St. Francis Winery

St. Francis Winery has 600 acres under vine in Sonoma County, and winemaker Tom Mackey (who has pushed the boundaries of new oak in American wine as much or more than anyone else) culls fruit from top parcels for the winery’s new “Wild Oak” label. One tie is that all the vineyards have oak trees next to or among the vines. Another tie is Mackey’s winemaking. It’s interventionist, full-tile winemaking which some may oppose on principle. I sometimes oppose it based on the amount of oak I smell and taste, but not this time.

The fruit, which came mostly from Carneros and Russian River Valley, emphasizes fresh green apples, some cinnamon honey, and orchard breeze in the aromas -- intriguing if a bit shy. The wine is not close to shy in your mouth, opening up immediately with abundant, vivid, and varietally accurate Chardonnay flavors. Just as impressive is the wine’s body: deceptively supple, like a slender swimmer with a powerful stroke. The wine finishes with that cinnamon honey again – sweet, faintly mysterious and lifting, like morning fog as it dissolves from the vines up into the oak branches.

Reviewed July 9, 2007 by Thom Elkjer.