Tuesday, December 15, 2009

St. Francis Winery 2004 Red (California)

God how I hate the plastic cork. I know you have probably heard me say it a million times and I'll say it a million more until we eradicate this blight on the wine world. Go screwcap, pick better grade cork, go for agglomerates if you must, but please ditch the plastic cork. Tonight I opened a bottle of St. Francis Red (2004), a blend of Merlot, Cabernets Sauv and Franc along with some Zinfandel. Now usually I can blame myself a little for the degradation of the wine, I hold onto it and have no idea there is a plastic cork underneath the capsule (neck sheath). But this one I bought just a few months ago, so it's not like I held this for too long. Now, at first the nose had wonderful red fruit aromas, most prominent was a spiced-strawberry, that lured you into the glass very invitingly. The taste seemed funny at first swig (and second) so I dumped out the first glass and tried again. There is was again, it's a touch plastic-y and a bit oxidized with a slightly bitter/plastic finish. Mid palate there is red fruit, pepper and some spiciness, but not enough to make you forget the beginning or the end of this wine. And yes, there was a black plastic cork sealing the bottle.

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