Joel Gott

Because a grape like Sauvignon Blanc can be so influenced by its terroir, Joel Gott crafts this complex wine by sourcing fruit from a variety of regions. In 2019, Napa and Sonoma fruit accounted for the body and viscosity in the blend, while Lake County provided the citrus and marine-influenced Monterrey added the tropical aromatics. Vineyards in the Santa Barbara region contributed minerality and structure from the diverse and rocky soils of Santa Ynez and Happy Canyon. The growing season started a bit later in 2019, leading to a later-than-usual harvest of fresh and well-balanced fruit in September. This Sauvignon Blanc is both rich and crisp and will accompany a wide range of salads and casual dishes with chicken, fish or pork.

A great price and crisp and zesty deliciousness make Joel Gott’s California Sauvignon Blanc the go-to wine of the summer. Critics and consumers alike love this wine for its aromatic delights and mouthwatering flavors. The 2022 vintage was #31 on the Wine Spectator's wines of 2023! But the current vintage may place even higher as the cool summer allowed the fruit to ripen at a snail’s pace. Sourced from vineyards in Sonoma, Lake County, Lodi, Monterey, and Santa Barbara, the grapes were pressed gently and given a long, cool fermentation in stainless steel tanks. Careful blending was the key to expressing the particular characteristics of each vineyard. This Sauvignon Blanc is crisp and flavorful and will accompany a wide range of salads and casual dishes with chicken, fish, or pork.

Feeling bored with Chardonnay? Then surprise your palate with the crisp flavors of a Chardonnay fermented and aged in 100% stainless steel without malolactic fermentation. This is Chardonnay with fresh acidity and structure - a style like more Chablis than California. For the 2022 vintage, Joel Gott sourced the fruit from several locations in the Central Coast region, including Arroyo Seco, the Santa Lucia Highlands, and the Santa Maria and Santa Inez valleys. These AVAs are well known for cooler temperatures, a long growing season, and mineral-rich soils. Crisp pear, apple, citrus, and mango notes aim to please -- before or throughout a meal. Shellfish, steamed or grilled fish, risotto, or pasta with fresh vegetables all spring to mind as excellent pairings.

Joel Gott’s Barrel Aged Chardonnay is produced in small quantities and is sourced from some of  California’s top Chardonnay regions, including the Petaluma Gap and Russian River Valley in Sonoma County and Arroyo Seco, Sta. Rita Hills, Santa Maria Valley, and Los Los Olivos in the Central Coast. While all these regions feature a cool, Pacific Ocean-influenced climate, variations in soil, fog, sunlight and average temperatures create an elegant wine with exquisite flavor and balance.  As for barrel aging, 50% of the wine spent time in new French oak with the rest aged in one- and two-year-old barrels. The wine is round but light in texture, brimming with notes of fresh pears, apples, and peaches with a mere hint of toasted oak. It would pair well with summer salads, delicate fish dishes and sushi.  

While Joel Gott’s California Zinfandel has all the elements we look for in a Zin – brambly, spicy fruit, concentration, good body and a bit of alcohol – he keeps them all in balance and serves up a wholesome, food-friendly wine as a result. Old, head-trained vineyards in Amador County and Lodi supplied most of the fruit, with the rest coming from Sonoma County. The stony soils of Lodi’s Borden Ranch AVA give the wine structure and concentration, while the Sonoma terroir brings out the forward dark and red fruit. Most of the wine is aged in older French oak barrels in order to keep the purity of Zin fruit flavors, but 20% new American oak adds depth with notes of spicy vanilla. Joel Gott recommends trying this wine with pulled pork, cheeseburgers, or grilled chicken.

As ever, Joel Gott’s “815” Cabernet Sauvignon is both a familiar friend and tasty surprise, a reliable go-to that nevertheless dazzles with the concentration and flavor you’d expect to find in a more expensive wine. Gott fashions complexity and controls costs by sourcing 100% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from vineyards in Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake County, Lodi and Paso Robles. The fruit grown in the climate and soil of a particular appellation adds something special to the blend, such as color, flavor, structure, and texture. In the winery, the lots are fermented and aged separately before being carefully assembled into the final blend. Gott uses American oak barrels, which soften the young wine and infuse it with vanilla notes and spice. The result is a Cabernet that is complex, plush, well-balanced – and ready to drink. Gott recommends decanting to open up the flavors as well as pairing the wine with casual fare like steak tacos or hamburgers.

If you are a fan of Pinot Noir from California’s Central Coast, you will love this offering from Joel Gott. It’s bright and fresh with a kind of subtle elegance one associates with more expensive wines. The fruit is sourced from vineyards in Monterey and Santa Barbara, AVAs with ideal growing conditions for a style of Pinot Noir that balances rich fruit flavors with bright notes, and refreshing acidity. The winery’s notes convey “aromas of Bing cherries, black plum, and red currants with notes of vanilla cream and baking spices. On the palate, bright red fruit flavors and acidity are flowed by soft, velvety tannins on the mid-palate and a long, elegant finish.”

The Santa Barbara region is gaining a reputation for delicious, food-friendly Pinot Noir. The best wines have excellent structure and earthy notes with modestly sweet fruit and balanced acidity. Joel Gott likes to source his Pinot Noir from vineyards located near the coast as well as inland. The coastal vineyards experience cool, foggy mornings and warm afternoons, producing fruit with acidity and bright flavors. On the other hand, fruit from warmer vineyards inland develop darker cherry flavors as well as spiciness and minerality. Some of the cooler vineyards are windswept and downright cold in summer, yet their fruit adds structure and tannins to the blend. This wine is a bright, easy-to-drink, crowd-pleaser with only a moderate 13.6% alcohol. Grilled fish or chicken or even a summer salad would go well with this wine.

The Willamette Valley is increasingly recognized as a premier location for the production of world-class pinot. The winters may be cold and famously wet, but summers are dry and warm. The nearby Pacific Ocean keeps nighttime temperatures cool, ensuring a long growing season. Well-drained, volcanic soils are yet another factor in creating intense and compelling aromatics and flavors as well as texture and minerality. Gott sources fruit from two sub-appellations: Eola-Amity Hills and Yamhill-Carlton, where the growing conditions are similar to those of Burgundy, France. Gott has rated the 2022 Willamette Valley vintage as high quality despite such challenges as a growing season that started and ended late due to cool temperatures in the spring and late fall. But more time on the vines helped berries achieve optimal ripeness, resulting in wines with a balance of fruit flavors, acidity, and tannins. If you like Pinot with classic flavors of raspberries, pomegranate, and cherry, one that is vibrant and light and not jammy, give this a try. Grilled salmon, seared tuna, crispy chicken, and pasta dishes would all pair well with Gott’s Oregon Pinot.

Unlike most Joel Gott wines, “Gott,” is sourced from just one locale, a promising area for Napa Cabernet known as Sugarloaf. While the location in southeast Napa is not far from Carneros, the hillside vineyards escape the Carneros fog, providing the grapes ample sunshine in moderate temperatures. Rocky soils provide excellent drainage and radiate warmth during the foggy nights. Cabernet grown under these conditions yields glorious black fruit flavors but also power, tannic structure, and acidity. In 2017, cool autumn temperatures allowed for hangtime into early October. Made from 98% Cabernet (plus 1% each of Merlot and Malbec), the 2017 GOTT is a rich and elegant wine with blue fruit flavors followed by soft, velvety tannins and a hint of chocolate. Enjoy now or years from now.