Culinary Philosophy
St. Francis Wine Educational Stories:
Roll out the Barrel, final
verse
“The art of the barrel is what we
will focus on in this article. We
have discussed how barrels influence and change the wines stored
in them. But I don’t want to overlook the barrel
itself. It is really a work of art.” Read
entire article>>
Roll out the
Barrel, second
verse
“This month we look at what is extracted from the barrel. Modern
research methods have identified well over 70 volatile compounds
that can be extracted from oak into wine as the wine is aging in
barrels. Using a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer, it is
possible to isolate these compounds. It is, however, much more
difficult to understand what is going on in barrel extraction, much
less control it.” Read
entire article>>
Roll out the Barrel, first
verse
“I am often asked where all of the various aromas and flavors
come from in wine. The wine tasting sheet for the St.
Francis 2002 Sonoma County Merlot reads: “red plum, cherries,
nutmeg, vanilla, lively acidity…” Do we “put” those
flavors in?”
Read entire article>>
Kings
Ridge Vineyard
“I had heard many stories about the St. Francis Kings Ridge Cabernet
Sauvignon. It was this wine that brought me to St. Francis
Winery, first as a Patrons Wine Club Member and now as an employee. I
had a chance to sit down with Ron Sikorski, the owner of Big Oak
Ranch (where our Kings Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon grapes come from)
to set the record straight.” Read
entire article>>
Rockpile Red Wine
“What is “Rockpile”?
- a specific AVA (American Viticulture Area) within Sonoma County;
- the name of a vineyard owned by Rod and Cathy Park;
- the name of a red wine made by St. Francis Winery and Vineyards;
- all of the above.”
Read entire article>>
2002 St. Francis Port
“Here is a bit of background on Port. Port is a fortified, sweet
wine. We say fortified we mean that there is an increased alcohol
content (usually 18% - 21%) achieved by the addition of neutral
grape spirits or brandy of approximately 75% alcohol (150 proof).
This brandy is added at a critical stage during fermentation.”
Read
entire article>>
Petite Sirah
“Petite Sirah = Durif = …say what??” Read
entire article>>
Mourvèdre
“Okay, what to call this grape? Mourvèdre (also
called monastrell or bobal or esparte in
Spain where it originated) is a very important grape varietal
in Spain where it is second only to Grenache (garnacha) in total
acres planted. Over 250,000 acres of mourvèdre is
planted in Spain compared to the 560 acres planted in California
and 14,000 planted in France. ” Read entire
article>>
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