Jason Stephens Winery Estate - 4 Pack Sampler
$59.99 + $7.00 shipping
CONDITION: Red
PRODUCTS:
1 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon
1 2007 Estate Merlot
1 2007 Syrah
1 2008 Zinfandel
CT links above

Winery website

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I love the song Abraham, Martin & Syrah...

At first glance, I thought "ooh, an attractively priced four bottle set. I haven't bought a sampler set in ages." Then i read further.

I winced at seeing the Cab at 14.5%. I shuddered, knowing i wasn't buying this one, at the Syrah sitting over the 15% mark.

But nothing prepared me for 16.8% in the Zinfandel. Good lord. That's terrifying.

Hi - Jason here, on Independance Day watching the fireworks and logging in to wine.woot! I am excited to offer this great deal.

This is a great opportunity to try 4 of our most popular wines in a sample pack. While we've established ourselves in Santa Clara Valley, we're getting our first shot at "going National" here on wine.woot and we couldn't be more thrilled!

I'm happy to answer any questions or just chat about the wines.

Cheers and Happy 4th of July!

jasonstephenswinery wrote:
I'm happy to answer any questions or just chat about the wines.

Cheers and Happy 4th of July!

I'd certainly love more info. I know it's early yet for extra comments, but what's your feel for the four wines on offer?

When i ask people about the alcohol and what they think after tasting most are 2% off on the high side. These are not "hot" wines, but super smooth and mellow with concentrated flavor. You will be suprised at the depth and flavor without the alcohol heat on the finish. Making good wine is why we have won so many awards in so few years. These will not disappoint. - Jason

caedania wrote:I'd certainly love more info. I know it's early yet for extra comments, but what's your feel for the four wines on offer?

Well I am biased being the winemaker - but I honestly feel you will be impressed with the wines. The have bold, rich, concentrated flavors, with balanced acidity and oak influence, with high levels of very smooth tannins. The wines are super clean with no "off" characteristics - Jason

I don't think we've had anything labeled "Santa Clara Valley" before. Can you tell us about the area and why its a good place to grow wine grapes?

In for 1 despite my internal pleas to not purchase any more wine.

I've tried JS' wines before... On a woot offering, I believe. I was very impressed with the reds purchased.

At these prices, you really can't go wrong. Probably was a buy at $20-25 a bottle, much less $66 for 4.


Todd

merbill wrote:I don't think we've had anything labeled "Santa Clara Valley" before. Can you tell us about the area and why its a good place to grow wine grapes?

Santa Clara Valley established the first premium wine growing association in California. With the growth of Silicon Valley, many wineries have since disappeared. Most remaining and new wineries are located in the south part of Santa Clara Valley which is situated between the Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay, Santa Lucia Highlands/Carmel Valley. The soil and temperatures are diverse, so it is hard to describe the area as a whole, but our vineyard is located in Uvas Canyon which is a valley based vineyard with richer soils (from the mountain run off) and coastal influence since we are only 13 miles of the Monterey Bay. With the canyon location and the mountain between us and the ocean we still get very warm afternoons, but the fog rolls in over the hills to cool things off, but often the fog doesn’t reach the vineyard location.

If you have haven’t had Santa Clara Valley AVA wines, this is a great opportunity to try a new region! Cheers - Jason

todd999430 wrote:In for 1 despite my internal pleas to not purchase any more wine.

I've tried JS' wines before... On a woot offering, I believe. I was very impressed with the reds purchased.

At these prices, you really can't go wrong. Probably was a buy at $20-25 a bottle, much less $66 for 4.


Todd

Todd - Thanks! We are super glad you enjoyed the wines and shared your thoughts. I too believe this is a great opportunity to have some great wines at a great price! Happy sipping - Jason

According to cellartracker the Merlot took Best in Class at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Tasting this year. Easy enough to look all the wines up and see their results.

boylan wrote:According to cellartracker the Merlot took Best in Class at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Tasting this year. Easy enough to look all the wines up and see their results.

