XL Food & Drink

Treat yourself to esprit de J. Lohr

If you want to taste just how superb a California wine pioneer has become, you can revel in two whites and two reds from J. Lohr.

Its Paso Robles winery was one of the first in that region, and it arrived early in Monterey. Those are the two of the major wine-making areas of California's Central Coast.

In Monterey, with a cooler growing climate well-suited to whites, the winery is making a benchmark chardonnay, the 2004 J. Lohr Riverstone Chardonnay ($14), the third largest-selling chardonnay in the United States in the $10-$14 price range. The wine shows its fruit up front, including peach and nectarine, with wood and cream in the background.

After tasting the Riverstone, sip the 2004 J. Lohr Arroyo Vista Chardonnay ($25), a reserve wine. It's like the difference between listening to a chamber orchestra and a full symphony orchestra. The same tonal qualities are there, but the Arroyo Vista is richer, creamier, more intense.

Although both are barrel-aged and undergo malolactic fermentation, neither masks the fruit with oak and butter (something many California chardonnays do).

That same characteristic marks J. Lohr's cabernet sauvignons from Paso Robles.

The 2003 J. Lohr Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon ($15) emits aromas of bing cherry, blackberry and red currants that continue on the palate, with the oak forming a nice supporting structure but not masking any of the fruit.

The 2001 J. Lohr Hilltop Cabernet Sauvignon ($32), a single-vineyard cab, brings even more intensity in the fruit, with blackberry so fervent it's like burying your face in a pint of ripe berries.

Two of those wines — the Riverstone Chardonnay and the Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon — represent two-thirds of the winery's sales. With wine that good at that price, it's easy to see why.

Where to drink it: Riverstone at Carmelo's and Dan McKlusky's; Arroyo Vista at Paggi House and Chez Zee; Seven Oaks at Shoreline Grill and Taverna; and Hilltop at Finn & Porter and Louie's 106

Where to buy it: Central Market, Twin Liquors

drice@statesman.com; 445-3859