Wine & Spirits - December 2020 - 67

YEAR'S BEST US CABERNETS & BLENDS
entered into luscious maturity, the flavors
a gentle caress of tart cherry and bruised
strawberry. The red fruit follows an elegant
line, mouthwatering in its earth tones and
lasting with that vibrant fruit. Focusing on
mountain and hillside vineyards, longtime
winemaker Rob Davis made this vintage with
Maggie Kruse, who has taken charge since
2019. - J.G. §

brings to mind roses, both in their perfume
and in the greenness of their stems, that floral scent infusing the light chocolate notes in
the tannins. Pour it with roast quail. - J.G. §

521510

89 | St. Francis

521514

91 | Ferrari-Carano

$50

2016 Sonoma County Trésor (Best Buy) ^
A blend of five Bordeaux varieties, focused
on cabernet sauvignon (71 percent), this is
a silken-textured red with tart edges of persimmon to its black-currant flavor. The oak
aging adds dark-chocolate scents and notes
of candied walnuts while the wine retains
some floral freshness. For prime rib. - J.G. §
521637

90 | Chateau St. Jean

$22

2017 Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon
(Best Buy) ^ Clean and fresh, this tastes like
currants growing at the forest edge. It's
herbal side contrasts warm, burly tannins. A
simple take on cabernet, one taster said, "It's
a value-priced wine that's worth it." - J.G. §

ALEXANDER VALLEY

521687

92 | Legacy

$90

2016 Sonoma County Cinq Cépages ^ Five
Bordeaux varieties contribute to this blend.
The varied ripeness of the components gives
a range of fresh woodland scents, bell pepper
and some stewed fruit. Overall, the wine feels
cool, with lasting umami richness to the tannins. For a steak bathed in a wild-mushroom
sauce. - J.G. §

521520

93 | Ferrari-Carano

$90

2016 Alexander Valley PreVail Back Forty
Cabernet Sauvignon ^ Rebecka Deike makes
this wine from a small-berried clone of
cabernet growing on a hill above Alexander
Valley. In 2016, its scents of lavender and
ripe black-currant flavors combine with
voluptuous chocolate-rich tannins to last in
a long chord, elegant and satisfying. - J.G. §

521512

89 | B.R. Cohn

$29

2017 Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon (Best Buy) ^ Focused and fresh, this
wine's cassis notes are targeted at roast duck.
There's some flamed-orange-zest volatility,
the finish crisp and light. - J.G. §

$100

2015 Alexander Valley Red Wine ^ Graham
Weerts makes the Legacy wines at the Field
Stone Vineyard, a property acquired by the
Jackson family in 2016. He includes fruit from
that vineyard as well as the family's Jimtown
and Alexander Mountain properties, focusing this blend on cabernet sauvignon (74
percent), along with small amounts of four
other Bordelais varieties. Fermented in small
French oak uprights and aged in French oak
barrels (60 percent new), the wine is generous in its tannins, showing notes of lanolin,
black mushroom and full-on chocolate richness. Everyone on the panel went immediately to an herb-roasted leg of lamb. - J.G. §
521685

92 | Reynoso

$60

2016 Alexander Valley Reserve Cabernet
Sauvignon ^ Joe Reynoso, son of a migrant
worker in California's Central Valley, grew
up in Chicago, where he traded on the Mercantile Exchange. In 1994, he purchased a
550-acre estate in Cloverdale, now planted
to 155 acres of vines. The family uses a small
amount of the fruit they grow to produce
their own wines. This 2016 is a fragrant
young cabernet, easy, open and lush. It has
depth and contours, from the high-toned
green-peppercorn spice down to the woodsy
mushroom scents of the tannins. It tastes like
a food, nourishing and digestible. - J.G. §

521688

93 | Jordan

$199/1.5L

2014 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ^ A late release in magnum, this has
WINE & SPIRITS

DECEMBER 2020

https://www.stfranciswinery.com/collection/wines https://www.ferrari-carano.com/our-wines/ https://www.legacywines.com/wines https://www.ferrari-carano.com/our-wines/ https://www.brcohn.com/2017-sonoma-series-cabernet-sauvignon https://www.jordanwinery.com/wines/alexander-valley-cabernet-sauvignon

Wine & Spirits - December 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - December 2020