to WD and Alice for a chance to participate!
@hscottk thank you for the report
/giphy independent-downy-drawer
Anyone else notice that the 2 Aspects lots (the 66 month one offered here a few years ago and patiently waiting in my cellar vs the new 90 month Lot 2 offered here) have 100% identical labels (even the ABV says 14.9% on both)? I was expecting at least some sort of differentiation. It is easy enough for me to mark the new bottles, I was just a little surprised.
@KitMarlot That’s a good HU for those that may have both in the cellar.
Used to have a similar issue with the Wellington Duke. No way to know in which vintage year it was released. I though capsule differences may be a clue, but not according to Peter; they used whatever was handy…
@KitMarlot @rjquillin I mark the labels for anything like that. I also use the “bottle note” feature in CellarTracker to keep those things straight. Another good use of that technique is with NV bubbles that have annual releases, like the TJ’s Brut Rose. They do well with a couple years on them, so I note the bottles physically and in CT.
Opened one today. Decanted at about noon, to hopefully be ready after I got back from a doctor appointment. Took a long sniff, and it seemed a bit closed. Strong aroma, Some alcohol. Some kind of fruit, but hard to place. About six I poured a glass. Intense aromas. I got red raspberry and cherry. Incredible flavors of fruit. Raspberry and cherry again, something else, with nice tannins. An incredibly long finish. Might be finally tasting the minerality that Clark talks about. Not really sure what I would have guessed this was, but I would never guessed that this was mostly merlot. Clark mentioned cab franc, and if that’s what it is, I want some more. Missed that last offer. A really fantastic wine that I will be hard pressed to keep my hands off of to see how it develops. But at my age, that’s not so important any more. One of the best I have got here.