Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, and Petit Verdot are all aged two years in French and American oak, then blended to create this rich, Bordeaux-style wine. This wine offers a combination of finesse, complexity, richness, and accessibility. It possesses a saturated ruby color, wild berry flavors that are lively and intense, with a tight focus and a long, complex aftertaste. The wine impresses with its purity of flavors and youthfulness. Shows some tannins on the finish.
Reviews:
- Wine Advocate: The 1995 Cinq Cepages is tasting even better than it was prior to bottling. The wine, which spends 2 years in 50% new oak barrels, is dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon (77%), with the other four varietals making up this blend. This wine offers a combination of finesse, complexity, richness, and accessibility. It possesses a saturated ruby color, and a flamboyant nose of cedar, licorice, tobacco-tinged black currant fruit, and sweet vanillin. Concentrated, full-bodied, and loaded with fruit…
- James Suckling: A bit pungent and earthy in the aroma, but well-structured, with ripe, firm, vibrant black cherry, mineral, red currant and wild berry flavors that are lively and intense, with a tight focus and a long, complex aftertaste. The wine impresses with its purity of flavors and youthfulness. Shows some tannins on the finish.
Producer Information
Chateau St Jean is a major California winery founded in 1973, in Sonoma County. It rose to prominence for a number of single-vineyard wines, beginning with the inaugural 1975 vintage, especially its flagship wine, the Bordeaux-style red blend Cinq Cépages. The eponymous chateau was built in the 1920s by Ernest and Maude Goff, with a number of white grape varieties being grown on the estate. The vines weren’t around long, however, as they were replaced with less controversial crops during Prohibition (1920-1933). When Chateau St Jean was founded the original building was refurbished and listed in the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It now hosts private events and tastings. Chateau St Jean has received critical acclaim throughout its history, especially for its flagship Cinq Cépages. The 1996 Cinq Cépages was named the wine of the year in Wine Spectator’s Top 100 list, and later the 1999 vintage went on to be named number two. The winemaker Margo Van Staaveren was also lauded as winemaker of the year by Wine Enthusiast Magazine in 2008. Van Staaveren began work at Chateau St Jean in 1980, becoming winemaker in 2003. The remaining wine portfolio of Chateau St Jean includes Merlot, Malbec, Pinot Noir and Syrah as well as Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay sourced from numerous dfferent estates from the Sonoma Valley, Alexander Valley and Dry Valley Creek amoungst others. It is categorized into Reserve and and estate collections. In 2021, Chateau St Jean was sold to Foley Family Wines that includes numerous wine estates throughout New Zealand, France and Aregntina within its portfolio.
