St. Francis Winery Food & Wine Pairing
St. Francis is a Certified Sustainable, family-owned winery that has been making wine in Sonoma County for over 40 years. St Francis winery is in a beautiful setting and they are dedicated to preserving the environment using solar energy and environmentally sound business practices including water conservation, recycling and use of eco-friendly packaging to preserve and protect Sonoma Valley.
Last week I was invited to St. Francis Winery to see the harvest in process, taste their wines and to sample some of the food & wine pairings St. Francis Winery is known for.
The current wine makers Katie Madigan and Chris Louton make luscious, elegant, fruit-driven wines highlighting Sonoma County grapes. The grapes are farmed on Certified Sustainable estate vineyards in Sonoma Valley and Russian River Valley with loam, clay and volcanic soil.
I was fortunate to witness the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon crush firsthand. Winemaker Chris Louton explained that the grapes that had been picked a few hours earlier were whole berry clusters that are sorted by hand and ironically not crushed but instead pumped into tanks with little disturbance for fermentation. This better preserves their natural flavors.
At St. Francis winery they understand that wine and food are meant to be enjoyed together and so as a visitor to St. Francis you can choose to do a regular wine tasting for $10 or enjoy a wine tasting with a cheese & charcuterie plate for $30
Another option is a 5 course food & wine pairing prepared by Chef Bryan Jones for $50. This experience requires a reservation and takes around an hour and a half. The menu changes based on the season and what’s available in the garden. I was able to try the first course, an heirloom tomato salad with feta and compressed watermelon and the last course which was a dessert of fig mousse in filo dough.
Regardless of which option you choose, at St. Francis they do a great job of making a visit to their winery an enjoyable and memorable experience for all of the senses. From the glorious setting, to the hourly chime of the 1,000-pound bronze bell from Marinelli Foundry in Italy in their lovely bell tower to their delicious wines and amazing food & wine pairings which include fruits vegetables and herbs grown in a garden on the property St. Francis Winery is definitely worth a visit!
Each month at St. Francis Winery they also invite a local food purveyor from Sonoma to come share and pair their food with St Francis wine in something they call Tastemakers, a complimentary food and wine pairing. Last week while I was at the winery Sonoma Meat Company had flavorful handmade sausages made and paired with St Francis Zinfandel that were delicious. In addition, several times a year St. Francis Winery hosts special dinners including a Crab Dinner a Bacon Dinner and a Dinner under the stars with food and wine pairings specially created by their onsite chef. I personally am looking forward to trying the bacon dinner!
If you have not yet been, I highly recommend a visit to St. Francis Winery. The wines are delicious, the setting beautiful and the food and wine pairings are top notch and definitely worth a try! For more information on the winery and to make reservations for the food and wine pairing and learn about special events goto www.stfranciswinery.com
Tags: Chris Louton, Kaite Madigan, Sonoma, Sonoma Meat Company, St Francis Winey, Winery
