JACK Wines

JACK Wines was founded by two partners, former major league baseball teammates Chris Iannetta and Vernon Wells. Despite both of their careers overlapping for a very short time while playing for the Los Angeles Angels they became friends through a mutual interest in wine and rehabbing together from injuries suffered during the 2011/2012 baseball season. For three months of the season both were on the disabled list.

They would often visit fine dining restaurants with teammates. When it came to choosing the wines for the meal, their teammates would often defer to Chris or Vernon to make the choices. During one such meal they both talked about their passion for wines, interest in Napa Valley and pondered starting their own wine label.

Chris was born in Providence, Rhode Island and has played for several teams throughout his career (as a catcher) including the Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles, Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks. Vernon was born in Shreveport Louisiana but raised in Arlington, Texas and played (as a center fielder) for the Toronto Blue Jays, the Los Angeles Angels for a short stint (where he met Chris) and the New York Yankees before retiring in 2013.

On one of their visits to Napa Valley they were introduced to JACK founding wine maker Grant Long. Hearing of their interest in producing wines he offered to be their winemaker and was from the inaugural vintage of 2012 through 2020. Grant made his first wine at age 16, has lived in Napa Valley most of his life, owns several wineries and provides consulting wine making services to several premium brands. Grant does not cut corners when it comes to wine making. He judiciously chooses oak that accompanies the wine; his philosophy is to use oak as an integrating tool rather than a dominating one. And as a tool which does not impart harsh wood tannins. His wines finish smooth (even when they are young) without the coarseness or roughness of jagged tannins. Grant is no longer the winemaker for JACK and Two old Dogs. During his time with JACK, Grant’s established relationships with vineyard owners in Napa Valley were utilized for some of the grapes for JACK’s wines.

The wine is named from taking the first initial of each of their children’s names – Jayce, Ashlyn, Christian and Kylie. Ashlyn and Kylie are Chris’s children. As of our latest up update to this review, there are four partners involved including Steve Distler, also owner of Arnyca Cellars and formerly a co-owner of Carpe Diem Wine Bar in Napa. Steve is the only one of the partners to live in Napa Valley.

Note: This review has been identified as needing a *major* update.

Select Wines
Whites
Looking for a Sauvignon Blanc with weight and richness? This wine delivers in that regards. A grassy citrus focused wine of this variety? No, that is not its style. The 2016 JACK Reserve Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley is deep gold in the glass; the bouquet offers an attractive union of ripe primarily fruit aromatics including pineapple, almost overripe Crane Melon (a Sonoma County favorite), apricot, baked apple and papaya, accompanied by a note of chamomile and dessert spices including crème Brule, caramel and vanilla. This bottling offers some weight with an almost oily texture, which is complemented nicely by a bright acidity. The palate sports rich flavors of honeydew melon, dried nectarine, pineapple, coconut and a citrus nuance, perhaps closest resembling grapefruit or pomelo. A light sweetness shows deep in the finish, similar to tarragon. The wine was fermented sur lie for six months in neutral French oak barrels. For reference, we tasted this wine 8 years post vintage.

Reds
Proprietary Red
The 2022 JACK Proprietary Red wine is 100% varietal Cabernet Sauvignon from Sleeping Lady Vineyard near Yountville. This wine is not always 100% varietal, but this year during blending sessions, they realized that this wine showed its best when it wasn’t blended. It is deep ruby in color; forward fruited, the first aromatic we noted was of blueberry. Additional scents include red cherry, dark raspberry and Santa Rosa plum. The aromatic profile is a bit reticent at first, so give it time to fully evolve in the glass. On the palate there are flavors of plum, cherry, dark raspberry and a lingering note of tobacco spice. The tannins are gentle – indicative of this vintage overall in Napa Valley. The texture sports a lightly grainy and persistent dusty / chalky character. Dark, and savory. The finish lingers with smoked sage, crushed pepper and an earthy characteristic.

