It is my great pleasure to share an electric brand new brand in Washington State. As part of the Spire Collection of wines by Jackson Family, Jett focuses on hedonistic, yet well-structured wines from Washington, utilizing some top quality vineyard sites. Legendary winemaker Chris Carpenter serves as consulting winemaker alongside winemaker Gianna Ghilarducci.
Carpenter shared his thoughts about the new project. “We wanted to diversify our holdings and it was a climate hedge initially to look at Walla Walla as an alternative for grape growing. You think about great grape growing for Cabernet and Washington is up there” said Carpenter. He found that “we talked with some people who are influential up there, Chris Figgins and Josh McDaniels. Brandon Moss at Gramercy, Dick Shaw and Chris Upchurch. We got a feel for the place and were able to decide that this is where we wanted to be. We stayed at Abeja and talked with Dan and he showed me the site that we purchased, named Skysill. That is the onus for the project.”
They made the first few wines at Doubleback and Walla Walla Vintners. Winemaker Gianna Ghilarducci has made the picking choices in the wines and explained “with these wines we see the common thread between the brands. The Walla Walla fruit shows the savory side of Cabernet. I love comparing the wines from the different areas, making the wine in a similar way that we do in Napa but having a different expression.”
I loved all of the new wines. Check out the concentrated and powerful 2022 Jett ‘Red Mountain’ Cabernet Sauvignon (OB, 97) which has excellent flavor density despite the coolness of the vintage. Just as good is the 2022 Jett ‘Horse Heaven Hills’ Cabernet Sauvignon (OB, 97) which comes from two top sites and has great polish and soil character. Learn more about these brilliant new wines at jettwines.com and here are my reviews of the inaugural releases by Jett.
2022 Jett Syrah- Coming from the Les Collines Vineyards, the 2022 Jett Syrah saw 33% whole cluster fermentation. The wine shows dried herbal aromatics alongside black currants and shades of blackberry compote. The palate is rich and viscous with great tension and verve alongside a silky mouthfeel. Drink 2025-2037- 95
2022 Jett ‘Red Mountain’ Cabernet Sauvignon- The 2022 'Red Mountain’ comes from the Quintessence and Shaw Vineyards. Sweet pipe tobacco and anise mark the nos alongside shades of black currant compote. The palate is dense and delicious with serious verve and tension. Very nervy and heady with great concentration and finesse, this really needs about a year of bottle time to settle. Drink 2026-2045- 97
2022 Jett ‘Horse Heaven Hills’ Cabernet Sauvignon- Gorgeous and silky, the 2022 Jett ‘Horse Heaven Hills’ Cabernet Sauvignon comes from the Andrews and Phinny Hill Vineyards. Jet black in the glass, this offers deep, concentrated black Frits that mingle well with blueberry compote, espresso grounds and shades of loamy soils on the palate. This has well-defined power and finesse. Drink 2025-2042- 97
2022 Jett ‘Walla Walla Valley’ Cabernet Sauvignon- The outstanding 2022 ‘Walla Walla Valley’ Cabernet Sauvignon comes from the Leonetti Estate as well as the Seven Hills and Skysill Vineyards. Inky in the glass this shows off great depth and concentration. Dense dark fruits parade with tobacco leaf, dried herbs and shades of graphite with great stony essence. Drink 2025-2044- 97
2022 Jett ‘Skysill Vineyard’ Merlot- The 2022 Merlot was stored in 60% new French oak for 20 months before bottling. The nose shows dense dark fruits with a gorgeous eucalyptus character. The palate is soft and elegant with refined mouthfeel and silky texture. The palate offers great body and freshness with refined tannins and great length. Elegant and rich, this is gorgeous from this slightly cooler vintage. Drink 2026-2042- 96
2022 Jett ‘Skysill Vineyard’ Cabernet Sauvignon- The gorgeous 2022 Jett ‘Skysill Vineyard’ Cabernet Sauvignon was stored for 20 months in 77% new French oak before bottling. This is a silky, refined and luxurious wine that has gobs of freshness and flavor density. Heady black fruits mingle well with pencil lead, anise, dried herbs and shades of black licorice. This is the quintessential iron fist in a velvet glove. Drink 2027-2050- 99