Sodaro Estate Winery
2008 Felicity Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc
California: Coombsville (Napa)
Mission Briefing
Final Final
Today marks the long awaited return of Sodaro Estate. This time around, with a very exclusive and limited allocation of their unreleased 2008 Cabernet Franc. When Agent Red found out that there were only a handful of cases of this wine available in the winery’s private library, he rushed to secure every last case for our Franc-loving operatives.
Today’s 2008 Sodaro Estates Cabernet Franc is an extraordinary wine. With layers of lush aromatics this wine had our entire tasting panel inhaling the wine for ages before ever even tasting the wine. Flavors, which are absolutely delicious, are bold but perfectly balanced.
There is very little of this wine available, relative to the demand that we anticipate, so please rush to secure your bottles of this very highly recommended wine.
Tasting Profile
| Look: | Beautiful deep magenta hues transition to a wide band of pure ruby at the edge. |
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| Smell: | Lush notes of chocolate covered cherry and blueberry, briar patch, sweet tobacco, black tea leaf, and hard leather. |
| Taste: | Velvety soft mouth feel ushers in flavors of blackberry juice, black cherry, dark baker’s chocolate, dried Virginia tobacco leaf, and subtle brown spice. |
| Finish: | Velvet-smooth and ultra long, with lingering fruit flavors that gradually give way to sweet tobacco, spice and a hint of black pepper at the tail end. |
| Pairing: | Our agents paired this Cabernet Franc with a juicy New York strip steak with a side of bacon-loaded mashed potatoes. Vegetarians may enjoy artichokes stuffed with breadcrumbs, aged gouda, lemon, and black pepper. |
What the Winery Says
- Climate
- Sodaro Estate Winery is situated within the Coombsville AVA which is recognized for having a climate that is more moderate than other parts of the Napa Valley. The San Pablo Bay influences temperatures in Coombsville by minimizing the extremes of heat and cold, thus extending the growing season and increasing the potential for flavor and color maturation.
- Soil
- Bale Clay, Forward Gravelly, and Sobrante Loam
- Vinification
- All Sodaro Estate wines are crafted by Bill and Dawnine Dyer from our own estate grown fruit. Aged in 100% French Oak, this wine is a single vineyard 100% Cabernet Franc.
- Vintage Details
- The 2008 growing season was marked by dramatic variances in weather conditions. Periods of thick frost in the Spring lead to extraordinary heat spikes in the late Summer, with low overall rain totals throughout the maturation period. These challenging conditions handed to us by Mother Nature gave us a harvest half the size of 2007’s total yield, yet produced fruit with fine balance, great concentrations of flavor, and fragrant aromatic qualities, resulting in a spectacular outcome and a truly epic 2008 vintage.
- Tasting Notes
- Our 2008 Sodaro Felicity Cabernet Franc projects deep, limpid hues of brilliant garnet and ruby. This marvelous wine delights with aromas of bright cherry, sweet red pepper and ripe green olive. Our lively and exuberant 2008 Cabernet Franc is medium bodied offering smooth tannins that provide structure and a satisfying finish.
- Alcohol
- 13.8%
About the Winery
Evolution—the exact word that describes our efforts at Sodaro Estate Winery and that of 13,000 of the finest vines planted in one of the best wine growing soils and climates in the world. As you can see by the dictionary definition, evolution is a gradual process. This is particularly true in wine making; a process that takes years.
Winemakers Bill and Dawnine Dyer
Bill and Dawnine’s unique perspective and knowledge of wine derives from decades of winemaking, both in the prestigious Napa Valley and around the world. Together they represent more than 80 years of experience in the wine industry. Between the two, they hold degrees in Philosophy, Biology, and Enology.
Dawnine and Bill were instrumental in the construction of Sodaro Estate Winery and have been the winemakers since its inception.
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Bill Dyer was born in Berkeley, CA and holds a degree in Philosophy from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a Master’s degree in Enology from University of California at Davis. He spent 20 years, from 1976 to 1996, with Sterling Vineyards, starting as Cellarmaster and became Winemaker in 1985. Recognizing the importance of the vineyards, he was responsible for developing their single-vineyard wines, including a Cabernet from Diamond Mountain that garnered a great deal of attention and praise in the early 1980s.
Since 1996, Bill has brought his considerable talents to consulting. Miramar Torres Estate in the Russian River Valley, Sodaro Winery, Spring Mountain Winery and Frogs’ Leap Winery in Napa Valley, as well as Church & State Winery and Burrowing Owl Vineyards in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley all have benefited from his insight and experience.
Recently he has worked with the Marimar Estate in Sonoma’s Russian River Valley, where he helped select and develop a Pinot Noir vineyard in Freestone.
Bill has served on the Board of Directors of Napa Valley Wine Technical Group, which provides an open forum for Napa Valley winemakers to share technical information. He has also been a board member of the Napa Valley Wine Library, an organization formed by James Beard and MFK Fisher in 1963.
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Dawnine Dyer spent her early years as winemaker at Domaine Chandon. A staunch Californian, and always a fan of the bubbly, her tenure at Chandon was marked by the introduction of many original sparkling wines and wine styles, taking the best of both a rich tradition and a promising appellation. Charged with monitoring quality control, she was paired with a French winemaking team from Domaine Chandon’s parent company, Moet & Chandon, which included veteran enologist and winemaker, Edmond Maudiere, who became her mentor.
Over the course of her 25-year tenure at Domaine Chandon, Dawnine rose up through the ranks at Domaine Chandon, ultimately becoming vice president and principal winemaker.
Dawnine has served as President of the Napa Valley Vintners Association, president of Napa Valley Wine Technical Group and was a member of the founding board of Women for WineSense, a national 12-chapter association founded in 1990. Through her work with the NVV, she has become a recognized voice for the importance of Geographic Indications and Appellations of Origin to the Napa Valley and has been invited to speak on the issue in Geneva, Switzerland, Beijing, China, Lima, Peru, and Bordeaux, France.
She lectures for the annual Wine Industry Executive program at the University of California at Davis Graduate School of Business and also sits on the board of directors for Frog’s Leap Winery.
Vineyard Notes
Coombsville is one of the most temperate of the Napa Valley appellations. Grapes mature slowly and ripen evenly during the long growing season. The resulting flavors are bright with brilliant acids, soft but significant tannins, excellent structure and mouthfeel, and a foundation of earth and mineral flavors.
The vineyards consist of roughly 9.5 acres and are planted with slightly more than 13,000 vines of the Bordeaux varietals; Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. Each of the five varietals have different requirements and are fussy about where they will thrive, but it was essential in Sodaro’s plans that these classic varieties be represented in the flavor palette available to the winemaker.
The vineyard also has several microclimates. Low lying areas will be several degrees cooler than the tops of the hills. The soil on the hillsides is different than on the flat land having eroded, over the eons, to the flatter areas. The topography is varied with north, south and west facing hillsides as well as several acres of flat land each of which present different exposures.
Sustainable Farming Practices
The viticultural philosophy is that of sustainable framing practices that emphasize soil health over chemicals.
The Coombsville Appellation soil is very acidic and low in organic materials. Before the vineyard was planted, soil tests revealed where and what amendments would be necessary. Ongoing applications of compost, beneficial microbes and a cover-crop regimen are designed to improve the quality of the soil and keep it healthy and productive in the long term.