The Syrah also just took a Gold at the Orange County Wine Competition last month. wine.woot! is the first to get these wines as we are not even tasting them in the tasting room! The '08 Zin received a Silver at the same wine competition. Beverage Tasting Institute/tastings.com gave teh '07 Cab a Gold/Exceptional rating and gold medal.
I have been very pleased to say our wines have done extremely well of the last year in various wine competitions. I hope Wine Spectator or Parker gets a hold of them next!
I am sure you will enjoy as well. Cheers - Jason

We have great musical events at the winery every Friday night during the summer from 6-9pm.

Check out this great video -
Jason-Stephens Friday Night Live Video

There is one thing we like at Jason-Stephens which is to have a great time enjoying great friends, wines, and wonderful times. Enjoy the video and hope to see you there soon!- Jason

jasonstephenswinery wrote:The Syrah also just took a Gold at the Orange County Wine Competition last month. wine.woot! is the first to get these wines as we are not even tasting them in the tasting room! The '08 Zin received a Silver at the same wine competition. Beverage Tasting Institute/tastings.com gave the '07 Cab a Gold/Exceptional rating and gold medal.
I have been very pleased to say our wines have done extremely well of the last year in various wine competitions. I hope Wine Spectator or Parker gets a hold of them next!
I am sure you will enjoy as well. Cheers - Jason

Hi Jason,
So the Zin at 16.8% . . . is it tasting more like a port? Should I lay it down for a couple of years and let it develop into a real wow! sipper?
-d

I had to look twice at the winery, before I remembered where I had seen the name before.

Living in San Jose, I am familiar with the winery: they have a Friday evening music concert, and sometimes the local gourmet food trucks will show up for the concert. Also, the wines have turned up for auctions to support a local (Morgan Hill) private school. And, I've had some of the wines.


I need to talk with The Powers That Be (TPTB) on how many to go in for.

If you would like to see some pictures of Jason-Stephens Winery and you are on Facebook you can check us out here

While you are at it go ahead and like us on Facebook as well to keep up to date with our latest events and offerings.

Side note: the embedded Google ad for me on the wine.woot offer page is for a female-only self-paid rehab center. The ad doesn't hit my demographic for so many reasons...

JOATMON wrote:I had to look twice at the winery, before I remembered where I had seen the name before.

Living in San Jose, I am familiar with the winery: they have a Friday evening music concert, and sometimes the local gourmet food trucks will show up for the concert. Also, the wines have turned up for auctions to support a local (Morgan Hill) private school. And, I've had some of the wines.


I need to talk with The Powers That Be (TPTB) on how many to go in for.

We've really liked The Blend from this winery, as well as some of the single varietals.

divadrabnud wrote:Hi Jason,
So the Zin at 16.8% . . . is it tasting more like a port? Should I lay it down for a couple of years and let it develop into a real wow! sipper?
-d

Amazingly this is a pretty fruity Zinfandel with pronounced strawberry flavors and great acidity. It only tastes sweat for the first second in the mouth then it develops into a complex Zin with smooth tannins, a touch of oak that both fill the mouth. You will be suprised. I recommend this wine now through the next 2 years - but I am laying some down for sure to see how it develops of the next 10-15 years! I am a very young wine maker so I get to experiment with the aging of wines for years to come. Enjoy! Jason

Wondering how much new oak is on these wines and for how long?

It looks like the Merlot is the only
"Estate" wine included in the offer - is that correct?

Thanks.

boylan wrote:Wondering how much new oak is on these wines and for how long?

It looks like the Merlot is the only
"Estate" wine included in the offer - is that correct?

Thanks.

If you look at the picture, all four are the "Estate" wines.

These 4 are $106 from the winery. Not quite 50%...

JOATMON wrote:If you look at the picture, all four are the "Estate" wines.

You are true.

Here are the results from the Chronicle tasting.
The Select Merlot, which won the Best of Class, is apparently NOT the Merlot included in this offer. Some confusion on CT.

