JOVIAH Wines

JOVIAH Wines, pronounced jo-vee-ah, was founded by winemaker Victoria Coleman with her inaugural vintage in 2022. Originally from Seattle, she was not raised in a ‘wine family’, although her parents would sometimes drink inexpensive wines. While in Seattle she began studying computer science, but during a vacation to Mexico she met a winemaker who was working at a winery in Napa Valley. She moved to Napa Valley to be closer to him and he introduced her to the industry, offering an insiders perspective on both Napa Valley and winemaking. This move changed the course of her career.

Her first job in Napa Valley was for Warren Winiarsksi at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars as a temporary receptionist taking over for an employee who was transitioning to sales. When a cellar position opened, she applied for that job, and after a lengthy interview, she was accepted. Early during her time at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars she remembers a bottle of 1994 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars SLV in the drawer of her desk. One day the employee who owned the desk decided to clean out its contents; she gifted Victoria the bottle of 1994 SLV. When Victoria opened this wine, she remembers it was an ‘aha’ moment; she didn’t realize wine could taste so good.

As she continued to learn about production, the winemaker at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars at the time, Michael Silacci asked her to participate in blending trials. Silacci has noted that Victoria wasn’t the most verbal, calling her ‘shy’ but she did have a very advanced and refined palate. Michael has been one of Victoria’s most important mentors, including teaching her more about viticulture.

She took a wine a winemaking class at Napa valley College before transferring to UC Davis. She had previously met vineyard manager Mario Bazán when he was working at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. In 2004 he asked her to make his wine; she trusted her ability to ferment but then questioned herself, “what if something goes wrong in the cellar”. She was still focusing her efforts on learning about viticulture. But a year later Mario asked again and she agreed, this time referencing in her head winemakers she could talk to if there were any issues in the cellar. She made the Bazán wines while studying at UC Davis and commuting to and from Napa.

Victoria remembers tasting Cabernet Sauvignon from tank from the 2005 vintage for Mario Bazán. She was impressed by how great the wine was tasting in its infancy and told herself, “I need to do this again”. Twenty years later in discussion, she fondly recalls this as her most favorite wine produced to date. And she frequented the Mario Bazán tasting room to purchase more cases of this special vintage.

She graduated from UC Davis with a degree in enology and viticulture; she was the first Black woman to graduate from that program and later became Napa Valley’s first ever Black female winemaker.

She also worked as a production assistant at Opus One. Then she worked oversees, in 2008 for Erick Tourbier at Chateau Mouton Rothschild in Bordeaux, France and intermittently at Jade Valley winery in China from 2010 until 2019. That position came about when Qingyun Ma, the former Dean of the School of Architecture at USC and founder of Jade Valley Winery called Michael Silacci asking for winemaker recommendations. He wanted a winemaker to travel to Jade Valley Winery and assist and educate their winemaking team. Michael called seven winemakers including Victoria. The other six were not interested; Victoria agreed to meet Qingyuan Ma and others at dinner.

By the end of dinner they had invited her to come to China; she agreed. It was a learning experience both in terms of viticulture practices and culture. The winery had success growing Merlot in their heavy clay soils and Pinot Noir, but found growing Cabernet Sauvignon challenging. During one visit to one of the vineyards she recalls villagers had put up roadblocks to try and stop her from entering the vineyards. She later inquired about this strange practice; the answer given was, “you are too attractive and shouldn’t be out in the vineyards”.

She assisted with blending trials at Jade Valley Winery, recalling a huge amount of individual lots they were working through. Harvest was also very early regardless of the season; the team mentioned they needed to pick early to beat the summer rains. Victoria kept pushing to pick later; a heavy rain jolted her awake one night and she experienced first hand why the team was in such a hurry to pick. But ultimately harvesting later proved to be a smart decision that year.

She would travel to China several times a year, during harvest and late in the year for pruning. She brought over a pruning expert from Napa Valley one year; he trained their team. The weather was generally frigid late in the year; thinking about one of our trips to China in the winter, we still recall the bone chilling sensation even felt through our 6 layers of clothing, including a thick down jacket.

Victoria made wine for Lobo Cellars for 17 vintages until that brand was retired in 2024. And she has made wine at the Caves of Soda Canyon for many years. This space is a think tank of sorts where one can bounce ideas off of others and relationships are cultivated. At our last count some 20 individual brands produce their wines at the Caves of Soda Canyon. Those who work here have the added perspective of being exposed to a diversity of winemaking practices and styles, vineyard sources and a large network within Napa Valley.

Customers of the brands Victoria made wine for would sometimes inquire about her own brand. She held off for many years because she knew the high costs of doing things right including sourcing premium grapes, barrels and other associated costs. And then the daunting task of having to sell your own wine. But in the summer of 2022 she decided timing was right to start her own wine label.

When looking for a name for the brand, Victoria focused on a word that was tied into mentorship or supporting someone. But she found it challenging to find a name or a symbol that wasn’t already trademarked. She kept circling back to ‘Joviah’. The name is a nomenclatural derivation of ‘jovia’ which means god in Hebrew referring to graciousness, gratitude and happiness. It is an homage to all those who have supported her throughout her winemaking career; and now that she is in a position to support others in the industry, she does so and is a mentor for harvest interns. Joviah is also the same name as her nephew.

Victoria has been strongly supported by a important and integral network of family and friends. Her approach to winemaking was instilled in her by great mentors including Warren Winiarski (Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars) and Michael Silacci (Opus One). Silacci in particular has had a great influence on her winemaking career. Her goal in the cellar is to always let the wine express a sense of time and place.

