JCB by Jean-Charles Boisset Reviews

The 2022 The Surrealist is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Petit Verdot from vineyards in St. Helena and Rutherford. Silky and aromatic, the 2022 is racy to the core. Lifted floral overtones soar out of the glass. This mid-weight, flamboyant red has a ton to offer. This is such a distinctive wine.

The 2022 The Charmer is a blend of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, pretty much all from Oakville. It offers up a beguiling mix of black cherry, plum, chocolate, leather, licorice and incense. This fleshy, opulent red packs a tremendous punch.

The 2022 Cabernet Franc No. 17 is 100% Cabernet Franc, mostly from St. Helena, with a touch of Oakville. It offers an intriguing mix of varietal aromatics and ripe 2022 vintage fruit, all dialed up in classic JCB style.

The 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Phi is a blend of the No. 1 and No. 10 Cabernets. Pliant and creamy, the 2022 offers up copious dark red cherry fruit, plum, blood orange, spice and a kiss of French oak. It's a powerful, dense, overt wine.

The 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon No.10 is loaded with dark cherry fruit, spice, new leather, mocha and licorice. Floral overtones brighten a deep core of super-ripe fruit. Silky in feel, this is a very good wine for the year. - Antonio Galloni

The 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon No.1 is packed with dark cherry, plum, leather, spice and menthol. This deep, fleshy Cabernet packs a serious punch. Graphite, gravel, cured meats, incense, tobacco and scorched earth linger on the finish.

A bright yellow color, the 2014 Champagne Grand Cru Gala Brut is entirely Chardonnay from the Grand Cru village of Chouilly in the Côte des Blancs and was aged in the cellar for seven years prior to release. Layered aromas of fresh pineapple, lemon confit, honeysuckle, and croissant are followed by a palate that packs in loads of intensity and richness and is full without feeling heavy or cloying. Offering a pillowy mousse, even, fresh acidity, and a long, rounded finish, it’s impressive and concentrated and is going to offer a wide drinking window over the coming 8-10 years. - Audrey Frick

An elegant, almost delicate wine that is nonetheless full-bodied, distinctive and memorable. It's creamy in texture, but backed by vibrant acidity that lifts the crisp apple and ripe pear flavors. Accents of vanilla bean, buttercream, baking spices and lemon zest. Drink or hold. - Jim Gordon

A really exciting, densely concentrated wine that's vibrant, elegant and linear. Made from some of the coolest sites in coastal Sonoma County, it has a freshness and lift that's very appetizing. Aged in 50% new French barrels, it's lively, spicy and velvety on the palate, with excellent depth and also length in the finish. Drink or hold. - Jim Gordon

This Grand Cru Champagne is as refreshing as it is opulent: Fresh butter, lemon zest, crips green apple, juicy apricot, and a smattering of fresh ginger ripple gently over the palate, leaving citrus minerality. Thanks to the cool, rainy vintage, it’s drinkable now, although the acid will enable it to age for years to come.

A slick, streamlined, and well-made blanc de blancs: Sourdough leads into soft lemon-lime notes and almond skin over an undercurrent of talcum powder and salinity.

The oscillation between Ruby Red grapefruit and tart Rainier cherry allows for the brief appearance of yellow raspberry and a smattering of salty clay before grapefruit peel returns in the bright and slightly earthy Pinot Noir-based Crémant de Bourgogne. 

A blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Merlot, the 2021 Enrapture offers up a bit of green, pyrazine character, plus more assertive notes of cassis, mint and cedar. It's taut in feel, medium to full-bodied in the mouth, firm and moderately concentrated, with ample length.

An intriguing blend of roughly two-thirds Oak Knoll Syrah and one-third St. Helena Cabernet Franc, the 2021 Leopard boasts an impressively complex nose of piney herbs, menthol and tobacco leaf set against a base of cherries and blueberries. Medium to full-bodied, the wine is silky and soft, tender almost, favoring the "Aww—it's so cute" side over the lithe, muscular, predatory aspect of its namesake.

This taster gravitated toward the more inventive blends from JCB, like his 2021 The Knockout Red Wine, an assemblage of Petite Sirah and Cabernet Sauvignon. Nicely pure blueberry and blackberry fruit are accented by a healthy dose of vanilla, but this full-bodied effort offers ample concentration, silky tannins and a long, supple finish.

