Jonata vineyard spotlight
James Suckling walks the Jonata vineyard in Ballard Canyon, the sandy estate where Matt Dees makes La Sangre and El Alma.
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2021 Jonata 'La Sangre de Jonata' Red Wine Ballard Canyon across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $175.64 and the average is $191.49. Our slash is $165.00.
2021 Jonata 'La Sangre de Jonata' Red Wine Ballard Canyon, USA
Matt Dees's Ballard Canyon Syrah, mulberry and black olive from Careaga sand, a 99-point La Sangre at one hundred sixty-five dollars.
The 2021 La Sangre is 95 percent Syrah with 4 percent Petite Sirah and 1 percent Viognier: bramble, black olive, white pepper, and a silky close, now $165.
Ballard Canyon Syrah that resonates like a cello in the chest
La Sangre is the blood of Jonata: Syrah from Careaga sand, marine air, and inland warmth. Matt Dees calls 2021 one of the great Sangre vintages, with 2007, 2015, and 2018. Jeb Dunnuck 99. Vinous 98. Four hundred five cases. This is the bottle that argues Santa Barbara Syrah can be as serious as the Northern Rhone without copying it.
The house
Stan Kroenke bought the 586-acre Ballard Canyon ranch. Matt Dees arrived in 2004. Only a fraction of the land is planted. Sand is the point.
The wine
95% Syrah, 4% Petite Sirah, 1% Viognier. 20 months in French oak, 35% new. 15.5% ABV. 405 cases.
The scores
Jeb Dunnuck 99. Vinous 98. James Suckling 97. Wine Advocate 96.
The drinker
Mulberry and black olive first. Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve near 62 F. Steak au poivre or lamb chops.
Bramble, black olive, then silk
Matt Dees: brambly red and black fruit, mulberry, black olive, white peppercorn, black truffle, then a palate like silk. Jeb Dunnuck compared it to a great Cote-Rotie from schist soils. Vinous called it dazzling, bright, powerful, and explosive.
A high-impact Syrah year on Careaga sand. Dees puts 2021 in the pantheon with 2007, 2015, and 2018. Laden with fruit, chiseled with fine-grained structure.
Mulberry, black plum skin, wild blueberry, black olive, white pepper, pine needle, incense, black truffle.
Silky and voluptuous, then chiseled. 20 months French oak, 35% new. 15.5% ABV.
Mesquite, steak au poivre, chicory, cooling green herbs. Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F.
Sand, Syrah, and a dollop of Viognier
On the Jonata sheet, La Sangre is grown on deep Careaga sand that forces the vines to struggle for tiny, concentrated berries. The 2021 is 95 percent Syrah, 4 percent Petite Sirah for depth, and 1 percent Viognier for color and floral lift. Twenty months in French oak, 35 percent new. Matt Dees wants a structure he calls chiseled and seamless, not a fruit bomb with makeup.
Petite Sirah adds bass. Viognier is a Northern Rhone trick used here as a whisper, not a perfume ad.
Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve near 62 F. Steak au poivre or lamb with a red-wine pan sauce.
Tall oak, sandy ranch, one winemaker
Jonata takes its name from the 1845 Rancho San Carlos de Jonata land grant.
Of the 586 acres Stan Kroenke acquired, only about 84 were planted. Matt Dees, a soil scientist by training, took the first harvest in 2004.
Rhone and Bordeaux varieties sit side by side on the sand. La Sangre is the Syrah voice. El Alma is the Cabernet Franc voice. The same hand, the same ranch.
The Hilt in Sta. Rita Hills is the cooler sister project. This bottle is Ballard Canyon: warm days, cold nights, and sand that keeps Syrah aromatic instead of heavy.
Pepper, char, and a red-wine pan sauce
La Sangre wants steak au poivre and lamb. Mesquite, black olive, and white pepper already live in the glass.
Two plates. One pepper-crusted steak. One lamb chop with a red-wine pan sauce.
Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F.
Steak au Poivre with Red Wine Pan Sauce
Pepper crust and a red-wine pan sauce meet the wine's white pepper, mesquite, and silky tannin.
Why it works: Cracked pepper echoes the Syrah's spice while the pan sauce and beef fat handle 15.5% ABV and fine tannin.
View Recipe for steak au poivre with red wine pan sauce (opens in a new tab)
Lamb Loin Chops with Red Wine Pan Sauce
Cumin, chile, and a wine reduction pull the wine's herbal, forest, and black-olive side forward.
Why it works: Lamb fat and reduction match mulberry and truffle while herbs echo pine needle and white pepper.
View Recipe for lamb loin chops with red wine pan sauce (opens in a new tab)Put La Sangre in the cart
Matt Dees, Careaga sand, Jeb Dunnuck 99. One hundred sixty-five dollars.
Put six in the cart. This is the Jonata Syrah that already has the vintage, the score, and the sand.
