Loads of fruit, mellow tannins, and complex aromatics make this a go-to red. This wine fills the glass with aromas of dark fruit, pencil shavings, grilled bread and hints of freshly ground white pepper, which are complemented by flavors of black plums, preserves, cranberry and warm Okanagan cherry clafouti that’s been cooked in a cast iron pan.
Vineyard/Winemaking Notes
A blend of Carignane from Hawkeye Ranch in Redwood Valley (39%), Carignane from Casa Roja Vineyard in Contra Costa (21%), Syrah from Ledgewood Vineyard in Suisun Valley (20%), and Zinfandel from Knox Vineyard in Redwood Valley (20%). These vineyards are all dry farmed and sustainable.
Each of these lots was fermented to dryness individually in stainless steel, then drained and pressed and aged in 12% once-used oak and 88% neutral French oak. The wine was racked only once after secondary fermentation was complete in each lot and then the wine was blended and put back to barrel for a total élevage of 10 months.
Redwood Valley, Hawkeye Ranch Carignane: The vines are an 80 years old heritage clonal selection and they are certified CCOF Certified Organic and Fish Friendly. The head-trained and dry-farmed vines have an amazing presence and are very large. This vineyard has warm daytime temps and cool evening giving a large diurnal temperature shift often of 50 degrees. This is one of the key elements that allow the fruit to be balanced and beaming with flavor at lower sugars, this allows me to harvest earlier and retain the lovely natural acidity, vibrant red fruits, and floral notes. The growers are the Johnson family, they are the fifth generation and are true stewards of the land in all that they do.
Contra Costa, Casa Roja Carignane: This is a historic field blended block that I have absolutely fallen head over heals in love with. I work with the entire vineyard and it is the oldest vineyard planted in the area planted in the late 1800s, and while it is over 90% Carignane it also has some Mourvèdre and Malvasia Nero interplanted in the block! This is as classic as it gets in old-world showing up in CA, this site is like walking on a beach as it sits on 100% sandy soils, giving rise to smaller, hardy bush vines. The vines are trained so the fruit is shaded from the wind and sun and the result is the intensity of flavors that opens to black fruits with a soft lushness due to the maturity of the tannins and the intensity of the site.
Suisun Valley, Roger King (Ledgewood Vineyard) Syrah: Roger is an amazing grower and a huge leader in advocating for sustainable practices in Suisun valley, this vineyard is dry-farmed and he is a firm believer in the art of paying attention in the vineyard so if any problems arise they can be treated locally (on a vine by vine base) not just systematically treating an entire vineyard. The flavors are intense and the tannins are lush and complex, the complexity of this Syrah gives a firm foundation to the blend whilst maintaining a softness. I included 33% whole cluster fermentation in this Syrah lot and it was fermented in an open-top fermentor with pigeage by yours truly, this added a complexity that I am really excited about.
Redwood Valley, Knox Vineyard Zinfandel: Knox vineyard sits across the street from Hawkeye Ranch and has been farmed by the Johnson Family for 28 years now. The vines are over 65 years old and they are head-trained and dry-farmed. This vineyard is an old Redwood Valley heritage clonal selection of Zinfandel on St. George rootstock. It is a majestic vineyard surrounded by redwood and oak trees, a classic California heritage site. I included 50% whole cluster fermentation and this Zinfandel was fermented in an open-top fermentor.
Specs
Vintage: 2016
Appellation: 59% Mendocino, 21% Contra Costa, 20% Solano
Vineyards: Hawkeye, Casa Roja Vineyard, Ledgewood and Knox
We have a strong commitment to our environment and believe that sound practices are not only essential for the survival of the wine industry but also produce the highest quality wine. To that end, we’ve searched carefully to find vineyard sites that provide excellent fruit quality accompanied by earnestness on behalf of the grower.
We are extremely proud to have formed long-term collaborative relationships with growers at Hawkeye Ranch, Cerise Vineyard, Capp Inn Ranch, Casa Roja Vineyard, Ledgewood Vineyard, Knox Vineyard, and Babcock Vineyard.
Onward Wines are single-vineyard, site-driven wines and Farmstrong Wines are blended, and in both expressions, the vineyard sites are very special to me. I am a true believer in personal connection and there is a story behind each vineyard site and how it came to be part of my portfolio. In these stories, you will learn more about the people behind these vineyards. I liken my connection to these vineyards to that of one’s favorite shirt or coffee mug or chair. Like a well-worn fabric or a slightly chipped mug that may have initially caught my eye for its beauty, but over the years it has won my heart because it just feels right. When it comes to vineyards this happens too, and it is a combination of my connection with the vines themselves and my connection with those that tend them. For me, the grower’s hands are most definitely part of the terroir.
My style is about letting the vines speak. They are the art, I am the canvas, my job is to give them a chance to share their beauty in each and every vintage. My decisions are driven from the vineyard and the vintage, my cellar practices are to uphold the truths I find in the vineyard. To this end, I pick early looking for a balance of flavors at lower ripeness, as I find this is when each vineyard is in its most unique expression of self.