A full-bodied red with dark berries, dark plums, herbs, cedar and baking spices. Firm tannins with a serious character. Blackberries and dark cherries towards the chewy finish. Try after 2025.

The 2021 JCB (Jean Charles Boisset) N°6 Pinot Noir comes from a single site in Mendocino. It has a medium ruby-purple color and slowly emerges from the glass with delicate scents of raspberry coulis, Morello cherries, and mulberries, followed by suggestions of fallen leaves, crushed rocks, and fragrant earth. The medium to full-bodied palate is filled with red berry preserves and earthy accents, supported by plush tannins and bags of freshness, finishing long and savory. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

The 2021 JCB (Jean Charles Boisset) N°7 Pinot Noir is medium ruby-purple in color. It shoots from the glass with notes of redcurrant jelly, pomegranate, and raspberry leaves, with nuances of lavender, wet slate, and wild thyme. The medium to full-bodied palate vibrates with energetic red and black fruit layers, framed by fine-grained tannins and a lively backbone, finishing long and fragrant. - LIsa Perrotti-Brown

The 2021 JCB (Jean Charles Boisset) N°76 Chardonnay comes galloping out with notes of apricots, apple tart, and baking bread, leading to wafts of cedar, nutmeg, and candied ginger. The full-bodied palate delivers impactful spiced apple flavors, with nutty nuances and just enough freshness, finishing long and decadent. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

The 2021 JCB (Jean Charles Boisset) N°81 Chardonnay offers notes of fresh peaches, juicy Bosc pears, and honeysuckle, with hints of allspice and almond croissant. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers a creamy texture, offset by wonderful tension, supporting the generous apple and pear flavors, finishing long and spicy. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

The 2021 JCB (Jean Charles Boisset) N°3 Pinot Noir is a blend of Pinot Noir from Burgundy and Russian River Valley. It has a pale to medium ruby-purple color and prances from the glass with notes of Bing cherries, wild strawberries, and fresh raspberries, plus nuances of rose oil, cinnamon stick, and mint tea. Medium-bodied, the palate delivers electric tension with firm, fine-grained tannins and intense red berry layers, finishing long and beautifully perfumed. Very impressive! - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

The 2021 JCB (Jean Charles Boisset) N°11 Pinot Noir has a medium ruby-purple color. It skips out of the glass with bright, cheery notes of black raspberries, cranberries, and black cherries, with hints of dried sage, underbrush, and Sichuan pepper. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers vivacious red and black berry layers, with silky tannins and a lively line, finishing with a provocative herbal lift. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

This sports a toasty edge, but there's a good gush of warmed cassis and steeped plum behind that, while the finish offers a lush, flattering feel as it picks up licorice and fruitcake hints. Drink now through 2032. 1,580 cases made.

The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Zebra/Snake/Crocodile, made from 64% Cabernet Sauvignon and 36% Petite Sirah, is a Napa Valley red wine that is dressed 3 ways, available in a zebra, snake, or crocodile skin label. Deep garnet purple in color, it charges out of the glass with a vibrant melange of warm cassis, baked plums, and mulberries with touches of cedar chest, pencil shavings, and cloves. The full-bodied palate is rich and has a lively backbone to balance, firm and grainy, long and lifted.

Aromas of coffee, black cherry, red cherry and grilled meat. Full-bodied with velvety tannins. Powerful and rich. Decadent, with a dry finish. Only 900 bottles made. Drink now.

The 2018 Merlot No. 4 is made from 100% Merlot, from the east side of St. Helena on volcanic/obsidian-rich soils. It was aged in French oak, 21% new. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it comes bounding out of the glass with lively notes of crushed black plums, juicy blueberries and fresh blackberries with suggestions of candied violets, baking spices, cardamom and fruitcake. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers soft, rounded tannins and oodles of freshness, beautifully framing the ripe, fresh black and blue fruits, finishing long and spicy. Only 49 cases were made.

This is made from 80% Pinot Noir, the remainder Chardonnay, both coming from both the Napa and Sonoma sides of the appellation. Inviting in wild strawberry, it is dry and stony and exuberant in earthy mineral aspects of crushed rock and dried herb.