Select Wines
Wulff Vineyard
The 2023 JOVIAH Cabernet Sauvignon Wulff Vineyard, Atlas Peak Napa Valley is a blend of four different clones of Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. It is deep ruby and opaque; dark fruited and showing some inherent varietal characteristics, the bouquet smells like cherry, ripe blackberry, boysenberry, dark plum and dark chocolate, with lighter and supporting layers of dried sage, petrichor, chalk and tobacco leaf. There is an aromatic place between greenness and herbal and tobacco. This wine’s accompanying aromas falls more on the side of tobacco. Singing soprano, two years post vintage this wine precisely expresses the freshness of the site. The palate is bright, bouncy and beautiful in terms of its refreshing acidity. It tastes more red fruited than dark, with flavors of cherry, currant, raspberry and not fully ripe plum. The integrated tannins persist with a light to moderate grip, felt as a gravelly, dusty and chalky character which outpaces the fruit on the finish. Of the four JOVIAH bottlings between the 2022 and the 2023 vintages, this wine in our opinion has the depth and character to be the most age worthy. Exceptional.

The 2022 JOVIAH Cabernet Sauvignon, Wulff Vineyard Atlas Peak Napa Valley is deep ruby and opaque in color; elegant, restrained but also compelling and subtlety layered, this wine smells of petrichor, dried rose petals, dark tea leaf, dried tobacco leaf, red chili spice and a hint of old cedar box. Its fruit includes boysenberry, Santa Rosa plum and raspberry. Superbly balanced, this wine is already singing brightly at three years post vintage. Its flavors include red cherry, boysenberry, red plum and blueberry. The finishing note offers a savory bent, carried by its bright and balanced acidity, light notes of dried herbs and a minerally and chalky/dusty character. The cocoa powder fine-grained tannins linger with a light pillowy feel, fitting into the finish smoothly like the piece of a perfectly aligned puzzle piece. This wine shows in a sweet spot in its youth, but has the cadence for long term aging with the proper cellar care.

Wulff Vineyard is owned by Randy and Krys Wullf. They championed close row planting from the beginning on this site with vines planted in a very tight spacing profile. No tractors are used and coupled with the steepness of several of their blocks – everything is very much hand farmed. It is a labor-intensive process. Wulf Vineyard is currently managed by Pete Richmond’s team at Silverado Farming Company.

This is truly a unique piece of property on Atlas Peak; it features a bird’s eye view looking straight out at San Pablo Bay. The property is geographically located such that it’s among the first hillside properties in this part of Napa Valley to be fully exposed to the bay. This means this is an extremely windy part of Atlas Peak. There are no other hills blocking their view of the bay. Their vineyards are at about 1350 feet in elevation which is well within the fog line on most days.

There are certainly some very rocky vineyards in Atlas Peak, but this is among the rockiest we’ve seen in this appellation. To reach their vineyard one has to drive through an significant volcanic lava cap which doesn’t seem to support much more than some grass; their vineyard is on the side of this lava cap but the fairly large rocks running down the steep vineyard slopes ensure these vines struggle for everything they are worth.

Sticks & Stones
The 2023 JOVIAH Sticks & Stones Cabernet Sauvignon (100% varietal), Oak Knoll District Napa Valley is deep ruby and opaque; forward fruited but fresh, the bouquet sports some of the varietal characteristics that we about enjoy about Cabernet Sauvignon. And this typicity is more often than not bled out by ripeness in Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. This wine initially smells like red chili spice, tobacco, a light note of Shishito pepper, lavender, African violets and dried sage. But give it time and its core of fruit becomes far more expressive, revealing scents of blackberry, cherry, dark raspberry and boysenberry. Brambly. As fresh on the palate as on the bouquet, this wine tastes like red cherry, Santa Rosa plum, boysenberry and dark raspberry. The tannins are remarkably integrated, both for the vintage and the fact we are tasting this only two years post vintage. It finishes brightly lit with a minerally attribute and chalky textured tannins gently coating the entire palate and a lasting note of dried herbs. This wine is the definition of balance in its youth.

The 2022 JOVIAH Sticks & Stones Cabernet Sauvignon, Oak Knoll District is 100% varietal (clone 412), Oak Knoll District Napa Valley. This wine is deep ruby and opaque; the fruit is immediately up front with scents of blackberry, dark cherry, boysenberry and blackberry with additional layers of dark chocolate, dark cocoa power, tobacco spice and some floral notes including lavender and sage. Equally brimming with fruit on the palate as on the bouquet, this wine tastes like blackberry, dark cherry, boysenberry, dark raspberry and Persian mulberry. Superbly balanced in its youth, we love the tension at play here between flavor, acidity and texture. The finish lingers bright with the fresh sensibilities that Oak Knoll is known for, regardless of variety. The tannins fully coat the palate with their spherical but dusty texture. Lingers chalky, with a note of dried sage, characteristics running in tandem with the fruit. A balanced wine at this age will continue to express its balance as it ages. Nicely done.

Sticks & Stones vineyard is owned by Marc Seidner; he planted the vines in 2017. Access to this vineyard for JOVIAH came about at a STOMP event in 2022; Seidner and Silacci were discussing Seidner’s vineyard. Silacci mentioned a winemaker who was starting her own brand who would be interested in some of his grapes. Ultimately Marc gifted two tons of Cabernet Sauvignon to Victoria for the inaugural vintage.

This tiny vineyard was not yet named; Silacci was intrigued by a particular statue on the property. He remembers it was made of stones and wood, but couldn’t recall the third material (glass). The statue resonated with him; he suggested the name Sticks & Stones.

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The wines are sold direct for via the website. For more information, or to purchase the wines, visit: www.joviahwines.com