Midweek casual sipping with a plate of cheeses and honey'd bread we pulled this bold expressive red for enjoyment.
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.
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.
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.
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2612332
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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