J Vineyards & Winery Launches New Three-part Bubble Room Tasting Menu And Revitalized Signature Bar Wine Flights

J Vineyards & Winery continues to showcase how the excellence of its wine portfolio complements world-class cuisine with a new food and wine tasting program in its Visitor Center Bubble Room, a luxurious private tasting salon with seating and table service. Executive Chef Mark E. Caldwell's new three-course menu replaces the previous menu of three smaller flights, while offering an even more thoughtful, expanded wine experience focused on enlightening guests to the luxurious qualities in each of J's three distinct wine styles: white wine, Pinot Noir, and sparkling wine. A total of seven wines are now offered,allowing guests to sample a diverse selection of two wines from each category, plus a taste of J's Ratafia liqueur at the tasting's conclusion.

J's Bubble Room is open Friday through Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and the new tasting costs $60 per person. The new Bubble Room menu will change seasonally and recipes are available upon request. The winter menu features:

First Course: White Wine

2006 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
Curried Dungeness Crab Cake, Fennel, Navel Orange, M�che, Ginger Aioli
AND
2007 Russian River Valley Pinot Gris
Puy Lentil Cappuccino

Second Course: Pinot Noir

2005 Robert Thomas Vineyard Pinot Noir
Painted Hills Beef Short Rib "Shepherd's Pie", Blue Lake Beans
AND
2006 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
CK Lamb Loin, Black Truffle Tapenade

Third Course: Sparkling Wine

J Brut Ros�
Wild Mushroom Pat�, Micro Bulls Blood Beets
AND
1998 Late-Disgorged Vintage Brut
Artisan Cheese, Honeycomb

Dessert

Ratafia
Ratafia Bread Pudding

"When Founder Judy Jordan opened J's Visitor Center in 1999, we were one of the first wineries in Sonoma to offer food and wine pairings," comments Chef Mark Caldwell. "Our hope is that the new Bubble Room menu will allow our guests to come away with a more complete awareness of how food and wine pairings work, as well as the qualities that make the Russian River Valley such a rare and special place to make wine. We're committed to using only the freshest ingredients from local artisanal purveyors and emphasizing the wonderful qualities found in J's diverse lineup of wines. I will also be taking an active role in educating guests by sharing recipes that can be prepared at home, as well as periodically hosting food demo events throughout the year."

Coinciding with the new J Bubble Room menu, J has introduced a new premium-level, wine-only tasting at its Signature Bar. Called the "J Elegance Flight", it presents J's high-end small-lot reserve wines such as the Late-Disgorged Vintage Brut and J's limited-production single vineyard Pinot Noir releases. The J Elegance Flight costs $35, and is offered daily from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. J's original "Signature Tasting", which includes four tastes of J's more widely available wines such as the Cuv�e 20 Brut Non-Vintage, Russian River Valley Chardonnay, Russian River Valley Pinot Gris and Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, is also available daily at the Signature Bar for $20. For those interested in an expanded food and wine experience, J's Essence tasting offers an appointment only, private tour and tasting featuring a vineyard tour and seven-course fine dining meal in the Bubble Room. Essence is available only on Thursdays for $200, and is limited to eight guests (reservations are required).

The updated tasting options are intended to highlight veteran winemaker George Bursick's varietal wines, which represent a new era of luxury winemaking at J. Bursick, who joined J in early 2006, has introduced numerous innovative viticulture and winemaking improvements such as meticulous site-specifi