Winemaker's Notes:
Magnificat is a hand-selected blend of the vintage's finest lots of fruit. Every year, winemaker Janet Myers tastes hundreds of barrel samples to craft Magnificat, a wine as seamless and harmonious as the Bach masterwork it honors in name. This is the twentieth vintage.
"For Magnificat, our goal is simply to make the best glass of wine possible," says Janet. "We pay no attention to variety percentages until we put the wine together. We can afford to do this because, frankly, our Merlot is as rich and concentrated as our Cabernet. In Oakville, that is saying something."
Blend: 50% Merlot, 49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Cabernet Franc
Appearance: Deep garnet.
Aroma: Enticing aromas of dark cherry and black plum with a dark chocolate background and notes of sage and black tea. Appealing and complex.
Flavors: Elegant, well-structured mouthfeel, with cherries, rich chocolate, black pepper and vibrant plum flavors filling the palate. Very supple, with fine texture and firm structure, giving an immediately approachable richness. The finish is a seamless continuation of fruit and cocoa-like tannins. |
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Additional wines from Franciscan Oakville Estate:
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About Franciscan Oakville Estate:
Franciscan is one of Napa Valley's most venerable wineries, reaching back more than three decades. Franciscan wines take their signature style - rich, vibrant flavors framed by supple tannins - from the ideal climate offered by Napa Valley's cool, southern half and from the time-honored tradition of small-lot winemaking, blending from hundreds of barrels to craft fine wines that fully express the classic Bordeaux varieties.
Franciscan was founded in 1972 by a group of lawyers and doctors from San Francisco who decided to try turning their passion for wine into a business. In 1985, Agustin Huneeus, a Chilean exile who had built Concha y Toro in his native country, took over the helm at Franciscan. Huneeus refocused the winery on using the superlative grapes growing in its own vineyards, rather than sourcing from outside.
Today, Franciscan's wines are crafted under the exacting eye of Janet Myers, who came to Franciscan in August 2003 as associate winemaker after working in the Margaret River region and Beaulieu Vineyard, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars and Louis Martini. The winery remains committed to its tradition of small-lot winemaking, with small batches averaging just 150 to 1,500 cases. The image of a hand-operated wine press on Franciscan's logo and wine labels reflects this small lot approach to winemaking.
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