Las Jaras Sweet Berry Wine - 750ml

Las Jaras Sweet Berry Wine is produced by Joel Burt and Eric Wareheim under the Las Jaras label, based in Sebastopol, California. The wine holds a particular place in the project's history — it was the first wine the two collaborators ever made, originating in 2015 as a garage production before Las Jaras was formally established with the 2016 vintage. The name is a deliberate piece of misdirection: despite the playful label and the whimsical title, Sweet Berry Wine is a serious, site-driven red built on old-vine Carignan and Zinfandel sourced primarily from the Gary Venturi vineyard in Calpella, Mendocino County — a dry-farmed site of Yokayo sandy loam soils where the vines' age and the organically managed farming produce concentrated, structurally complex fruit.

The blend shifts by vintage but consistently centers on Carignan and Zinfandel, with contributions from Charbono, Valdiguié, and occasionally Petite Sirah and Cabernet Sauvignon. The fruit is hand-harvested and vinified separately, with whole clusters incorporated to develop aromatic complexity and mid-palate texture. Post-fermentation aging proceeds in oak before the final blend is assembled ahead of bottling. The wine is produced with minimal intervention and low sulfur additions, consistent with Las Jaras's broader commitment to organically farmed, naturally expressive California wine.

The palate opens with tart cranberry, red licorice, and blood orange, moving through rose petal and white pepper before settling into a mid-palate of bright red cherry and wild strawberry. The tannins are fine and powdery, providing grip without hardness, and the acidity is lively and persistent throughout. The finish is long and fruit-forward, closing on a mineral dryness that grounds the wine's exuberant surface character in the old-vine Mendocino terroir from which it was drawn. Despite the name, this is not a sweet wine.