2015 Farmstrong Field Red 750 ml

Old-Vine Red Good Enough to Snub a Heralded Wine List

We were sitting at Minimo, a new wine bar 20 minutes from Chez Panisse, when we first tasted Faith Armstrong Foster’s 2015 Farmstrong Field Red — a juicy and plush blend of ancient vine Carignane, Zinfandel and Syrah drawn from three grower sites all meticulously dry-farmed in Northern California. The wine’s juicy red strawberry, blackberry, rose petal, and garrigue notes were so vibrant and energetic, we could envision it coming from the greatest crus of the Southern Rhône. We were so impressed by it, we did the unthinkable and brought a bottle to Alice Waters’ Berkeley hotspot, paid the $35 corkage, and polished if off along with a grass-fed beef loin smothered in herb-butter. We adore this wine and consider it our greatest old-vine red blend find so far this year. At $25.99 per bottle, first hit “Buy,” then read about how this partially whole-cluster-fermented, neutral-oak-aged red — from a former Frank Family winemaker — drove us to snub the wine list at Chez Panisse.

These days, California red blends are made with the same passion as the blockbuster Bordeaux and Rhône blends of France’s eponymous regions. But in California, winemakers aren’t under the same strict appellation laws that govern the rules of European blends. And some California producers even treat their red blends like French royalty, crafting them to a First Growth winemaking script, even if that bottle comes in an under-$30 package — like Faith’s stunning 2015 Farmstrong Field Red. Coming from Faith it maybe be no surprise when you consider that she spent three years making wine at Frank Family Vineyards, helping turn out Parker 90- to 95+point stunners before striking out on her own in 2009.

Worth the price of admission for the aromatics alone, this blockbuster red is masterfully blended from four exceptional sites. Hawkeye Ranch in Mendocino County is home to 80-year-old heritage clones of head-trained Carignane bush-vines planted on St. George rootstock; their yields are minuscule, producing tiny, compact berries bursting with complex flavors and natural vibrant acids. Across the street is Knox Vineyard, farmed by the same family, boasting 65-year-old head-trained, dry-farmed Zinfandel vines also on St. George rootstocks, and these supply balanced red-berry flavors.

But the real stars of the show are the 120+year-old Carignane vines from Casa Roja Vineyard in Contra Costa rooted in Delhi sands. Wine Access clients are familiar with the unique old vines of Contra Costa thanks to Matt Cline of Three Wine Company, and all the work he’s done advocating to keep these vineyards out of developers’ hands and away from the bulldozers. They bring a mountain of dark-berry flavors and the kind of unparalleled structure only possible from vines so old.

Lastly, a Syrah clone from the famed Durell Vineyard in Sonoma made its way to Ledgewood Vineyard in the Suisun Valley, southeast of Atlas Peak, where cool breezes from San Pablo Bay usher in Syrah grapes that provide firm tannic backbone and lush flavors.  

We were so taken by the charming Faith, who led a tasting of her wines at Minimo Wine Shop in Oakland, CA, this past October, and her Farmstrong Field Red, that after gushing about its terrific  balance and purity of flavors, we did the unthinkable and took a bottle to Chez Panisse that very night. We told the server it was our first time bringing a bottle, and offered a taste. Now, we’re offering you a taste of our best new discovery and we hope you enjoy this 2015 Farmstrong Field Red as much as we do.

Vanessa Conlin