We are always on the lookout for new fun wines. Most new wines that are fun are not all that sellable to the broad market. That is, they are so unique that it is difficult to define what market they are going after to be able to sell to them, thus justifying why to bring them in. Even though we have over 7,000 wine SKUs, many more are in the market fighting for that shelf space. So when a bottle of wine comes along that blows us away in flavor that differs from the other wines in the category, and we think it has a viable market, we get excited.

Let me expand your mind briefly about Nebbiolo, grown in the Langhe region of Piedmont, best known for Barolo wines. Barolo and Barbaresco are known for wines that are light in color, full-bodied, robust flavors, ample tannins, and are high in acids, also known for their long aging potential. But Nebbiolo wines were not always this way. Like Bordeaux in the 1600s, Nebbiolo wines from Piedmont were lighter and fruitier with an almost rose color. This is why the English called old Bordeaux’s clarets and has loosely remained a name for Bordeaux today. On a trip through Piedmont in 1787, Thomas Jefferson fell in love with the wine made from the Nebbiolo grape. He described the then-sparkling Nebbiolo as “about as sweet as the silky Madeira, as astringent on the palate as Bordeaux, and as brisk as Champagne.” 

At G.D. Vijara, Giuseppe Vaira, who manages production for his family winery, has experimented with how Nebbiolo wines were made in the 1600s and 1700s. As a teenager, Vaira read some of the writings of American Founding Father and wine lover Thomas Jefferson. Some years later, after his studies in viticulture and enology in Turin, Vaira stumbled upon another book that answered many of these questions for him. It was a reprint of the 1606 winemaking protocols of G.B. Croce, jeweler to the Turin-based Royal House of Savoy. “It is the most detailed description I have found about how wines were made in Piedmont in the 17th century,” Vaira enthuses. “The wines were lighter, off-dry, and slightly fizzy.”

In 2013, Vaira began experimenting with creating something like an antique Nebbiolo. That year, he says, “We bottled six Champagne bottles of partially fermented Nebbiolo to see what it tasted like with bubbles.” Tastings with friends and family went very well to the point that the following year Vijara produced 3,000 bottles and labeled the wine Claret J.C. Claret for the lighter style, the ‘J’ for Jefferson, and the ‘C” for Croce. There were problems with international buyers who did not like the idea of bubbly Nebbiolo, so inventory was sold out through direct-to-customer e-mail sales in Seattle. The wine quickly sold out and developed high demand for the next vintage. Vairas also received a letter from the Bordeaux Wine Council insisting they stop using the term claret, a British nickname for Bordeaux. So the name was changed to Clare J.C. since the 2015 vintage. The current production of the wine is 1,000 cases, one of the smallest commercially released creations from G.D. Vajra.

 “Claré JC is a Nebbiolo made according to a 1606 note by Gian Battista Croce, the jeweler of the House of Savoia. This wine is a time capsule into an era when Nebbiolo wines tasted fresher, slightly crisp, and smooth. This is a wine for people who are young at heart and curious about the forgotten past of Piemonte.” Giuseppe Vaira

Claré J.C. is really a modern sequel rather than an exact replica of an old wine style. The younger grapes of the Langhe Nebbiolo are fermented in stainless steel tanks, using native yeasts and varying percentages of whole clusters. Temperature cooling and filtering stop fermentation, and pressurized tanks known as autoclaves help retain dissolved CO2, causing a physical stimulus in a wine drinker’s mouth and making the wine taste crisp and refreshing.

Claré JC is a unique wine, our take on the forgotten days of Nebbiolo, when it was enjoyed in its lighter and fresher garment. The winemaking protocol follows the 1606 writings of G.B. Croce, jeweler of the House of Savoia: the wine is bottled soon after the fermentation to retain a gentle off-dry finish and lovely energy. The 2022 Claré JC shows gorgeous cherry and Nebbiolo tones on the nose and a very silky and flowerful finish.

Fruit was picked between September 17th and 29th. Approximately one-fifth of the fruit was whole cluster fermented. After a short maceration, the wine was racked to finish fermentation off the skins. The wine underwent a gentler extraction to preserve some natural freshness.

Bright ruby red color. The 2022 Claré JC shows gorgeous notes of cherry candies, red mountain fruits, fresh mint oil, and a whiffle of picked thyme. On the palate, it reveals a lovely creaminess with crunchy, sweet berries and a very fresh finish.

A profoundly complex blend of crushed blackberries, violets, spice orange peels, and sage makes the 2022 Nebbiolo Clare J.C. a total knockout on the nose. Silky and enveloping with a pretty inner sweetness up front, this impresses further as a wave of wild berry fruit and exotic spice slowly saturates the palate. The 2022 finishes are lightly structured yet full of mouthwatering tension. Licorice and purple-toned inner florals gradually fade. Its deep red color and tremendous depth make it hard to classify the Clare J.C. as a Rose. That said, its drinkability factor is off the charts. Drinking Window 2023 – 2025. Vinous 93 pts.

G.D. Vajra 2022 Nebbiolo Clare J.C.

This wine snuck up on us. Tim and I have been looking for a new red wine that ‘red wine’ drinkers would like during the dog days of summer. We usually fall back on Pinot Noirs, Beaujolais, and light Chiantis but Nebbiolas from Langhe in Piedmont, not so much. Let me tell you, as an Italian wine lover and Barolo lover, I have found your red wine for the summer. Light in color, with aromas of tea and dark berries, the mouth has a medium-full silky mouth-filling texture, blackberries, fresh herbs, and excellent acid balance—a long dark cherry finish. As a highly rated, great tasting, reasonably priced Nebiolla that is comfortable at the beach or Fourth of July picnics, you won’t find a better one because they don’t exist. Tim and I loved this wine, which is unusual because we rarely agree. We have a limited amount of this extraordinary wine, and I expect it to sell out before the fireworks start.

Regular Price: $22.99

*Sale Price is on 6 or more bottles

Wine is packed in a 12-bottle case

*Wine pricing for these wine promotions are held for two weeks after the email offer.

We can hold wines in unpaid reserves for two weeks to allow you time to pick up your wine. If it takes you longer than that to pick up your wines, give us a call, and we can process your wine and move it to paid reserves.

Orders must be done by replying to this email. The reason is that I need to keep control of the inventory in one central spot. Emailing or calling your favorite wine geek at one of our four stores may not get your orders in on time to be counted or processed and this creates a helter-skelter for us to get you the wine. For the same reason, ordering on our online Web Store is linked to our regular price, and this sale price is only offered on the email platform. It is also why it takes me some time to respond due to the deluge of orders that I sometimes get. We haven't reached the efficiency or volume of Amazon yet. Thank you in advance for your patience.

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