J Vineyards and Winery

History

Judy Jordan is the daughter of the Jordan Vineyard & Winery founder, Tom Jordan. After graduating from Stanford University, Jordan worked in Geophysics at Western Geophysical Corporation in Denver, Colorado. When she returned to California to work for the family winery as a tour guide, she began to hone her skills in business, marketing, soils, and geology. Her background gives her the combined perspective of a Geologist as well as a Vintner. In 1986, she chose to honor her heritage by establishing her own brand and winery, founding J Vineyards & Winery as a 50/50 partnership with her father to focus on crafting a singular sparkling wine bottling, J. The first few vintages were made at the Jordan facility. Later, in 1996, Tom and Judy Jordan purchased the former Piper Sonoma facility in Healdsburg in the heart of the Russian River Valley. Three years later, she opened the Visitor Center to host wine and food tasting. Judy took full ownership of J after several years and continued to operate it separately from Jordan. Today, J Vineyards & Winery is one of the largest estates in the Russian River Valley and is one of the destinations for wine tourists to experience Sonoma County wine tasting and wine and food pairings.

Jordan sold J Vineyards & Winery to E&J Gallo corporation in April 2015; changes in management and winemaking occurred. Judy Jordan purchased three vineyards a few months later as part of a non-profit foundation but has made no announcements about plans to return to making wine.

Vineyards and Viticulture

There are several vineyards at J Vineyards & Winery that are overseen by Viticulturist John Erbe. The soil of the Russian River Valley AVA is diverse, and the climate is coastal with a long growing season perfect for Pinot noir and Chardonnay, a few of the varieties that are grown on the J Vineyards Estate. Sustainability is a key practice at the vineyard where agricultural practices such as minimal intervention, cover crops, night harvest, and hand harvesting are employed to encourage the growth of the crops. J Vineyards and Winery has nine vineyards in the Russian River Valley.

Aptly named because of its distinctive shape when seen from above, the Bow Tie Vineyard was bought and planted by J Vineyards & Winery in 2009. It is a 37.8 acre vineyard planted with Pinot noir and Chardonnay and located on the Russian River. The soil is a variety of silty clay loam and sandy loam: Arbuckle, Cortina, Yolo, and Zamora loam and silt. Like the Bow Tie Vineyard, the Canfield Vineyard was bought and planted in 2009. Also known as the Sally Ann's Vineyard, named after Judy Jordan's mother, it is the coolest climate vineyard that J Vineyards & Winery owns. It has 16.5 acres of Pinot noir vines. The cool ocean air that flows through the Petaluma Gap has a major impact on the fruit by producing a low yield but high quality grape. This property is one of J Vineyards & Winery's more "sophisticated" vineyards. As it was a former chicken farm, the J team extensively developed and prepared the property for the vines. The vineyard is planted in Steinbeck soil and Goldridge loam.

Two of the vineyards are named after Judy Jordan's children: Nicole's Vineyard and the Robert Thomas Vineyard. On one of the warmest sites at the Southern end of the estate, Nicole's Vineyard is 45.8 acres. The reddish Arbuckle and Clough loam is planted with Pinot noir and a 3-acre plot of Pinot Meunier. On the other hand, the Robert Thomas Vineyard is one of the coolest vineyards on the estate and comprises 47 acres of Pinot noir, featuring 7 clones, in Zamora loam. Named after Judy Jordan's grandmother, Nonny's Vineyard is one of the larger vineyards at 70 acres of Pinot noir, 7 clones, in Yolo silt and other loam. Adjacent to Nonny's Vineyard, the 20 acre River Road Vineyard is planted with 4 clones of Chardonnay.

The smallest vineyard on the estate is the Teardrop Vineyard, a 1/2 acre plot in the shape of a teardrop. This is where 20 Pinot noir clones are developed for use in all the vineyards. It is J Vineyard & Winery's demonstration vineyard, located by the Visitor's Center. The Cooper Vineyard is also one of J Vineyards & Winery's smaller vineyards at 2.5 acres and is adjacent to the Visitor Center. The soil is mostly Haire loam and is planted with two clones of Pinot gris: clones 146 and 152. Cooper Vineyard is named after an arborist and former employee of the company, Paul Cooper, who was "responsible for many of the trees on the estate." On the Southern side of the winery lies the Backdoor Vineyard. Another of J Vineyards & Winery's smaller vineyards, it consists of 2.8 acres of Pinotage. First developed in South Africa, the Pinotage grape is essentially a cross between Pinot noir and Cinsault. At J Vineyards & Winery, the vines are nourished by Haire and Zamora loam and trained on a vertical trellis system. To maximize the flavor development and increase the fruit's exposure to filtered sunlight, the vines' yield is manually limited. When ripe, the pinotage grapes are hand harvested and sorted.

J Winemaking

In 2011, J Vineyards & Winery hired Melissa Stackhouse as VP of winemaking, following the departure of George Bursick. With a degree in Viticulture and Enology from the University of California and experience in the Russian River Valley AVA as well as organic farming, Melissa Stackhouse builds on existing varietal programs at the J Estate and leads the winemaking team.

J Specialty Wines