Winemaker Notes
This is a classic Merlot with rich, deep color and expressive flavors. Medium-to-full bodied, the wine shows off multilayered aromas and flavors of plum, dried currant, peppercorn, and savory spices before a long, silky finish.
Excellent with beef, duck and blue cheese.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: How often do I find a top Merlot under $20? Rarely if ever, fortunately, the 2015 St. Francis is in the marketplace. TASTING NOTES: This wine is beautifully balanced and has the right stuff. Its aromas and flavors of ripe, black fruit, an accent of oak, a suggestion of leather should pair it deliciously with a pan-seared, citrus-marinated skirt steak. (Tasted: November 19, 2018, San Francisco, CA)
With generous fruit and supple tannins, Merlot is made in a range of styles from everyday-drinking to world-renowned and age-worthy. Merlot is the dominant variety in the wines from Bordeaux’s Right Bank regions of St. Emilion and Pomerol, where it is often blended with Cabernet Franc to spectacular result. Merlot also frequently shines on its own, particularly in California’s Napa Valley. Somm Secret—As much as Miles derided the variety in the 2004 film, Sideways, his prized 1961 Château Cheval Blanc is actually a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
Perhaps the most historically significant appellation in Sonoma County, the Sonoma Valley is home to both Buena Vista winery, California's oldest commercial winery, and Gundlach Bundschu winery, California's oldest family-run winery.
It is also one of the more geologically and climactically diverse districts. The valley includes and overlaps four distinct Sonoma County sub-appellations, including Carneros, Moon Mountain District, Sonoma Mountain and Bennett Valley. With mountains, benchlands, plains, abundant sunshine and the cooling effects of the nearby Pacific, this appellation can successfully produce a wide range of grape varieties. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gewürztraminer, and most notably, Zinfandel all thrive here. Ancient Zinfandel vines over 100 years old produce small crops of concentrated, spicy fruit, which in turn make some of the Valley's most unique wines. These can also be made as “field blends” (wines made from a mix of grape varieties grown in the same vineyard) along with Petite Sirah, Carignan and Alicante Bouschet.