Paravel Wines

Paravel Wines was founded by long time Napa vintner Jon Jones; he was born in Fairfield but raised in South Lake Tahoe. Jon was not always surrounded by the wine business; while studying music (the Trombone) at the University of California Santa Barbara he was introduced to wine through his roommates’ father who worked at Robert Mondavi Winery. He and his roommate visited Napa Valley and took a tour of Mondavi where his roommate’s father was a senior wine educator. Jon remembers inquiring about working here and the reply was something like “if you want a job here, let me know”.

Jon eventually took him up on the offer and his career in Napa Valley began by answering phone calls relating to the winery’s annual Summer Concert Series. This wasn’t exactly the job he had in mind but then he quickly discovered the winery lab; soon he was working here several days a week. Hands on experience in the business soon became his ally; Merryvale hired him for oenology work in their lab which was followed by several years working at Opus One and later, a position as winemaker for Lava Vine Winery.

Jon sourced fruit from Henry Brothers’ Ranch high on Howell Mountain every year since his first vintage (conveniently this site is only 1/2 mile from his home). He always harvested from the same rows of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah each year. The Henry Brothers’ Ranch was family owned for many years, but they eventually sold the ranch to AXA Millésimes, the owners of nearby Outpost Winery. This site is located high on the red soil slopes of Howell Mountain (with an uppermost elevation of just under 2,000 feet). This property is 36 acres of which 18 are planted to vines. Brothers, Ric and Bryan’s parents purchased this land in 1975 for $150,000; at the time it was forested along with manzanita and as Ric recalls a small prune orchard.

Over the years, Bryan and his two sons have developed the vineyard site and grew nearly all red varieties including mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with a tiny block of Petite Sirah and a 1/4 acre of Sauvignon Blanc (the only white varietal that grew on site). The grapes were highly sought after with a number of mostly smaller producers purchasing fruit each year. After the sale of the vineyard to AXA Millésimes it was completely replanted in 2022.

Jon hasn’t abandoned his musical career; he still performs occasionally, and we see him around Calistoga from time to time, but his musical outlets have primarily been channeled into wine making. He compares wine making to that of a symphony where musicians work together to create a harmonious sound – in wine making different nuances can be introduced from grape sites, barrels and style. He doesn’t want different characteristics to clash, rather he strives for balance in all his wines. In that regard he doesn’t necessarily consider tannins, bitterness or astringency bad components as long as they are in balance and managed correctly.

His favorite variety is Petite Sirah. He was introduced to it during blending trials at one of his previous jobs but then was seduced by a Behrens & Hitchcock produced Petite Sirah when he discovered a bottle of this wine in the Oakville Grocery wine section. He soon went on a buying spree of wines from this variety and quickly realized too many Petite Sirahs were overbearing and overly tannic.

He makes wines slowly, preferring a style that balances drink-ability young with the capacity to age. His wines have both of these characteristics. He prefers lower temperature open top fermentation, which tend to take longer to ferment to dryness. Barrel selection is key; he learned about the nuances of barrels while working at Opus One. And conveniently Jon makes wines at a small winery a few minutes’ drive from where he lives.

He made his first Petite Sirah in 2008; wine from this variety was the first wine made under Paravel (first vintage, 2011). Perhaps attracted to the mountains based on where he grew up in the Sierra Nevada’s he moved to Howell Mountain. And of all the AVAs in Napa, Howell Mountain probably most resembles what you would find at a similar elevation in the Sierra Nevada mountains. On a clear day from properties near his own home, you can actually see into parts of the Sierra Nevada mountains across the great Central Valley.

In 2016, he planted about an acre of Petite Sirah in front of his Howell Mountain home (1352 vines to be exact). Some advised him to plant Cabernet Sauvignon, and all too common contemporary advice in much of Napa Valley, but Petite Sirah is his focus and certainly a much rarer variety in the area. And with the former Henry Brothers’ Ranch being a comparable site with similar rocky soils in front of his home, his estate Petite Sirah should do quite well. Petite Sirah inherently can make robustly structured wines including as Jon says, “jagged edges”. In the mountains these jagged edges have to be further tamed and Jon has certainly done this with his wines. The first vintage from this one-acre vineyard Jon calls The Arbiter was a tiny production of rosé in 2017. And the first Petite Syrah from this vineyard was the 2019 vintage.

