Chateau St Jean Estate Cabernet Franc 2014

Chateau St Jean Estate Cabernet Franc 2014

Midweek casual sipping with a plate of cheeses and honey'd bread we pulled this bold expressive red for enjoyment. 

We tasted and acquired this wine at the Chateau St Jean hospitality center at the beautiful estate and grounds in Sonoma Valley during our Sonoma Chateau St Jean Reserve Private Tasting
Wine Experience. 

This was a highlight of our Pour Boys 2017 Sonoma Napa Wine Experience. We started on the Sonoma Coast and worked east along the Russian River Valley ending up in Sonoma Valley at one of its crown jewel estates, Chateau St Jean.

We've visited the estate and done tastings there numerous times over the years. Sonoma Harvest '09 - Chateau St Jean and again Sonoma Valley Wine Experience 2009 - Chateau St Jean.

Founded in 1973 in the Sonoma Valley, Chateau St. Jean is the quintessential Sonoma winery. Chateau St. Jean produces an extensive portfolio of Sonoma County wines sourced from their estate in Sonoma Valley and other estate vineyards up in Alexander Valley, including several vineyard designated wines, and limited production Reserve wines. 

We hold more than a dozen vintages of their flagship Cinq Cépages Cabernet Sauvignon - a Bordeaux Blend as well as numerous other labels from this producer.

Chateau St. Jean was the first Sonoma winery to be awarded the prestigious “Wine of the Year” award from Wine Spectator Magazine for its 1996 Cinq Cépages, a Bordeaux style blend of “five varieties”,  the crowning achievement cementing their longstanding recognition as a leader in vineyard designated wines. 

Margo Van Staaveren has been Winemaker for more than 30 years and uses her vineyard and winemaking expertise with Chateau St. Jean to continue the tradition of highlighting the best of each vineyard site to produce exceptional wines.

Chateau St. Jean Sonoma Valley St. Jean Estate Vineyard Cabernet Franc 2014

As mentioned above, we discovered, tasted and acquired this wine during at estate visit to the Chateau St Jean estate in Sonoma during our Pour Boys Sonoma County Wine Experience in 2017.   This was a bonus pour beyond scope of the planned Reserve tasting at the Chateau and it was a real treat. 

This is a single varietal expression of one of the Bordeaux varietals where Cabernet Franc is typically added to the blend to introduce structure, color, aromatics and sprites of spice to the flavor, and polished tannins. As a standalone bottling its a bright bold expressive wine for enjoyable tasting such as tonight.  

This is sourced from St Jean Sonoma Valley estate vineyards and was aged for 21 months in American Oak.  

The 2014 growing season in Sonoma County was long with mild temperatures resulting in very high quality fruit coming into the winery.  

At nine years this is hitting its stride and probably at the apex of its tasting window and profile, not likely to improve further with aging, but certainly with another a decade of enjoyment ahead. Regretably, this was our last bottle. 

As shown, the label, foil and cork were pristine. The cork was perfect with the bottom stained dark blackish garnet from the rich concentrated wine.

Tonight's tasting was consistent with my tasting notes from that visit to the Chateau when I wrote, "I like this wine: Dark inky purplish garnet colored, full bodied, concentrated forward black raspberry and black currant fruits accented by sweet floral tones, spicy acidity and an undercurrent of mocha and hint of clove spice. Loved it! Limited release, available only at the winery."

My rating tonight is the same as that initial tasting experience, 92 points. 

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8/10/2022 - I like this wine: 92 Points

Consistent with my earlier tasting and notes on this label.
https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2022/08/st-jean-cabernet-franc-2014.html

7/30/2017 - I like this wine: 92 Points

This was a bonus pour beyond scope of our planned Reserve tasting at the Chateau and it was a real treat. Dark inky purplish garnet colored, full bodied, concentrated forward black raspberry and black currant fruits accented by sweet floral tones, spicy acidity and an undercurrent of mocha and hint of clove spice. Loved it! Limited release, available only at the winery.

 https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2612332