The 2015 JACK Proprietary Red Wine is a blend of 50% Atlas Peak Estate vineyard fruit with 50% Cabernet Sauvignon from Diamond Mountain. It features an aromatic party on the bouquet, showing rich and layered fruit aromas including blackberry and raspberry with lesser pronounced aromas of dark chocolate along with nuances of cedar box and hints of dessert spices. It immediately invites a sip and showcases mouth filling flavors of blackberry and plum. The finish is long with pronounced tannins.

Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2018 JACK Cabernet Sauvignon, Atlas Peak is deep ruby in color. For reference we tasted this wine seven years post vintage. The bouquet smell highly fresh at this age, offering aromas of red cherry, Santa Rosa plum, tobacco, dried sage, thyme and old cedar box. Balanced and fresh across the palate, it offers mostly red fruited flavors including cherry, raspberry, current, plum and smoked sage. Lingers bright and savory. The tannins are firmly textured and persist with a grainy and drying chalky grip.

The 2015 JACK Diamond Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon is blended with 6% Cabernet Franc. One can almost smell the soils in the bouquet of this wine as it initially breathes. As it opens, more fruit shows including spicy plum and dark cherry. It is ripe, but not overly so. Shows bright aromatics with hints of floral notes; the bouquet is focused mostly on the fruit rather than any secondary characteristics. There is a richness on the palate showing flavors of blackberry, chocolate and a kiss of vanilla which lingers on a big finish (both structure and flavor). Grant made this wine; while he doesn’t play baseball, he has certainly hit a home run with this bottling.

And in a nod to their careers, when the wines are turned on their sides, they are easily identifiable from the red baseball stitching that is printed on the end of every bottle’s capsule.

Two Old Dogs
This companion label (originally called EII) was a second label started by Herb and Jennifer Lamb and was created as a tribute to both Herb and two of their vineyard dogs (all now deceased). The name of this wine brand always makes us think of the wonderful Tom T Hall song, Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine. Herb and Jennifer produced wines bottled under Herb Lamb Vineyards from 1997 through 2016. Jennifer continues to own their original property just below Howell Mountain; every year, she sells the grapes to other wine producers.

The original labels featured a likeness of Herb smoking one of his cigars with one of his old dogs lounging next to him. This label has since transitioned into a more contemporary visual. JACK Wines acquired this label from Jennifer. As of our latest update to this review, at least four wines are produced under Two Old Dogs: a three-varietal California rosé, a Pinot Noir from Sonoma County, a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and a Sauvignon Blanc, sourced primarily from Yountville. Yountville is one of the valley’s “sweet” spots for growing Sauvignon Blanc.

Pinot Noir
The 2021 Two Old Dogs Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast is medium ruby in color; the bouquet offers both fruit and spice aromatics including of all spice, crushed dark peppercorn, old cedar box, dried herbs including thyme, oregano, sage and tarragon, jerky, creosote, bramble, dark raspberry, dried cranberries and currant. This spice laden bottling smells savory and has layers upon layers of aromatic depth; immediately, even before even tasting it, we wanted to pair this bottling with dry rub pork chops from the BBQ. The palate is plush and softly textured, offering red fruited flavors of raspberry, cherry cola, strawberry and red plum along with red licorice and a note of dill. Some of the spice notes on the bouquet are echoed on the palate including of white pepper, assorted dried herbs and lingering tobacco. This wine finishes with a light but lingering dry character. It was aged in 40% new French oak and 60% neutral barrels for 18 months.

Sauvignon Blanc
The 2022 Two Old Dogs Sauvignon Blanc, Oak Knoll Napa Valley is medium gold in color; despite only a listed 13.1% alcohol, the bouquet tends to be more on the riper side of the aromatic spectrum as opposed to the citrusy/green/grassy aromatics that this variety often expresses. It offers scents of apricot, pineapple, Golden delicious apple juice, honeysuckle and honeycomb, cantaloupe pineapple guava, lychee and ripe bosc pear. The fleshy and rounded palate is complemented by its bright but balanced acidity. On the palate there are flavors of pineapple, honey crisp apple, passion fruit, lime, gooseberry, white nectarine and pomelo with a subtle note of lingering tarragon. This wine tastes like the variety. In terms of pairing we would love the company of this wine, goat cheese and thinly sliced fennel charcuterie meat.