An Arbiter refers to a person who settles a dispute or an individual whose influence affects social behavior of others.

Despite using only an acre of land, the soils vary dramatically even within this small space. One part of the vineyard is especially rocky – with rocks starting only a few inches below the topsoil. Holes had to be specially dug to get the young vines established in this especially rocky part of the vineyard. Their first vintage from this tiny vineyard should be in 2022 or 2023.

The Arbiter Vineyard

Select Wines
Rosé
Perhaps a common misconception is that rosé wines all smell and taste the same. Perhaps that is the case with a larger producer looking to highly consistently each year, but the Paravel rosé wines are all distinctive with their own individual personalities. And one can see this especially, with a side by side horizontal vintage tasting.

Howell Mountain
The 2024 Paravel Rosé of Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain was crafted by saignée (bleeding off juice) from the primary wine. This bleed off creates a remaining wine that is more concentrated in terms of its flavor and texture because the ratio of skins to juice is increased. This wine is pale copper; minerally, higher toned and bright, this bouquet smells like strawberry guava, raspberry, lime, and kiwi. Clean, balanced and flavorful with a delicate edge, this wine tastes like raspberry, Rainier cherry, white strawberry and a lightly finishing note of white peach. Its texture is supple and lightly rounded, persisting with a gentle mouth feel. Highly refreshing. This wine goes down quickly and comfortable.

The 2023 Paravel Howell Mountain Rosé of Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is medium copper in color; its aromatics are not shy. Initially driven by its aromatic citrus characters, this wine opens to scents of citrus blossom, kaffir lime leaf, kumquat with other layers soon evolving including of sweet strawberry and raspberry. Minerally across the palate it sports flavors of raspberry, strawberry and watermelon. Bottled for brightness, balance, flavor and texture (supple and slippery mouth feel) this is a ‘fun’ wine that is easy to drink. Pair with a light and easy reading romance novel, a warm summer afternoon, a pool and Sarah Geronimo’s Kiss Me, Kiss Me playing softly in the background.

Poor Ranch
The 2024 Paravel Rosé of Zinfandel – Poor Ranch Vineyard, Mendocino County. This wine is on the skins for about two hours before its pressed. This wine is medium salmon in color; its breath includes an orange zest, crushed rocks, white strawberry, raspberry, citrus blossom and watermelon rind. Shows a bit more texture than the Howell Mountain bottling; brightly lit, fresh and refreshing, the palate sports flavors of lime, wild strawberry, and pineapple guava. Finishes fresh with each sip inviting another sip. These grapes grow at an elevation of approximately 1,700 and the vines are dry farmed. This wine is made intentionally and picked for rose. Jon recommends this wine with gumbo and sushi/sashimi.

The 2023 Paravel Poor Ranch Vineyards Mendocino County Old Vine Zinfandel Rosé is medium copper color; this wine was made direct to press and spent 1:45 on the skins before being pressed. Generous and gracious, the bouquet delivers aromas of raspberry, lychee, wild strawberry, cantaloupe, strawberry guava, pineapple (not an aromatic we normally associate with rose wines) and a subtle layer of vanilla. This wine features a fleshy, supple and silky texture with flavors of ripe raspberry harvested straight from the vine; this flavor reminded us of picking these fruits from a large raspberry patch as a child from our grandfather’s ranch in San Jose, CA. It also offers notes of white strawberries, white peach and white nectarine. Delicious. Of the rose’s that Paravel produces, this is a crowd favorite and one we highly recommend seeking out. Jon enjoys pairing this particular wine with a variety of sushi.

The 2017 Paravel Poor Ranch Vineyards Mendocino County Old Vine Zinfandel Rosé is deep salmon in color; the bouquet sports delicate aromas of dried orange peel, gooseberry, lime juice, wild strawberries, rose petals, lychee, geranium and a subtle and almost hidden minerally note deep in the aromatics, like graphite or pencil shavings. Its texture is creamy, soft and supple and accompanied by a balanced acidity. This wine offers flavors of strawberry, pomegranate, watermelon, almost over ripe pink fleshed pomelo and rhubarb. For reference, we tasted this wine 7 years post vintage and it has held up surprisingly well both on the bouquet and the palate.

