Winemaker Notes
Pair with: aged blue cheese, braised or grilled beef, and roast pork with fruit.
Blend: 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Malbec, and 3% Petit Verdot.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon is a youngster. Dense purple in color, with ripe, concentrated fruit, a big, spicy mouthfeel, but still in need of another 3-4 years of cellaring, there are lavish quantities of cassis fruit, the wood is well-integrated, and the wine full-bodied and very promising. I can’t think of a better generic Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon St. Francis has ever made. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2030.
-
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
The 2013 St. Francis Cabernet Sauvignon over-delivers for the money. Showing an excellent array of flavors—black fruit, licorice, dried leaves, earth, and sweet oak—this wine stays long and rewarding on the palate. Drinks well now with grilled short ribs of beef. (Tasted: November 3, 2016, San Francisco, CA)
While Sonoma County is acclaimed—and rightfully so—for its Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, and Zinfandels, it also produces exceptional Cabernet Sauvignon. Of the region’s 18 American Viticultural Areas, only a handful produce top-notch Cabernet Sauvignon. These appellations include Alexander Valley, Knights Valley, Sonoma Valley and Dry Creek Valley. Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignons made in these appellations can offer a complex array of aromas and flavors. Fruit notes such as blackberry, blackcurrant, cassis, black cherry and raspberry often are accompanied by hints of graphite, dusty earth, cigar box, toast and vanilla. The varietal has a rich history in Sonoma, and some of these Cabernet Sauvignons and Cabernet-based blends rival the best from Napa Valley.