I have great admiration for a winery that does one thing and does it to the highest quality possible. Year in year out since the winery was founded in 1972, with the first vintage coming in 1976, Jordan Vineyards and Winery in Sonoma’s Alexander Valley does this with their high quality, and always tasty, Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and Russian River Chardonnay. Only two wines, keeping their production focused to ensure that the product in the bottle is consistently refined, elegant, varietally correct and delicious, and both of which are well loved in our Dallas community. I recently had a chance to visit the French inspired Jordan estate and stay in one of their chateau like guest suites, as a guest of the winery, while getting a sneak peak of their new estate tour.
Over the past few years since John Jordan, son of Jordan founder Tom Jordan, took over winery operations, Jordan has started dabbling in other endeavours, like making the estate completely carbon neutral, producing small amount of olive oil made from the Tuscan and Spanish variety olive trees grown on the property, developing a huge garden filled with fruit trees, fresh berries, fresh veggies like carrots, beets and parsnips, making honey from their estate bee hives, and raising grass-fed cattle on part of the expansive property. These items are then used in the winery to create special dishes to pair with each of their wines during their appointment only, elegant library tastings, or breakfast in their suites for guests visiting the winery, or special lunches and dinners prepared for Jordan Estate Rewards members.
Starting in September the winery will open a new, more pastoral experience for guests visiting their expansive, Certified Sonoma Green winery. Jordan has created a full scale Estate Tour of the property, traveling throughout their 1200 acres. In a decked out, luxury vehicle customized for Jordan, 12 guests per tour will have a chance to visit remote parts of the estate to experience the beauty of Sonoma, specifically the unique landscape of Alexander Valley, in a rustic food and wine experience. Throughout the tour guests will get a true sense of the land while tasting Jordan wine and snacking on bites prepared from the garden, ranch and region by Jordan Executive Chef Todd Noll.
The estate tour takes guests through their flourishing garden, fishing pond, 18 acres of olive trees, 110 acres of vineyards and a picturesque vista sitting at 650 ft elevation overlooking the entire estate with 360-degree views of the North Coast Ranges’ Mayacamas and Vaca mountains. The tours, each of which will last three hours on average, will start in September of this year and run through November, then start back again in April and run through November annually for $120 per person. Additional details and reservations available here.
Additionally, in this day and time just about every winery of any size has a club you can join, Jordan has done something a little different with theirs making it one of the best I have seen. Usually when you join a wine club you are committing yourself to a specific number of wines and wine shipments per year, and they often come with good incentives, like discounts on the wine or free tastings for you and your guests when visiting the property. Jordan created their Estate Rewards program to be just a bit different. First off, it is free of charge without any set commitment to buy, and just for joining you get 3000 points, almost enough for a library tasting for 6 people. Then for every dollar you spend at Jordan either at the winery on on their website you earn 3 more points and the points never expire. These points can then be exchanged for members only opportunities like elaborate dinners at the winery, overnight stays in their guests suites like the one we stayed in, cooking classes or a chance to participate in a fishing contest on the Jordan Lake. Staying in a working winery is one of the best experiences any wine lover can have, especially waking up and going for a jog through the vines, and then having a chance to start your wine country get away right there on the property.
