St. Francis’ heritage in Sonoma County dates back to its roots as a premium grape grower in the early 1970s. Over the last 35 years, we have carefully studied Sonoma County terroir and developed an intimate relationship with its’ multiplicity of microclimates, soil types, and ripening patterns – the very elements that make Sonoma viticulture unique. The ongoing evolution of this education and knowledge is the foundation for the next chapter in St. Francis’ story: Wild Oak.
With access to the finest fruit from our unmatched portfolio of acclaimed, fully mature vineyards, and the best grower fruit in the most sought after AVAs, we have seized an opportunity to encapsulate our years of experience and create a living legend that pays tribute to the longevity and tradition of winemaking in Sonoma County. For centuries, the Heritage Oaks of Sonoma County have dotted our vine-clad hills and river terraces as living monuments to the natural history and civilized traditions of a superb winegrowing region. Wild Oak wines represent a tapestry of sensational vineyard sites in Sonoma County and express the heritage embodied in these majestic trees.
A CALIFORNIA ICON
The crown of a majestic oak silhouetted against the Pacific sky simply says: California. From the verdant canyons and coastal rainforest to the craggy peaks and dry interior valleys, the oak is the heart and soul of virtually every landscape in the Golden State.
Sonoma County is the center of northern California’s wild oak country. And that’s no coincidence. Viticulturists have long observed that wine grapes give their clearest expressions where the ancient oaks thrive (as in Burgundy and Bordeaux). Indeed, the oak is practically synonymous with Sonoma County wine.
For example, Valley Oaks and Interior Live Oaks like dry, steady heat, the same conditions that produce ripe, full-bodied wines with rich flavor and soft tannins. Coast Live Oaks and Black Oaks, which prefer cooler nights and moister air, signal the potential for racier, more intense wines with lively acidity and firm tannins.
THE WILD OAK VINEYARDS
With 600 acres of estate vines and more than three dozen growers supplying fruit to St. Francis, winemaster Tom Mackey chooses the finest Sonoma County grapes from his premier vineyards for Wild Oak wines. While the St. Francis premier vineyards are situated throughout Sonoma County’s diverse terrains, they all have one thing in common: each is bordered by oaks, and most are dominated by at least one magnificent old Valley Oak, Black Oak, or Coast Live Oak. The Wild Oak wines are blended from these vineyards, layering the distinctive aromas, flavors, and textures imparted by each location’s unique terroir.
Limiting crop levels to maximize flavor is a key factor in the Wild Oak character. All of St. Francis’ premier vineyards are cultivated for small crops (averaging about 3 tons per acre) and uniform ripening, using labor-intensive practices such as vertical shoot positioning, leaf pulling on the morning-sun side of the vines, rigorous crop thinning, and deficit irrigation to maximize each vine’s potential. Bordeaux varieties are grown exclusively on steep, well-drained hillsides, and blocks of different soil types are picked and vinified separately.
St. Francis’ premier vineyards are located throughout Sonoma County’s outstanding AVAs: Sonoma Valley, Carneros-Sonoma, Alexander Valley, Russian River Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma Coast, and Rockpile. Although any of the vineyards may contribute fruit to the Wild Oak wines in a given vintage, several core vineyards reliably provide pillars of the blend every year.
Wild Oak Vineyard (Sonoma Valley AVA) is the St. Francis home vineyard in the heart of Sonoma Valley’s “Merlot Zone.” This perfectly balanced climate zone has also proven to be a sweet spot for Syrah. Wild Oak’s rocky, well-drained soil is planted with 45 acres of merlot and 50 of Syrah, along with ten acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and a few acres each of Petit Verdot and Malbec.
Behler Vineyard (Sonoma Valley AVA) is another St. Francis estate vineyard, also located in Sonoma Valley’s Merlot Zone. It also happens to be a superb site for Chardonnay. Its 88 acres of deep gravelly-clay loam are planted to 66 acres of Merlot and 22 of the rare, highly aromatic See’s Clone of Chardonnay.
Nuns Canyon Vineyard (Sonoma Valley AVA) is the St. Francis mountain estate vineyard, consisting of 124 acres perched on a ridge of the Mayacamas Range high above Sonoma Valley. Its high altitude (1,700 above sea level), lean volcanic soil, and southwestern exposure combine to produce small crops of intensely-flavored, structured Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, and Syrah.
McCoy Vineyard (Sonoma Valley AVA) sits on the western flank of the Mayacamas Range (1,200 feet above sea level). The southwest-facing hillside of volcanic clay loam produces firm, vibrant Bordeaux varieties—primarily Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc, along with Petit Verdot and Malbec.
Pagani Ranch (Sonoma Valley AVA) is home to some of the oldest Zinfandel vines in Sonoma County, planted over 125 years ago and still producing small clusters of astonishingly flavorful grapes. The 55-acre vineyard, on deep gravelly loam in the heart of Sonoma Valley, also includes several blocks of old Alicante and Mourvèdre vines.
