2002 J Vintage Brut Magnum, Russian River Valley

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Processing
All grapes at J are hand-harvested into forty pound lugs and placed as whole clusters (no destemming) into our unique Coquard presses for a gentle pressing cycle. Grape juice from the various vineyard lots is fermented and kept separately until blending decisions are made in mid-November. The cuvee blend was assembled in December of 2002, cold stabilized to remove excess tartrates and then bottled over
the spring of 2003.

Aging
After the secondary fermentation in the bottle the wines aged for five years in our cool cellars. In early 2008 we began riddling the wines to remove the yeast sediment responsible for the aging character and a dosage liqueur was prepared from a blend of wood-aged, reserve wines and pure cane sugar. After the wine was hand disgorged, it was aged for another six months before we released it from our cellars to ensure a perfect balance of flavors.

Tasting Notes
The 2002 J Brut has a bright, exotic nose that draws you in. Hints of pear and citrus are followed by coconut, spice and yeasty aromas. The slight nutty and toasty characters blend in and lend a nice balance to the fruit. There is a creamy, soft entry that unfolds into lemon cream, mixes with flavors of cinnamon and toasted chestnuts and explodes like a carnival in your mouth. Delicate bubbles lift the complex flavors across your palette and lead into a long, lush finish hinting of baked apples.