Winemaker Notes
It is always amazing what a great range of cuisine pairs so easily with this wine, particularly when paired with good friends and family.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a well-balanced and rather intense wine with very focused black-cherry and tobacco flavors and very little oak influence. It is medium to full in body, and has moderate tannins for a welcome slight bite in the otherwise smooth texture.
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Wine Spectator
Very tasty and complete, aromatic and complex, with aromas of spicy, mocha-accented oak, vivid dark berry and blueberry. Offers firm, integrated tannins and a nice push of flavor on the finish. Drink now through 2022.
Cabernet Franc, a proud parent of Cabernet Sauvignon, is the subtler and more delicate of the Cabernets. Today Cabernet Franc produces outstanding single varietal wines across the wine-producing world. Somm Secret—One of California's best-kept secrets is the Happy Canyon appellation of Santa Barbara. Here Cabernet Franc shines as a single varietal wine or in blends, expressing sumptuous fruit, savory aromas and polished tannins.
Reaching up California's coastline and into its valleys north of San Francisco, the North Coast AVA includes six counties: Marin, Solano, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake. While Napa and Sonoma enjoy most of the glory, the rest produce no shortage of quality wines in an intriguing and diverse range of styles.
Climbing up the state's rugged coastline, the chilly Marin County, just above the City and most of Sonoma County, as well as Mendocino County on the far north end of the North Coast successfully grow cool-climate varieties like Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and in some spots, Riesling. Inland Lake County, on the other hand, is considerably warmer, and Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc produce some impressive wines with affordable price tags.