Jason-Stephens Winery 434 - Syrah/Shiraz - $30.00 to $39.99 2007 Santa Clara County Estate Select Syrah $36.00 Silver

Jason-Stephens Winery 444 - Merlot - $25.00 to $29.99 2007 Santa Clara Valley Estate Merlot $28.00 Silver

Jason-Stephens Winery 445 - Merlot - $30.00 to $39.99 2007 Santa Clara Valley Estate Select Merlot $38.00 Best of Class

Jason-Stephens Winery 453 - Cabernet Sauvignon - $25.00 to $29.99 2007 Santa Clara Valley Estate Cabernet Sauvignon $28.00 Bronze

jasonstephenswinery wrote:Amazingly this is a pretty fruity Zinfandel with pronounced strawberry flavors and great acidity. It only tastes sweat for the first second in the mouth then it develops into a complex Zin with smooth tannins, a touch of oak that both fill the mouth. You will be suprised. I recommend this wine now through the next 2 years - but I am laying some down for sure to see how it develops of the next 10-15 years! I am a very young wine maker so I get to experiment with the aging of wines for years to come. Enjoy! Jason

I'm in!

Jason Stephens Winery Estate - 4 Pack Sampler
Current numbers (updated each minute)
First sucker: mill
Speed to first woot: 1m 51.540s
Last wooter to woot: divadrabnud

In for 1. Looks interesting.

Dried goji berry? Really?

At least they're using taste comparisons we can all relate to.

boylan wrote:Wondering how much new oak is on these wines and for how long?

It looks like the Merlot is the only
"Estate" wine included in the offer - is that correct?

Thanks.

ALL of the wines are Estate!
We use between 20%-30% new oak.

Jason-Stephens Winery Awards

Complete List

Above is a link to our website that has a complete list of awards on the wines. At the better wine competitions a gold represents the judges ideas of the top 10%, a silver is the next 15% and a bronze is generally the next 25%. This varies though from wine competition to wine competition as do the judges opinions as you will notice! I guess if I was responsible for tasting 80+ wines a day for 2-4 days straight my palate would have trouble too! Still it would be fun.
Hope this helps - Jason

JOATMON wrote:These 4 are $106 from the winery. Not quite 50%...

Yes, it is not quite 50% discount. These are not closeout wines, distressed inventory or anything of the nature. These 4 wines are our current, hot releases which are selling well and helping us gain national distribution. Our normal pricing is lower than what we think it should but I always want wine lovers to feel as if they get value at every price point, and that is at full retail. - Jason

I'm very new to wines, never had anything you might concider a 'good' wine. What do you all think - this sampler pack a good place to start? What types would you suggest to someone new to wines? Thanks!

reach4thesky727 wrote:I'm very new to wines, never had anything you might concider a 'good' wine. What do you all think - this sampler pack a good place to start? What types would you suggest to someone new to wines? Thanks!

I was in a similar position a year or so ago and jumped in on a sampler - and I haven't stopped buying since.

I'd say go for it - just make sure to set up your account in CellarTracker and to keep track of whether you liked the wine or not (i.e., "Would I buy this again?").

jasonstephenswinery wrote:The have bold, rich, concentrated flavors, with balanced acidity and oak influence, with high levels of very smooth tannins.

So how do you manage the tannins in these wines? Do you fine or remove the skins early in the fermentation process? If you fine, what do you use?

Getting this for my sister and relying on my parents to hide it from her until her birthday (she turns 21 at the end of the month).

I go to Jason Stephens monthly or so, being in the area. My wife and I joined their club a year or so ago, because we like their wines so much. All of these are quite nice, and at $16.75 each, they are considerably discounted from even what I pay with my club member discount. You won't go wrong with this purchase.

Gaylon

reach4thesky727 wrote:I'm very new to wines, never had anything you might concider a 'good' wine. What do you all think - this sampler pack a good place to start? What types would you suggest to someone new to wines? Thanks!

Samplers from Woot are where I started, and now I've become the person in my family everyone looks at when it's time to pick a wine. So I've got to endorse the idea.

