Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/637107
{ SOMMjournal.com } 33 Wine fashions come and go, but Franciscan Estate has been blending for balance long before we went in pursuit of it. Their winemaking team pioneered Meritage reds in the mid-1980s with Magnificat and crafts all their wines from separately vinified, single-vineyard-block lots. Their newest white, Equilibrium, shows off their blending skills in a distinctly modern context—an off-dry wine designed for the global flavors of contemporary menus. Equilibrium has been a runaway hit since it debuted with the 2012 vintage, supported by restaurant chefs who work with Asian flavors and spice. Bright, silky and aromatic, it offers a graceful and fun pairing for the foods we eat today. Equilibrium evolved from a tasting-room-only wine called Fountain Court, which Franciscan created in 2006. Fountain Court was 75% high-acid Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Muscat, and was unabashedly on the sweeter side—but guests loved it. Franciscan's sales team did, too, and soon started clamoring for a drier version they could offer to the grow - ing number of restaurants seeking crisp, aromatic whites to pair with heat. Franciscan's Director of Winemaking, Janet Myers, collaborated with Franciscan's sales team to create Fountain Court 2.0, with the same lime and grapefruit backbone but moderated sweet - ness. After multiple blending trials, she zeroed in on the right level of Muscat—what she describes as "a little kiss" of lively lychee, stone fruit and jasmine—but realized the wine needed more body to ground it. Her solution: a touch of neutral barrel-fermented Chardonnay. That final bit of roundness and depth brings the wine into bal - ance, uniting the zesty citrus and delicate floral aromatics in a creamy mid-palate. The name suits it perfectly. Unlike most white blends, Equilibrium is made from fruit dedi- cated to its production—not single-varietal leftovers. The 2014 vintage is 72% Sauvignon Blanc from Yountville, Rutherford and Pope Valley, 17% Chardonnay from Carneros and southern Napa Valley and 11% Muscat from Stags Leap District. Production has grown from under 5,000 cases in 2012, to nearly 12,000 cases for the 2014 vintage, which retails for $23. Franciscan's 160 fermenting tanks allow the winery to sepa - rately vinify every vineyard block, giving each lot the time it needs to develop without holding up production. As a result, even Franciscan's single-varietal wines are blends. Their new 2013 Reserve Merlot, releasing spring 2016, combines Franciscan's best Merlot lots—melding Oak Knoll's power and intensity with Carneros's fine-grained tannins and blueberry fruit. Franciscan's flagship Meritage blend, Magnificat, was created in 1985 and continues to exemplify the winery's blending sensibilities. Magnificat was named for J. S. Bach's five-part choral composition— a tribute to harmony and the blending of voices. Myers begins by balancing Cabernet Sauvignon's structure and aromatics with Merlot's fruit and mouthfeel, then blends in the other Bordelais varietals as needed to round out the chords. Each vintage requires its own unique tuning to achieve harmonious balance. The 2012 Magnificat is 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 3% Malbec, 3% Petit Verdot, and 2% Cabernet Franc—a rich, full experience of dark fruit, cassis, tobacco and herbs, seamlessly layered on well- integrated tannins and retails for $55. With Franciscan's white wines, Myers and her team build com - plexity and balance by blending yeast strains during fermentation. Because each strain liberates distinctive "flavor precursors" from the juice, a winemaker can guide and deepen aromatic development through artful yeast selection. Myers selects strains for Sauvignon Blanc that excel at bringing out lime, grapefruit and citrus aromas in Napa Valley fruit, but for her Chardonnay, Myers relies heavily on the indigenous yeasts that populate Franciscan's vineyards. Many different strains of wild yeasts live naturally on the vines, each of which begins fermenting sugar at a different degree of Brix, and stops fermenting at a certain alcohol level. When left alone in the juice, the yeasts first divide and reproduce themselves to a threshold population size, then the different strains take turns fermenting as the juice passes through each strain's optimal level of sugar and alcohol. This staggers the fermentation and creates nuanced layers of aromatic compounds and textures. Because this natural process takes about twice as long as commercial yeasts, wild-fermented wines are more vulnerable to bacterial growth and spoilage. Vigilant monitoring of every barrel is essential. Myers believes the extra effort associated with indigenous yeast fermentation is well worth it for Chardonnay, with its delicate aromatics and strong affinity for yeasty aromas. Franciscan's Cuvée Sauvage Chardonnay was Napa Valley's first barrel-fermented Chardonnay made entirely from wild yeasts, and it has garnered acclaim every year since 1987. The current 2013 vintage (SRP $40) shows lovely depth and expression with creamy layers of spice, lemon and minerality complementing a baked apple and pear core. At Franciscan, finding the perfect balance is an ongoing chal - lenge. "We don't do things the hard way just because it sounds cool," says Myers. "We do things in a more difficult way because it makes a difference."