Wild Diamond
The 2024 Paravel Rosé of Petite Sirah, Wild Diamond Vineyards, Lake County is medium salmon in color; its nose offers aromas of orange zest, strawberry, raspberry, red cherry and white nectarine. Be patient with this rose in particular; the fruit becomes more expressive with time in the glass. Of all Paravel’s rose wines, this bottling shows the most body. Its fleshy and creamy texture is lifted nicely by the lively acidity. It tastes like white strawberry, pomegranate, pink grapefruit with a light pithy character. Lightly sweet, noticeable on the finish. Lingers with a light dryness. Jon recommends enjoying this with protein, preferable ribs with a spicy sauce.

The 2023 Paravel Wild Diamond Vineyards Lake County Rosé of Petite Sirah spent 1:15 on the skins before being pressed. This wine is deep salmon; this variety produces the darkest of the Paravel rosé bottlings and perhaps the most intense aromatics. The bouquet sports scents of orange peel zest, ruby grapefruit, pomelo, lemon juice, dry river gravel, Rainier cherry, wild strawberry and a light note of watermelon jolly rancher. Packed with flavor, it offers strawberry, raspberry, grapefruit and pineapple guava. This bottling is superbly balanced between its supple and lightly creamy texture, brisk acidity and flavor. Pair with freshly caught, grilled sea bass.

Sonoma Valley
The 2017 Paravel Sonoma Valley Rosé of Syrah is deep copper in color; the bouquet offers aromas of candied orange peel, strawberry, a kaffir lime zest, recently peeled Ruby grapefruit and a hint of not fully ripe lychee. We tasted this wine 6 years post vintage and its aromatics still show a plenty of freshness. So does the palate. It offers flavors of mandarin orange, tangerine, kumquat and grapefruit along with a perceived sweetness of other ripe citrus fruits. Its texture is supple and glides over the palate gently. The finish is anchored by an energetic and a mouth watering brightness due to the lively acidity. The richness of fruit continues to persist. Nicely done. Counter to market perception, this wine is clearly proof that well-made rosé’s can and will age.

Reds
Zinfandel
The 2023 Paravel Zinfandel, Howell Mountain; this wine is light to medium ruby in color; don’t judge the palate in terms of its color or aromatics. In terms of its color and aromatics, Jon calls this a throwback Zinfandel; it doesn’t smell over ripe or jammy. Its listed ABV is 15.8%; Jon picks for balance, never for alcohol. Its scents are red fruited, with primary notes of ripe strawberry, raspberry, red cherry, Santa Rosa plum and a light layer of cedar and milk chocolate. This wine is intensely flavored, including both red fruits and spices. It tastes like raspberry, cherry, Santa Rosa plum, boysenberry and a lingering note of white pepper and light cedar. Fully ripe, there is a perception of a light sweetness from the ripeness of fruit. The tannins are lightly grainy, felt more on the back of the palate.

The 2022 Paravel Howell Mountain Zinfandel Napa Valley is medium ruby; the bouquet reveals aromas of black raspberry, bramble, root beer, old library book, cedar box, crushed pink peppercorn, cloves and assorted dried herbs. If we were going to use only two words to describe its aromatic character it would be spicy and savory. The palate closely mirrors the bouquet with flavors of raspberry, red licorice, sarsaparilla, a very subtle note of cinnamon stick towards the back of the palate and a persistent note of crushed black pepper, especially noticeable on the finish. This wine lingers brightly, red fruited, accompanied by grainy but not course tannins. Despite the 15.6% alcohol this wine does not smell or taste jammy, and other than a lingering warmth in the back of the palate, the higher alcohol that this variety is often noted for, is not immediately noticeable.

Proprietary Red
The 2023 Paravel Proprietary Red VIII is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2.5% Petit Verdot and 1.5% Petite Sirah. Regardless of vintage, the goal is to make a wine that over delivers in terms of its quality to price point. And a wine that gives Jon creative liberty both in terms of blending and vintage. This wine is deep ruby and nearly opaque; the bouquet offers scents of sweet raspberry, red cherry, blackberry and dark mulberry. And a floral component including rose petals. There is also a light note of cedar. On the palate the first flavor we noted is of dark cherry, followed by plum, boysenberry, and dark raspberry. This is a crowd pleaser in terms of both aromatics and flavor; it tastes like raspberry, red plum and boysenberry. Lingers with a light note of cocoa powder. The tannins are comfortably seated, lingering with a gentle texture. Lightly dusty.