That said, I'm still passing. No disrespect to Mr. Stephens, but "this isn't a hot wine" is what the winemaker said the last two times I gave high alcohol wines a chance, and I regretted it both times. That combined with disliking virtually all of the 14.5%+ Syrahs I've ever had and having mixed feelings on the high alcohol Zinfandels I've tried still leaves me cold. I mean, I've enjoyed one at 15.8 quite a bit, but also felt like it was maximizing intensity, so the idea of pushing it a whole 1% higher still just doesn't seem like it's likely to be my thing.

Still, one ought take the awards at face value. Some people like this style of wine much more than the lower ABV, more restrained stuff I prefer, and I'm sure look at wines I like and scoff at the numbers. All the same, this offering seems to be at an extreme in terms of style. It makes me a little cautious of recommending it as a first exposure to "good" wine, but on the other hand, it's not like any single offering can ever be an ideal introduction to "good" wine. If you're curious, try it. Just remember, whether you like it or not, it appears to be very much at an extreme of style.

zyria wrote:So how do you manage the tannins in these wines? Do you fine or remove the skins early in the fermentation process? If you fine, what do you use?

Very good question. We have invested in an automated sorting system that does whole berry destemming which is very gentle on the berries and leaves the seeds in the pulp longer during fermentation, which I believe harsher tannins come from (there is debate about this, but I have noticed a major differance). We also use an automated cap management system during fermenation. So rather than using a pump (that tears the berries apart) we use air to "mix" the fermentation tanks. This is super gentle which helps also with the seeds in the pulp of the grape longer as well.

The air that breaks of the cap (where the skins raise to the top of the tank and we want to mix to get full extraction) is located about 15" of the bottom of the tank. So the air bubbles that break the cap orginate above the seed bed at the bottom of the tank when the seed to get exposed. With traditional pumpovers the seeds are general ran through a pump that breaks them out of pulp or shears them to make harsher tannins.

That is my viewpoint on how we arrive at high levels of tannins, that are much smoother. I don't like to fine as I feel that stripes the wine. We like to do everything we can to preserve the natural tannins in the grapes.

I hope that answers your question. Its almost 9am at the winery, about time to start working on some blends and sampling some wines.
Cheers! - Jason

jasonstephenswinery wrote:Amazingly this is a pretty fruity Zinfandel with pronounced strawberry flavors and great acidity. It only tastes sweat for the first second in the mouth then it develops into a complex Zin with smooth tannins, a touch of oak that both fill the mouth. You will be suprised. I recommend this wine now through the next 2 years - but I am laying some down for sure to see how it develops of the next 10-15 years! I am a very young wine maker so I get to experiment with the aging of wines for years to come. Enjoy! Jason

Jason ... can I ask what you're doing differently? I'm not doubting you, just asking because your description flies in the face of every other high alcohol zin I've personally tasted.

spdrcr05 wrote:Jason ... can I ask what you're doing differently? I'm not doubting you, just asking because your description flies in the face of every other high alcohol zin I've personally tasted.

I can't speak to the other wineries' practices and this is my first Zinfandel release so what I do know is our vineyard practices are different. The trellis is on a quadalateral and the way Steve pays attention to the vineyard and vine health he just seems more in tune with what's going on. The higher alcohol comes from a higher sugar convertion ratio to alcohol. With our fermentation practices this wine just didn't come out "hot" tasting. The higher residual sugar probably helps a lot with that as well not to mention the beginning flavors of brighter, red fruit.

If we break profile preferances into men and women, I would say in general (let me be very clear that this is a generality) women seem to enjoy smoother, softer tannins and wines without the heat on the finish. Since we released this Zin a few months back, the women in the tasting room are loving it. This is currently the #1 selling wine in the tasting room, and the #1 wine in that tasting room sold to women. Given in general women purchase more wine then women, I would suspect that the #1 selling wine in the tasting room was also #1 with women.

In short - sometimes I'm not exactly sure how everything came together and turned our and why our wines keep dispelling myths but I am sure I am going to keep on this same path because it is working!

Thanks for another great questions - Jason