2008 Jean Edwards Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Seventy Four – Forty One Napa Valley

The Winery

New Jersey natives John and Karen Troisi are the owner/vintners of Jean Edwards Cellars. If you’re scratching your head wondering how John and Karen arrived at Jean Edwards for the name of their winery, the answer is simple, they used their middle names. The third member of the Jean Edwards team is Kian Tavakoli, their consulting winemaker.

Karen and John started producing wines commercially in 2004. The first wine they released was a 2004 Stagecoach Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. A few months after the wine was released, Wine Spectator asked them to supply their magazine with a sample. A little while later, they awarded the wine 92 points. A couple months later, Wine Spectator included them in an article titled, “Twenty new cabernet producers to watch” in their annual Cabernet issue.

After dabbling in the Syrah/Rhone Ranger camp for a period, the winery is now focused only on Napa Valley Cabernets.

Jean Edwards Cellars uses the “custom crush” facilities at the Michael Mondavi Family winery in southern Napa.

Much more information on the winery is available on their website by clicking here. The winery is also very active on Facebook and Twitter.

I highly recommend joining the winery’s mailing list by clicking here. Members of the mailing list are never under any obligation to buy a specific amount of wine to stay on the mailing list. Members of the mailing list get a very nice “Friends and Family” discount.

The Wine

Karen and John are bi-coastal, having residences in New Jersey as well as in the Napa Valley. The name for this wine, “Seventy Four – Forty One” was named after the coordinates of their east coast residence.

This 100% Cabernet is a blend of grapes from a few vineyards in the Napa Valley. Even though the vineyard names cannot be used for contractual reasons, they can disclose some geographical information. The major component of this wine is from a Howell Mountain vineyard. This is combined with grapes from a vineyard in Rutherford and one in Coombsville.

The wine was aged 24 months in French oak, 50% new and 50% one year old.

This vintage is sold out at the winery. The current vintage is 2010 and has a price of $65.

2008 Jean Edwards Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Seventy Four – Forty One Napa Valley – SRP $65

This bottle of wine was purchased by me and stored in my cellar since release. This is not a winery supplied sample.

I’ve been a fan and customer of the winery for a few years and love opening bottles of their wines for friends to sample. These are extremely high quality wines sourced from some of the best vineyards in the Napa Valley. The fact the wines are also sold at very consumer friendly prices is a great bonus. This is one of the winery’s higher end offerings.

The wine has 14.8% alcohol by volume and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep ruby red color. The nose is a show stopper, it is filled with cassis, dried herbs, tobacco, mint, cedar, warm baking spices and dried flowers. This has medium body, moderate to solid tannins and very good acidity. On the palate the cassis and mint initially carry the load, slowly allowing spice and dried herbs to slip into the picture. On the back end some spicy oak shines through in the background. The finish has very good length with a nice mix of fruit and savory elements. This tastes very nice now but a few years in the cellar will be greatly rewarded. (93 pts)

2008 Jean Edwards Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Seventy Four – Forty One Napa Valley

In Summary

In a couple of years, my rating will probably be laughably low. As with most wines that are predominantly made from mountain fruit, they take a few years to fully open up and express their full potential. Patience will be rewarded.

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Notes – I use the “official” Cellar Tracker name for the wines. I use Cellar Tracker to help manage and organize my cellar. I highly recommend checking it out at www.cellartracker.com. Loading you existing cellar is a lot less intimidating than it would first appear. There is a good chance 99% of your wine is already in the system, so you generally only need to enter part of the wine’s name and the system will find it for you.

Prices noted are the prices I paid at the time of purchase. I don’t shop around to find the best prices, but my local store is usually VERY competitive. I generally get case discounts, and since I work there part time, I get a 5% discount. Wines purchased direct from a winery do not include any shipping charges. None of the prices include the sales tax.

All wines that were sent to me free of charge to sample will be noted and I will show suggested prices when available.

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