And now onto the wine! Our first social call on our Edible Skinny Vine to Vino Tour
was to the Sonoma favorite Chateau St. Jean.
ChateauSt. Jean is the quintessential Sonoma winery with its gracious style, elegant
architecture, and inviting gardens.
The winemaking estate is located at the foot of Sugarloaf Ridge in the
Sonoma Valley near Kenwood, California.
Though the chateau was built in 1920, it was only in 1973, when the
winery was established, that the estate began enchanting its visitors.
Constructed
almost a hundred years ago the Chateau was created as a summer home for Ernest
and Maude Goff, and their children.
The family, originally from Saginaw, Michigan, made its fortune in iron
mines there, and in lumber in the Pacific Northwest. The 250 acres of land (now part of Chateau St. Jean
vineyards) were initially planted with white grapes, but Prohibition curtailed alcohol
imbibing and the family opted to grow prunes and walnuts instead.
When
Chateau St. Jean was established in 1973, the decision was made to preserve the
Goff legacy. The Chateau was fully
restored and opened to the public.
It has since been listed in the National Trust for Historic
Preservation.
In
the summer of 2000, Chateau St. Jean winery opened the doors to its new Visitor
Center and gardens. In keeping
with the Chateau architecture and sense of place, the wine tasting and retail
rooms are housed in an elegant garden structure surrounded on three sides by
terraces and outdoor garden spaces.
Inspired by formal estate gardens in Italy and the south of France, it
features colorful shrubs, fragrant citrus, rare palms, and two effervescent fountains.
For our first sips of our Sonoma sojourn, Edible
Skinny was able to experience the lusciousness of Chateau St Jean's Reserve
tasting room.
One of the first wines we tasted was Kelly’s Top
Pick, their 2010 Reserve Chardonnay Sonoma County ($50). This wine was Kelly’s definition of a
perfect Chardonnay: one that dances with butter and cream. With aromas of warm lemon cream pie and
toasted hazelnuts and a palate of lemon, browned butter, and baking spice it
was the poster child of malolactic fermentation.
One of the first shining stars of their red
tastings was their 2011 Sonoma County Pinot Noir ($65), which was a cheerful
combo of cherry (very cherry!) and chocolate crush. But my absolute favorite from the Chateau St. Jean Reserve
tasting was their 2010 Cinq Cépages ($75).
In 1999, Chateau St. Jean was the first Sonoma
winery to be awarded the prestigious "Wine of the Year" award from
the Wine Spectator Magazine for its 1996 Cinq Cépages Cabernet Sauvignon, a
Bordeaux-style blend of "five varieties," (which includes (for those
who don’t know it off the top of their head): Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot,
Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot, and Malbec). Already considered the winery’s Flagship Wine, Chateau St.
Jean then received even higher acclaim when it received the "#2 Wine of
the Year" from Wine Spectator for its 1999 Cinq Cépages Cabernet
Sauvignon.
Every year head winemaker, Margo Van Staaveren (who has been at
the winery for 30 plus years) must decide whether the Merlot or Cabernet
Sauvignon grape varietal will be at the forefront of this bottle. As winemaker, she makes the final
decisions involving flavor fusing and style to produce a wine that is blended
to be completely distinct from year to year.
The 2010 Cinq Cépages wine received a 92 Points from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and you
can taste why! The wine is ruby
red in the glass and with a single sip you are swirled into a world of
blackberry, blueberry, plum, and pomegranate. This well-balanced and yet complex
wine has smooth, silky tannins that offer solid structure but in no way overwhelm
the mouth. The post swallow result
can’t but help blossom into a smile!
It was the perfect start of a beautiful romance
with Edible Skinny and world of Sonoma wines!
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