Jackson Family Wines Portfolio Tasting

An opportunity to attend Jackson Family Wines (JFW) portfolio tasting came up last week (27 Apr). It was held at Lawry’s. Mr Dimitri Mesnard MS was there to offer advice and answer queries on the wines showcased during this tasting. I took the opportunity to take pictures of the wine event (Photo Album link).

Jackson Family Wines

It's not unusual in this little red dot of an island to see just one local distributor representing a particular winery’s liquid wares. But Jackson Family Wines isn’t 'just a winery' by normal standards. Three decades of being in the wine business has resulted in this company growing from a 'one vineyard operation' to a global company having wineries in 6 countries (with a long list of wine labels under its portfolio at that). It certainly will be a challenge for any one local distributor to represent everything JFW has to offer for the local wine market over here.

To my pleasant surprise, I saw 5 local wine merchants coming together during this event, to share with tradespeople and consumers the particular labels they represent from JFW’s portfolio. One thing noticeable was the decent spread of wines coming from various wine regions within North America.

Icon Wines presented chardonnays and pinot noirs from La Crema; wines produced in Sonoma Coast, Russian River Valley and Willamette Valley. (Contact:davidchiang@iconwines.com.sg)

Bacardi-Martini Singapore Pte Ltd showed the Kendall-Jackson range of wines (from the Avant, Reserve and Grand Reserve categories). Single varietal white wines came from Sauvignon blanc and Chardonnay. The red wines came from Cab Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Merlot; all single varietal wines. (Contact:csoh@bacardi.com)

Enoteca Co, Ltd presented wines from different parts of California and from Australia. From California came Byron (Santa Barbara), Freemark Abbey (Napa Valley), Edmeades Perli (Mendocino Ridge) and Edmeades (Mendocino County) wines. Yangarra wines came from McLaren Vale (Australia). Viognier varietal was used both by Freemark Abbey and Yangarra wineries to produce single varietal white wines. (Contact:sales@enoteca.com.sg)

Straits Cellars Pte Ltd offered 2 pinot noirs from Siduri. The 2012 Siduri from Chehalem Mountain (Oregon) came across as a clean, linear sip with fresh red fruit notes. The 2012 Siduri Keefer from Russian River Valley (California) showed more depth and complexity in its body. (Contact:sueann@straitscellars.com)

New player KAL Wine Source Asia Pte Ltd presented La Jota Vineyard Howell Mountain wines; 2011 Merlot; 2009 Cab Franc and 2011 Cab Sauvignon. (Contact:danny.tan@wine-source.com)

There were other Californian wines presented by the JFW team which have not found a local representative yet. Arrowood (Sonoma Coast), Matanzas Creek (Sonoma Coast), Cambria (Santa Maria Valley), Silver Palm (North Coast), Cardinale (Napa Valley), Stonestreet Estate (Alexander Valley), Carmel Road (Monterey)  and Verite (Sonoma County) are some wines to name a few. (Contact:rachel.meisner@jfwmail.com

Local wine enthusiasts keen on exploring wines from different regions within North America certainly have ample opportunities; they just need to seek out the right local wine merchant.