Rockpile Vineyard (Rockpile AVA) is owned by former University of California Vice-Chancellor Rod Parks and his wife, Cathy. Vineyard workers enjoy spectacular views of Lake Sonoma beyond the mixed oak-redwood forest surrounding the vineyard. The vines here enjoy long, moderately-hot days above the fog that blankets the Russian River Valley far below. Those long days, moderate nights, and a distinctive red volcanic soil yield full-flavored Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Petit Verdot, and Zinfandel with generous aromas and chewy tannins.
Lagomarsino Vineyard (Russian River Valley AVA) is a hillside estate planting in the warm northeast corner of the Russian River Valley. The exceptional block, on steep ground at the top of the vineyard (1,500 feet above sea level) features Cabernet Sauvignon clone 337, which yields full-bodied wine with deep color.
Tom Feeney Vineyard (Russian River Valley AVA) is another treasure house of weathered old Zinfandel vines combined with some of the area’s oldest Chardonnay, and newer plantings of selected Syrah clones. The fog-cooled climate and sandy, well-drained alluvial soil on this slightly uplifted portion of the ancient Russian River floodplain produce wines with extraordinary color, intensity, and vibrant acidity.
Big Oak Ranch (Sonoma Coast AVA) basks above the Russian River Valley’s marine fog on King’s Ridge (2,500 feet above sea level), just one ridge inland from the Pacific. The 12-acre sloping bowl of uplifted marine sediment is planted exclusively to Cabernet Sauvignon Clone 7—a perfect match of variety and location—which yields succulent, structured, deeply-colored wine.
Yamakawa Vineyard (Carneros-Sonoma AVA) is on the west side of Carneros, where chilly afternoon breezes slow the ripening process to allow full-flavor development with mouthwatering acidity. It is a superb source of the aromatic Old Wente Clone Chardonnay.
Send These Grapes to Tom
“Over the years we’ve identified the best vineyards, our “premier” sites, and even the best parts of those vineyards,” notes Tom. “During the harvest we know when the potential ‘super lots’ come in. The crew says ‘Send these grapes to Tom,’ and they come directly to me at our specialty winery.”
Tom’s Winery (as it’s known to the cellar staff) is a state-of-the-art, artisan-scale facility within St. Francis Winery. Superbly equipped to handle small lots of fruit in a gentle, non-interventionist winemaking style, it is dedicated to Wild Oak and the St. Francis Wine Club--limited bottlings of superb wine made from the very best grapes available.
The focused selection process, which begins in the vineyard, continues in the winery. Tom and his team grade each lot and track it through fermentation and aging, finally choosing the best of the best for Wild Oak—only a small percentage of the available super lots.
The grapes are visually inspected before going to the crush pad, and any bunches deemed less than perfect are culled out. From there, each lot receives specialized treatment that respects the vineyard location, clone, soil type, and resulting characteristics, such as ripeness, tannin, acidity, and color.
Wild Oak Chardonnay grapes are picked before sunrise so they arrive at the winery chilled. The whole clusters go directly to the Bucher membrane press. After a gentle squeeze and 48-hour cold-settling period the juice is racked to another tank for inocculation, and then into French oak barrels (one-third new) for a slow fermentation at 55°F. Tom uses up to half a dozen different yeasts, each enhancing the complex impressions of fragrance, texture, and flavor in its own way. As primary fermentation winds down, all barrels are inocculated with one or two malolactic strains to round and soften the wine. Each barrel is hand-stirred twice a week for the first four months—in traditional batonnage style—to gain creaminess and complexity from the lees. The wine then rests on its lees for another three months before final barrel selection is made.
Red grapes are also treated gently. After initial inspection they are destemmed, and the lightly crushed must (including unbroken grapes) is pumped into small (8-12 ton) bins for fermentation. During fermentation the juice is pumped back over the skins three times a day with an aerating Venturi irrigator to keep the must oxygen-rich. Each vat is also racked and returned at least once for full oxygenation.
In rare vintages such as 2005, when nature provides the mixed blessing of a larger crop with less intense character, Tom may apply the practice of saigne, removing about ten percent of the fermented juice to further concentrate color and flavor.
At dryness the must is gently squeezed so only the free-run juice goes into barrels. Occasionally, a judicious touch of the more tannic press fraction is added back to Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot to enhance structure. Two-thirds of the Zinfandel goes into new American oak barrels, which lend the spice and vanilla that complement old-vine Zin so well. The Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah are aged in 100 percent French oak.
A SIP OF TRADITION
Wild Oak varietals are crafted from terroirs that are graced with the presence of wild oak trees. Like a fine wine, each oak has an architecture and attitude all its own, a unique statement of how the tree has been shaped over centuries by the climate, soil, and weather in that particular place. Such a tree is the very picture of how a Wild Oak wine from the vines surrounding the oak will express the unique nature of Sonoma County in the glass, vintage after vintage.
From the vineyard to the table, Wild Oak wines are made with fine dining in mind: noble cuvees that complement great cuisine while adding their own delicious elegance to the occasion. Wild Oak wines offer immediate and lasting pleasure that becomes more complex and beautiful as they age.