“I see these vineyards as treasures. As a winemaker, it is my goal to preserve these treasures and share them as wines.” – Faith Armstrong Foster
Farmstrong Field Red 2016
Hi everyone,
As we are staying inside most days now, it was a welcome distraction to try this lovely red wine.
It has a fairly nondescript label, so much so, that you’re not able to tell which grapes are used in the blend. Only the source areas are shown on the back label.
In the glass, the wine was a deep ruby; on the nose, we were getting dark berries – black currant and some minerality/wet stone aromas.
On the palate, it’s a medium bodied, medium dry red wine with low to medium tannins. Spouse thought it was like a good house red. There was a lot of dark fruit (boysenberry/black currant) a bit jammy up front, followed by spice on the finish; cardamom, black pepper.
The wine perfectly complemented the spicy chili we had for dinner; tried it again the next evening with Rigatoni Bolognese. I thought it worked better with the chili.
I’m seeing that the 2015 blend was Carignane and Syrah. I’m seeing now that this is a similar blend, but including Zinfandel – I knew I was tasting that! (I love a good Zin!)
Overall, we really liked this wine; it had a good structure, stands up to spicy food and is a great buy at less than $20.
@kfroehlich Wow, that is an interesting breakdown on the back label. Here are the varietal percentages in a simple format (and I for one need simple these days):
@kfroehlich thank for you review!
I am grateful for your help spreading the word on Farmstrong Red.
I can use all the help I can get right now getting these wines to people to enjoy during this crazy time we are in, all of my restaurant and retail business has ground to a total halt.
And I am trying to homeschool my 4 kids…so ummmm, things are a beyond crazy over here!!
I am grateful for your support. Stay safe and drink well!
Cheers,
Faith
I loved the Grenache Blanc offered previously. I shouldn’t be buying wine right now, but definitely considering. I shouldn’t feel too guilty at the case price…
@CruelMelody I was thinking the same thing! Would you be up for a split? Taking care of that would be considered an essential reason to leave the house, right?
@CruelMelody@LambruscoKid Thanks for ordering! I am so very grateful for your support…I am currently trying to learn how to be a homeschool teacher for my 4 kids, while running my wine brand…and yes, trust me wine is considered essential!!! Stay safe and enjoy the wine, cheers, Faith Armstrong
@FarmstrongWines I feel ya; I’ve got two girls under three, we’re trying to figure out how to keep them busy without daycare while my wife works from home and I attend to grad school work. It’s a weird boat we’re all in, but if it truly helps flatten the curve I guess it’s worth it!
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2016 Farmstrong Field Red Blend - $50 = 27.76%
My household was very pleased to be selected as a labrat on this. Thank you!
I’ve been struggling since we opened this bottle to describe in a way that conveys that we liked this wine because it’s good and solid, but not amazing. It is a good daily drinker to us.
Well balanced and pleasant is the description we kept coming back to.
The color is a lovely ruby. A surprising notation was the legs. The wine when swirled in the glass reminded me of a dessert wine visually.
On the nose, we all described some red fruit but it was not strong. I actually wondered if all three of us were suffering some loss of smell due to allergies or maybe a virus, though there are no other symptoms here.
The mouthfeel on this was nice (husband said it was a bit oily for him, but I didn’t get that). It’s slightly dry in a very pleasant way.
On the palate it was again some red fruit, maybe cherry or current, but not fully distinct to any of us. The finish is slightly tart and here I tasted subtle cranberry.
I saved enough to try a glass the second day it was open and I didn’t care for it the second day. It was a bit sour to me that day. Not enough to put it down the drain, mind you, but it was definitely not benefiting from the extra air and I had only put the cork back in the bottle overnight.
Overall though, I did like this wine. I guessed it would likely retail for $20-$25 and felt it would be an outstanding deal at $10-$15. The wine is subtle. It’s not overly light but it’s also not in your face bold or heavy. I imagine this would be a nice summer wine for people who don’t want to drink white wine.
Dang, so here we are under house arrest and happy as a clam day drinking wine while still sitting in conference calls from home. Then casemates had to surprise us with lab rattage. We still have all our wine deliveries going to my parent’s home since they are usually the ones at home during the day whilst @coffeemate and I are not. So now I had to go find my shoes which I hadn’t worn in days and put on my big boy pants and try to remember how to drive my car to pickup my lab rat bottle. My parents say hi to everyone from a safe 6 feet away.
On to the wine. We were excited to try this out but couldn’t make heads or tails of the blend as others have noted. We didn’t want to cheat right away and google this sucker so we poured in a decanter and dove right in. Right off the bat this was a paler wine than I expected. I guess I was thinking this would be more of a GSM blend or something. I couldn’t get much on the nose but, like others, that could just be my allergies kicking in.
