An Evening With Alara Cellars and Jason Stephens Winery #alaracellars #jswinery

*Samples Received*

These are fantastic tastings when you find diamonds in the rough and these 2 are no exception. Janu and Jason Goelz the wife and husband team of Alara Cellars and Jason Stephens Winery, were our hosts for the evening along with Robert Larsen of the Larsen Projekt.

Janu who is a Bay Area Native has had quite the career. Commercial films to a corporate career, to fashion, weather and now wine. It was meeting Jason that lead to her becoming a wine professional and eventually a winemaker. The labels on her wines are an expression her love of fashion and very cool I might add. Jason who worked in the business world focused in finance, started Jason Stephens Winery in 2008. His cutting edge cellar technologies allows him complete quality control from vineyard to bottle and produce exquisite wines.

First wine of the night the 2017 Alara Cellars Pinot Noir San Benito Central Coast. From the first pour to the last the nose shows wonderful red fruit of strawberry, cranberry, candied cherry with hints of cinnamon spice and a splash of cola. Allow the wine to open and a bouquet of fresh cut roses circle the nose. Such a beautiful aromatic wine. Love the mouth with juicy strawberry, crushed cranberry and cola. This one is a keeper Janu!

Second wine of the night the 2016 Alara Cellars Tempranillo San Benito Central Coast. Pop the cork and notes of cherry and raspberry followed by dark berries, a hint of earthiness and herbal notes with a pinch of white pepper. The mouth shows clusters of dark fruit with an influx of red berry, dusty earth and a peppery herb finish. While I do not drink much Tempranillo I really enjoyed the complexity of this wine.

The third wine of the evening is the 2014 Jason Stephens Merlot Santa Clara Valley. The wine is 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet and 5% Malbec. In the glass chocolate and raspberry aromas race from the rim with fresh sliced plum and crushed herbs yelling drink me. The mouth is silky with cherry, blueberry jam, a hint of plum and vanilla bean with a dusting of cocoa. Top shelf merlot here folks.

Final wine of the evening the 2014 Jason Stephens Cabernet Sauvignon Santa Clara Valley. The wine consists of 77% Cabernet, 11% Merlot, 5% Malbec, 4% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc. The nose is rich with dark fruit (blackberry, dark cherry) with splashes of raspberry, cloves and licorice. The mouth is lush with layers of fruit blackberry, cherry and blueberry followed by cloves and a hint of toasted almonds. While a full bodied wine the tannins were soft and the wine so appealing. One solid cabernet!

If you are looking for small production hand crafted wines which reflect the vineyard and grapes, then I highly recommend the wines of Alara Cellars and Jason Stephens Winery. These wines do not disappoint. Well done Janu and Jason! Robert thanks for the introduction to these fine winemakers and their juice.

Cheers
Dan