So many Napa wines fall into one of two categories:
Old school, terroir-driven, low alcohol, moderate oak, and food friendly
New world, ripe and fruity, high alcohol, heavy oak, full-bodied and rich
Some Napa wines attempt to straddle both categories. A number of them manage to pull it off. Few do it well.
Jax is one of the few.
I met Kimberly Jackson-Wickham roughly six years ago while working wine retail in the Bay Area and immediately hit it off with both her and her family’s wines. The Jackson wines (Jax for short) are what I give to friends, family, and customers alike when they ask me the age old question: what’s a good, dependable, reasonably-priced Napa wine that I can drink tonight?
Why do love the wines? Because the Jax Y3 labels offer varietal typicity, ample fruit, balanced acidity, and sheer deliciousness for about $20 a pop. The higher-end Cabernet Sauvignons from the Jackson family estate deliver every single time, offering drinkers enough fruit to drink now, but enough structure to hold for later. I love having those options when I both purchase and recommend a wine.
Jax is also a winery that thinks outside the box. Rather than open their tasting room in some remote Calistoga location and wait for visitors, they brought their wines right to downtown San Francisco, opening a beautiful bar on Brannan Street where I have brought many a customer on many a night. Kimberly is also a marvelous host and a very talented businesswoman, who isn’t afraid to roll up her sleeves and do the hard work.
Tomorrow at 5 PM, I’ll be sitting down with Kimberly for Instagram Live at the @missionliquor site to discuss the state of the wine business, the importance of making high quality wines for affordable prices, the current challenges facing Napa winemakers, and where the market might be headed as climate change continues to bring wildfires to California wine country.
See you then!
-David Driscoll