It has been several years since I took a good, thorough look (actually taste) through the entire St. Francis line. The winery is located in Sonoma Valley (between the cities of Sonoma and Santa Rosa) in the village of Kenwood.

    Currently, it is directly across the street from Chateau St. Jean, but construction of a new facility a few miles away is the big project of the moment.

    One of St. Francis's major claims to fame (aside from making really good wine) is that it was among the first premium California winery to utilize synthetic corks.

    The reason for this is that natural cork, while it is the time-proven champion bottle sealer, carries the risk of contamination by a chemical compound known as 2,4,6-TCA. It isn't dangerous to humans. It is present in minute quantities in all wood and wood bark (which cork is), but something in the processing of the cork material seems to draw the chemical out, and there's no practical test to detect it.

    Something like three to five percent of all corks are affected, and it doesn't take much TCA to mess up a bottle of wine. Humans can detect it at levels of parts per billion!!! While cork producers are working very hard to reduce the incidence of this problem, even one bottle out of 30-40 being tainted is an intolerable number.

    Folks in the wine trade refer to tainted bottles as being "corked" or "corky." It is a very distinctive smell and taste. If you're wine smells like old, moldy, wet newspapers in your grandmother's earthen root cellar...you've almost certainly got a "corked" bottle.

    While restaurants should allow you to refuse such bottles when they're presented, and most wine merchants and wineries will permit you to return tainted bottles, it is still a bother and embarrassing if it's the only bottle you purchased to use for entertaining at home.

    If you wish to know for sure what cork taint smells like so you'll be equipped to deal with wine stewards and merchants when you happen to be sold such a bottle, The Wine Trader magazine makes available a vial containing a tiny bit of TCA in crystal form suitable for tainting a bottle for educational purposes. It comes with a complete instruction sheet that explains what you need to know about the compound. Send $3 to: Wine Trader, Attn: "Corky," P.O. Box 1598, Carson City, NV 89702.

    Which explains why St. Francis made the switch to synthetic corks, which cannot be affected by TCA. Many other wineries are experimenting with synthetic, but most are sticking with the real thing out of tradition and concern that consumers may be suspicious of the new closures.

    More important than the composition of the closure, of course, is what's inside the bottle:

    St. Francis 1997 "Sonoma Valley Reserve" Chardonnay ($20) Big, ripe, intense, apple and citrus fruit flavors, with rich, buttery reserve style complexities. Surprisingly crisp acidity along with all that richness. Rating: 90/85

    St. Francis 1996 "Sonoma" Merlot" ($20) Very forward aromatics, heavy on the black cherry. More black cherry and some plum in the intensely fruited flavor. Finishes more like a Cabernet than a Merlot with some moderate tannins that should soften in a year or three. Rating: 87/84

    St. Francis 1995 "Sonoma Valley Reserve" Merlot ($30) One hundred percent from estate vineyards. Really ripe, intense flavors of black cherry leading into cassis. Flavor builds from entry all the way through final aftertaste. It also has some tannic structure as part of its backbone. A Merlot that's as cellar-worthy as anything from Pomerol. Rating: 94/84

    St. Francis 1995 "Sonoma Valley Reserve" Cabernet Sauvignon ($30) Big! Big! Big! Ripe blackberry, cassis and black cherry, with a little bittersweet chocolate. It is boldly structured but so well balanced as to be enjoyable with red meats now. This is a wine that will improve in the cellar for 10-20 years. Rating: 93/84

    St. Francis 1996 "Sonoma Valley-Pagani Vineyard Reserve" Zinfandel ($30) Big, concentrated, totally berry fruited red wine, from very old, very low yielding vines. It is said that the local deer get more of the crop than do the vintners. It enters beautifully and feels and tastes great all the way through mid-palate. Alas! The tannins are a bit drying and astringent in the finish. Save $10 a buy the "Old Vines" version. Rating: 85/85

BEST BUY
WHITE WINE OF THE WEEK

    St. Francis 1997 "Sonoma" Chardonnay ($12) Crisp, clean citrus style, with just enough oak to make the apple and melon fruit flavors interesting. Finishes clean and crisp and will match up nicely with grilled swordfish or basic broiled chicken breasts. Rating: 87/90

BEST BUY
RED WINE OF THE WEEK

    St. Francis 1996 "Sonoma Old Vines" Zinfandel ($20) Wonderful! Very ripe, but not overripe, blackberry and plum fruit, with brambley, earthy undertones. Big and bold enough for fans of the Zin monsters, yet friendly and balanced enough to please the claret crowd. Rating: 96/90

    St. Francis wines have broad national distribution, but are more likely to be found at fine wine shops and restaurants than at supermarkets. For help tracking down the more limited reserve wine, contact the winery directly: St. Francis Vineyards, 8450 Sonoma Hwy., Kenwood, CA 95452 (800) 543-7713; E-mail: stfrancis@msn.com

MEAD ON WINE EXTRA

    Terra Del Barolo 1990 "Baudana" Barolo ($40) At nearly 10 years old this brawny big boy is just beginning to come together. Barolos are among the longest lived of the worlds classic red wines. These bold reds from Italy's Piedmont region are produced from the Nebbiolo grape. Complex, earthy plum fruit holds throughout the taste experience. Here's a wine that's boldly astringent, but not offensively so. And there is enough fruit to see it to maturity, which will take at least another decade. Rating: 90/84

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Wines are scored using a unique 100 point system. First number rates quality; second number rates value.