2021 Jonata 'El Desafio de Jonata' Red Ballard Canyon

The Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated 2021 El Desafio De Jonata (96% Cabernet Sauvignon along with splashes of Cabernet Franc and Merlot) is inky hued and boasts awesome notes of blackcurrants, leafy tobacco, sappy flowers, incense, and gravelly earth. With incredible purity, medium to full body, ripe yet substantial tannins, and a great core of beautiful fruit, it will benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and evolve for 2-3 decades. It's that good. ~97+ Jeb Dunnuck

The 2021 El Desafio de Jonata is quite high in Cabernet Sauvignon (96%) in this vintage, and that is exactly what comes through. Dark fruit, tobacco, incense, scorched earth, minerals and dried herbs all race across the palate. Calistoga meets Saint-Estèphe in Ballard Canyon. El Desafio is one of the most impressive wines I tasted this year in Santa Barbara. I can't wait to see how it ages. ~97+ Vinous Media

As deep and rich as it is graceful and elegant, the 2021 El Desafio de Jonata is a yardstick for Bordeaux varieties in Santa Barbara County. As with much of the lineup, the nose is modern and glossy yet retains vibrancy and fantastic nuance, combining aromas of chocolate cake, gravel dust, oiled leather, dried herbs and dark spices. On the palate, it is immensely rich and supple with great concentration yet always buoyed by a high-toned, focused lift that is rare in wines of this style. The palate is lumbering in its richness yet incisive in its attack, effortlessly delivering layer after layer of decadence tempered with chalky, linear focus. This is produced with 96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet Franc and 2% Merlot. ~96 Robert Parker

Brilliant intensity in colour with an opaque ruby hue, El Desafio de JONATA is understated in its elegance. Crème de cassis, notes of cigarbox and star anise on the nose. It is somewhat of a refined rockstar with Persian mixed fruit lavashak, Alfajor coconut candy, and blackberry juice on the palate with an impressively rich finish. This wine stands out with a refined edge in Santa Barbara like a rockstar arriving on a red carpet wearing a tailored Alexander McQueen suit. An excellent example of the potential for Bordeaux varieties coming from the Ballard Canyon AVA in the Santa Ynez Valley . ~96 Decanter