The Paravel Proprietary Red Wine VII is deep ruby; generous immediately across the bouquet from an aromatic standpoint, this wine wants to be the life of the party. It is an expression of ripe but overripe fruits including dark plum, blackberry, dark cherry and mulberry with layers of dark chocolate, old cedar box, sage, dark pepper and assorted baking spices including clove, intermingled among the fruit. This wine hits a number of pleasure points across the palate in terms of both its fruit and its texture. Still showing quite young at the time of our tasting (Spring 2024), the palate is bursting with energy and flavors of dark plum, blackberry and boysenberry. The tannins are grainy but not course, and persist in tandem with the fruit on the extended finish. Bright, mouth watering and shows some spicy notes including pepper, cedar and dried herbs. Would love to pair this with a spicy dry rub well-marbled T-bone steak. And, this is one of the better quality to price point wines being produced from Howell Mountain.

Merlot
The inception for this wine came from a trip to the grocery store. While shopping for artichoke at Sunshine Market in St. Helena he bumped into grower Andy Pestoni, whose family owns Three Tears Vineyard on Howell Mountain. Jon was familiar with this vineyard as he had previously tried a bottle from this vineyard years prior. He asked Andy if he had any grapes available that year; Andy told him to join him for a drive up to the vineyard and while visiting the site, agreed to sell Jon a small amount of grapes. Jon returned home, but as he admits, “without any artichokes”.

The 2023 Paravel Merlot, Three Tears Vineyard Howell Mountain is medium to deep ruby in color; the first aromatic we noted is of red cherry, accompanied by dark raspberry, boysenberry and red plum. And there are pretty non fruited spices including cardamom, cloves and Graham cracker. And mocha and cocoa powder as the wine continues to open. The balanced palate features dark brambly fruits including raspberry and blackberry, along with boysenberry and red plum and old cedar box. And it lingers with notes of dark chocolate and roasted coffee beans. The tannins are seamlessly integrated into the finish, persisting with gentle tumbled texture. This wine shows exceptionally well at this age, only years years post vintage.

Petite Sirah
Jon strives to produce Petite Sirah that showcases a more elegant approach, and adjective that one doesn’t usually associate with this variety. A longer hang time softens tannins; he tries to harvest the grapes towards the end of the season. And the grapes are fermented using open top one-ton t-bins; post fermentation they are left on the skins for up to 45 days.

The 2023 Paravel Petite Sirah Arbiter Estate is deep ruby, amaranthine and completely opaque. In an homage to nearby Ink Grade Road, this wine is inky, the color of squid secretions. Dark fruited on the bouquet, this wine smells like ripe blackberry – an aroma that reminds us of harvesting blackberries in the middle of summer trying to avoid being poked by the sharp thorns, bittersweet chocolate, dark coffee, a light note of dark peppercorn and burnt chocolate. Unctuous, fully mouth filling, its flavors fill every crack and crevasse across the palate. These flavors include dark plum, boysenberry, blackberry, blueberry, pomegranate juice, Persian mulberry, dark chocolate and roasted coffee bean. This wine sings bass at this age, two years post vintage. The acidity is vivacious, sporting a teenage energy. This wine features as much flavor as you can extract from the variety, but without a heavy handed grip, that this variety of often known for. Rather the tannins hang across the palate with a tumbled and rounded approach. The wine was aged in both 60-65% new French oak barrels and the remainder in once-used barrels for a total of 22 months.

The 2014 Paravel Howell Mountain Napa Valley Petite Sirah (Henry Brothers Ranch) is as one expects with this variety, dark ruby and opaque in the glass; the bouquet offers aromas of dark plums, ripe blackberry, boysenberry, a meaty nuance and a rusting iron note which also has a slight perception of blood. But give this wine time to evolve in the glass and the fruit aromatics soon become the dominant presence. The palate offers bright acidity, is brambly, juicy and shows flavors of cherry, currant and wild raspberry. The savory and mouthwatering finish lingers with medium structured well integrated tannins, a darker pepper spice and notes of dried herbs including tarragon. We tasted this wine 8 years post vintage date, and it clearly shows like a much younger wine. This bottling has plenty of life ahead of it still.

