NV Jonata La Miel de Jonata

Tokaji-like with its opulent apricot, honeycomb, fig, and toffee aromas and flavors, the NV La Miel 3 is a stunning dessert wine that shows an incredible sense of richness and sweetness yet stays light on its feet and flawlessly balanced. Based on Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc, brought up in plenty of new oak, there’s unfortunately not much of it to go around, but it ranks with some of the greatest dessert wines out there. Bravo! The 2017s from the team at Jonata are terrific across the board with all the wines showing classic, balanced characters. Unfortunately, the 2018s weren’t ready to be tasted, so I’ll report on those in next year’s Central Coast report. Readers on a budget shouldn’t miss the Todos cuvée, which is always a kitchen sink blend (it’s normally Syrah heavy) of just about every varieties Jonata works with. It’s a year in, year out, stunning wine that sells for half of what the top cuvées go for.