J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines is proud to announce the release of the debut vintage of its J. Lohr Estates Falcon’s Perch Pinot Noir. Part of the winery’s award-winning J. Lohr Estates tier, which features such category-defining wines as Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon, Los Osos Merlot and Riverstone Chardonnay, the new J. Lohr Estates Falcon’s Perch Pinot Noir is crafted from cool-climate Monterey County fruit, with an emphasis on grapes from J. Lohr’s acclaimed 1,360-acre estate program in the Arroyo Seco and the Santa Lucia Highlands appellations. For the inaugural 2009 vintage, J. Lohr produced 12,400 cases of its J. Lohr Estates Falcon’s Perch Pinot Noir, and the wine will be rolled out nationally beginning in September at a suggested retail price of $17.
“Releasing this wine has been part of a patient, thoughtful journey,” says Director of Winemaking Jeff Meier, who has been with J. Lohr since 1984. “Our J. Lohr Estates Falcon’s Perch Pinot Noir builds on what we began in the J. Lohr Vineyard Series with our Fog’s Reach Vineyard Pinot Noir.It is the product of years of research and experimentation with different clones of Pinot Noir, and different viticultural approaches. And even though this is a wine that’s designed to reach a larger audience, it still benefits from remarkable attention to detail. In the vineyard, yields were kept under 3 tons per acre, with individual sides of the vines picked in multiple passes weeks apart. In the winery, we worked in lots as small as 5 tons, did whole-berry fermentation, and did both light pump-overs and punch-downs—all of which underscores our commitment to quality, and our desire to make a vineyard-driven wine that captures the purest varietal expression of Pinot Noir from Monterey County.”
Falcon’s Perch takes its name from the falcon that lives in the lone pine tree overlooking J. Lohr’s Pinot Noir vineyards, and the many birds of prey that keep watch over the vineyards from the bird boxes J. Lohr has installed. The name was chosen to reflect J. Lohr’s commitment to sustainability—a focus that has included establishing the largest solar tracking array in the wine industry, and culminated with J. Lohr becoming one of the first wineries in California to achieve California Sustainable Winegrowing Certification for its two wineries and its estate vineyards in Arroyo Seco and Paso Robles.
This spring we entered the inaugural Ultimate Wine Challenge, held in New York, June 7-11, 2010. All wines were evaluated by a select group of judges under the most ideal tasting conditions. Wines were poured into numbered glasses in a separate room, served blind in small flights based upon wine type, origin, varietal and price, and evaluated and scored by panels using a unique variation of the 100-point scale. We are happy to report that our J. Lohr Cuvée Pau 2006 was considered a finalist for Chairman’s Trophy designation, the highest ranking award in the category, and scored 94 points. Please visit our online store to order a bottle of award-winning J. Lohr Cuvée Pau 2006.
We are happy to announce that our 2009 Cypress Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc as ranked among the “Best of the Best” at the 2010 California State Fair! It took home the awards for “Best Sauvignon Blanc” and “Best of Show White Wine” (Gold, 95 points)!
For more information on our Cypress Vineyards wines please visit the wines section of our Website.
On June 19th, at the Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition, J. Lohr Vineyards and Wines was awarded 7 Gold Medals, including 4 Best of Class distinctions. We are always proud of our wines and the awards we win with them, but this showing was beyond our hopes. With over 3400 wines entered, it’s one of the top competitions in the country, and we are honored to have been so well recognized. Here’s a list of the wines that won:
Best of Class, Gold Medal
2008 J. Lohr Estates Riverstone Chardonnay, Arroyo Seco
2009 J. Lohr Estates Wildflower Valdiguié, Monterey
2007 J. Lohr Estates South Ridge Syrah, Paso Robles
2007 J. Lohr Estates Los Osos Merlot, Paso Robles
Gold Medal
2007 J. Lohr Estates Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon, Paso Robles
On April 30, wine industry pioneer and J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines Founder and President Jerry Lohr was honored by the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) with its Professional Excellence in Oenology award. The award was presented by NYIT President Edward Guiliano and Richard Elia of Quarterly Review of Wines at the NYIT’s Gold Coast Classic Professional Excellence Awards. The event was a fundraiser held at the Jumeirah Essex House in New York City in support of student scholarships and educational programs at NYIT.
“I am deeply honored to receive this award for J. Lohr’s excellence in winemaking, and I am proud that this recognition comes within the context of supporting academic advancement,” said Jerry Lohr. “This award is also an acknowledgement of the hard work of many people, individuals like our longtime winemaker Jeff Meier, and the numerous dedicated staff I’ve been fortunate to work alongside in our vineyards and wineries over the past four decades.”
We recently became one of the first wineries in California to earn the Certified California Sustainable Winegrowing distinction from the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance.
J. Lohr's San Jose Wine Center was recently featured on NBC's Bay's Best! Remember - there are no tasting fees at our wine centers except for Cuvée Series wines - so stop in soon!
J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines is partnering with the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc.® to commemorate Carol Lohr's legacy of caring and generosity. Please join us in our effort to provide 500 mammograms to women in need.
We are proud to announce the debut vintage of our J. Lohr Estates Falcon’s Perch Pinot Noir! 