The 2016 Two Old Dogs Sauvignon Blanc was sourced from the Mello Vineyard in Yountville. This bottling is medium golden in the glass; the bouquet offers aromas of young pine shoot tips, lemongrass, lemon, melon, haystack, pineapple, bruised apple and ripe pear. The palate is fruity, crisp and delivers plenty of flavor. It shows notes of tangerine, melon, pineapple, Golden Delicious apple, lanolin, yellow peach and dried stone fruits including apricot. The finish is richly flavored and anchored by a zesty acidity. We tried this wine 6 years post vintage and it was showing quite well, not surprising considering its vineyard site and the fact this wine was built on great fruit and accompanying acidity.

The 2013 Two Old Dogs Sauvignon Blanc strikes a nice balance between two prominent styles of Sauvignon Blanc: ripe & creamy (often associated with California) and the more tart and tangy (often associated with New Zealand wines from this variety). This vintage has a lively nose that aromatically shows an inviting collection of tropical notes including yellow pineapple, some floral nuances including honeysuckle and the sweet smell of orange blossom as well as a hint of apricot. The palate is pleasing both in texture and flavor and is rounded and soft. It shows mineralities with an underlying flint like-note towards the finish. Some citrus notes show on the palate. The finish is zesty, clean, lively and very refreshing. For summer Sauvignon Blanc lovers, this wine is an easy choice and light on the wallet to.

Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2011 Two Old Dogs Cabernet Sauvignon initially shows dark fruit aromatics, but as it opens, it shows more red fruit aromas including red currant, red cherry and earth notes with an underlying dusty and dried grass component. The nose is pretty. The palate shows a variety of fruit including raspberry and cherry with lingering bright and higher-toned fruits on the finish. This bottling lingers by a pleasing afterglow of coffee, and darker chocolate. It shows decent acidity. The wine is approachable young especially considering this vintage in Napa was a bit challenging (cool and rainy until late Spring and a harvest that was somewhat delayed by rain). There is a nice balance between tannins and fruit. And the alcohol is under 14% – somewhat rare for Napa Valley produced red wines these days.

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After acquiring Two Old Dogs, JACK also took over the space on Fulton Lane in St. Helena from the Lambs; this was located in the same building as ACME Wine Shop. As of our latest update to this review, tastings for JACK and Two Old Dogs are no longer being hosted there.

Total production of JACK is about 100 cases of each wine, with usually 300-500 cases released annually. The wines are sold direct to consumer via their allocation list. For more information and to sign up for this list, visit: www.jackwinery.com

ARCHIVED NOTES
The partners purchased a beautiful piece of property high on the slopes of Atlas Peak as an investment; for several years some of the grapes from their property were used in the JACK Wines. These vineyards boast arguably one of Napa Valley’s best views to the east from this appellation. On a clear winter or spring day one can easily see the snowcapped Sierra Nevada mountains far in the distance (about a 3.5-hour drive from the property). At night the lights of Sacramento can be seen in the Central Valley, beyond the coastal foothills and looking further to the south, one has excellent views of another part of the Central Valley, near Vacaville, with numerous wind machines on the furthest hills sometimes seen in the distance.

The property is 30 acres at over 2,000 feet and usually experiences some snow each winter. Twelve acres of Merlot are planted on site on a wide variety of slopes with various exposures. Some of the fruit is sold and some is kept for the Proprietary Red wine they produce each year. And despite the terrible damage the Atlas Peak fire caused on much of this area in October 2017, their vines were spared from the fire. Remarkably the home on site was not damaged either – despite burning right to its edge and destroying other homes nearby.

NOTE: this property has since been sold and is no longer owned by JACK.