2014 Cabernet Sauvignon, Moon Mountain District of Sonoma County • St. Francis Winery & Vineyards

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92 Points | The Wine Advocate | March 2016
Gold Medal | Grand Harvest Awards | November 2016
Best of Class | Grand Harvest Awards | November 2016

Tasting Notes

This is an elegantly structured Cabernet with lush flavors of dark fruit and graphite. Soft tannins and notes of spicy oak merge with a touch of cocoa powder on the lengthy finish.

Vintage Notes

Warm sunny days throughout the spring and summer months set the stage for a spectacular harvest in September 2014. The lack of rain meant that harvest began a little earlier than normal and was short in length, finishing up by the end of October. The temperate days leading up to harvest produced good yields of high-quality fruit with concentrated flavors, complex aromatics, and excellent structure.

Vineyard Notes

The fruit for this robust Cabernet Sauvignon comes from one of Sonoma’s newest AVAs – the Moon Mountain District of Sonoma County, a region striking for its high elevation vineyards and rugged, volcanic soil. Rising from 400 to 2200 feet on the western side of the Mayacamas, the Moon Mountain District has thin, fast-draining soil and hot, dry summer days, ideal conditions to grow deeply colored grapes with intense, concentrated flavors.

Winemaker Notes

The grapes underwent a two-day cold soak to extract optimal color and flavor and each individual component was fermented separately to optimize structure and tannin integration. Secondary malolactic fermentation occurred in French oak barrels, 50% new, followed by 20 months of aging before final blending and bottling.