The 2013 Paravel Henry Ranch Petite Sirah is 100% varietal; it is coal black / inky dark in the glass and opaque as this variety often is. The nose is intriguing with character including forest floor, mushroom, is somewhat gamey with dark black fruit including blackberry and as the wine opens more layers of aroma are revealed including some notes of mocha. We also tasted this wine again 10 years post vintage and the bouquet had become more dessert like with aromas of dark chocolate, cloves, and cardamom while still retaining plenty of its dark fruit character. The mid palate is dense and rich with broadly distributed dusty tannins which linger for some time. This wine finishes juicy and is mouthwatering with a fine balance of acidity, fruit and tannins. After 10 years, we noticed the tannins had softened and became more chalk-like in texture. We felt some lingering heat in the back of our palate from the alcohol on the finish. This wine is showing very well with some age. Only 82 cases were produced.

Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2023 Paravel Cabernet Sauvignon, Disappearing Ink Vineyard (inaugural vintage) is deep ruby an nearly opaque; the bouquet is dark fruited but also expresses darker scents from its time in barrel. These aromatics include roasted coffee beans, dark chocolate, toast, toasted cedar, cloves, dark plum and blackberry. Darker on the palate like on the bouquet, its flavors are a union of both fruit and barrel influences. Generously layered this wine tastes like dark plum, blackberry, dark chocolate and toast. The finish persists with a note of burnt coffee. And this vineyard consistently produces a wine of this character. The tannins are remarkably resolved, both for a mountain grown wine and at only two years post vintage. Their texture is tumbled and rounded. Soft but balanced acidity. This wine was barrel fermented and aged in 90% new French oak barrels. And the name has several meanings and memories; as child Jon was fascinated with the dark purple ink which would ‘magically’ disappear, and the vineyard is located next to Ink Grade Road, whose namesake Theron Ink used to own property in this part of Napa. And the color of the label is purple.

The 2023 Paravel Cabernet Sauvignon, Alchemy is 100% varietal; this wine is deep ruby and opaque. Sweetly fruited this wine offers an aromatic interplay between red fruits and barrel influences. These scents include boysenberry, blackberry, dark raspberry, cinnamon, clove, mocha and cocoa powder. A crowd pleaser, this wine sings brightly at this age, two years post vintage. Filled with pleasure, the palate like the bouquet, is a union of fruit and barrel. Its flavors include dark raspberry, red plums, Pakistani mulberry, and lingers with a moderate note of toast, and gravelly, dusty and grainy textured tannins which outlast the fruit on the finish. Their texture is fully coating. And finishes with expresso and roasted coffee bean. Brightly lit. The finish is mouth watering. Drinks well now but also built for cellaring.

The 2013 Paravel Henry Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon was blended with 5% Petite Sirah. Remarkably Jon has noticed different flavors coming from vines in a single row (depending on their location within the row) as well as different ripening times throughout the row. The rows he sources from vary slightly in elevation from one end to the other. This wine has very pretty aromatics with a wide range of aromas especially as it is allowed to open. Hints of coconut, milk chocolate and at times dark cherry, red cherry and cassis. The finish is long with chewy earthy mountain tannins. Only 100 cases produced.

Paravel also produces mountain grown olive oil. As of the latest update to this review they produce two bottlings: one from Howell Mountain and one from Diamond Mountain. And this olive oil is cleverly called ParavOIL.

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John named his wines Paravel, after the castle of Cair Paravel which was the capital of the Kingdom of Narnia in author C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia children’s fantasy books. This name is a nod to both imagination and the realities of life. The image of the castle on his label was drawn by Ben Henry (of the Henry Brother’s Ranch) and the butterflies represent his family.

Paravel Wines (other than one outlet in Florida and at Evangaline Restaurant in Calistoga) has no distribution in the retail market, rather wine is sold direct to consumer via their mailing list and from various tastings Jon participates in. He is a member of the Howell Mountain Vintners & Growers Association which includes two combined consumer and trade tastings each year: one in San Francisco in Spring and one at Charles Krug Winery in St. Helena in the summer (both very worthwhile tastings which includes only Howell Mountain based wineries and producers).

For more information about this tiny producer, to purchase current release wines and to join the mailing list or wine club, visit: www.paravelwines.com