First sip provided a surprisingly light and mellow wine. Muted dark fruits and maybe a hint of sour cherries followed by a splash of pepper. After cheating and googling (waited all of 10 minutes), it made perfect sense that this was Carignane based. After reading the description on the 2015, we tended to agree with most of the descriptors like the pencil shaving but got lost when they mentioned clafouti. By now I was too lazy to google.
By strange coincidence, we paired this with chili relleno and spicy rice. It wasn’t planned, it’s just what we had for dinner. As others have mentioned, this held up pretty decently to spicy food. @coffeemate didn’t necessarily agree with that but your mileage may vary. She described it as a very easy drinking everyday wine that should go well with food.
All in all, a pleasant lighter offering. If you’re into the big wines or like to get your oak on, then this isn’t the wine for you. But if you’re looking for something light to pop and pour, then this might be worth it, especially at the casemates price point.
@javadrinker thank for you review! I am glad you are safe and sound and enjoy some time at home…I am trying to home school my 4 kids while trying to run a wine brand…so ummmm, things are a gong show over here!!
Thanks for helping spread the word on Farmstrong Red. I could use all the help I can get right now getting these wines to people to enjoy during this crazy time we are in, all of my restaurant and retail business has ground to a total halt. I am grateful for your support. Stay safe and drink well!
Cheers,
Faith
I enjoyed the white blend offered just about a year ago to the date, so I’ll grab a case of this.
Edit: there’s not a good a good gifpy for smooth-divine-toffee, so I’ll save everyone’s eyes.
@markgm thank you so much, I am excited for you to try the Farmstrong Red. Enjoy and thanks for the purchase!
Faith Armstrong
Winemaker/Owner
Farmstrong
Hello everyone,
This is Faith Armstrong, the owner and winemaker of Farmstrong Wine. I am here to answer any question you may have about this wine! I apologize for not jumping on this chat sooner…I have been trying all day, in addition to being a business owner I am also a mother of 4 kids and we are on our second week of Shelter in Place here in Napa Valley and…well have become a homeschool teacher of a 2nd, 3rd, 8th and 10 grader’s…ummm…it is a good thing I have a lot of wine on hand!
Lessons are done for today and I am here to share, answer questions, talk about what home cooking goes with this wine…please say hi and let me know if I can help!
Tasting Notes
Vineyard/Winemaking Notes
Specs
Included in the Box
Price Comparison
$336.18 a case for the 2015 Vintage at Onward Wines/ 2016 Vintage not online
About The Winery
Winery:Onward Wines
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Thursday, April 16th - Monday, April 20th
Farmstrong Field Red Blend
4 bottles for $59.99 $15/bottle + $2/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $129.99 $10.83/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2016 Farmstrong Field Red Blend
Farmstrong Field Red 2016
Hi everyone,
As we are staying inside most days now, it was a welcome distraction to try this lovely red wine.
It has a fairly nondescript label, so much so, that you’re not able to tell which grapes are used in the blend. Only the source areas are shown on the back label.
In the glass, the wine was a deep ruby; on the nose, we were getting dark berries – black currant and some minerality/wet stone aromas.
On the palate, it’s a medium bodied, medium dry red wine with low to medium tannins. Spouse thought it was like a good house red. There was a lot of dark fruit (boysenberry/black currant) a bit jammy up front, followed by spice on the finish; cardamom, black pepper.
The wine perfectly complemented the spicy chili we had for dinner; tried it again the next evening with Rigatoni Bolognese. I thought it worked better with the chili.
I’m seeing that the 2015 blend was Carignane and Syrah. I’m seeing now that this is a similar blend, but including Zinfandel – I knew I was tasting that! (I love a good Zin!)
Overall, we really liked this wine; it had a good structure, stands up to spicy food and is a great buy at less than $20.
@kfroehlich Wow, that is an interesting breakdown on the back label. Here are the varietal percentages in a simple format (and I for one need simple these days):
60% Carignane
20% Syrah
20% Zinfandel
Great review - thank you - love your stemware.
@kfroehlich thank for you review!
I am grateful for your help spreading the word on Farmstrong Red.
I can use all the help I can get right now getting these wines to people to enjoy during this crazy time we are in, all of my restaurant and retail business has ground to a total halt.
And I am trying to homeschool my 4 kids…so ummmm, things are a beyond crazy over here!!
I am grateful for your support. Stay safe and drink well!
Cheers,
Faith
@FarmstrongWines Thanks - just wished the winery shipped to IL. I have a friend who’d be interested in getting this deal.
I loved the Grenache Blanc offered previously. I shouldn’t be buying wine right now, but definitely considering. I shouldn’t feel too guilty at the case price…
@CruelMelody I was thinking the same thing! Would you be up for a split? Taking care of that would be considered an essential reason to leave the house, right?
@LambruscoKid yeah I can definitely do 6, and the trip can’t be any more risky than my last venture into Freddie’s. Mind if I order?
@CruelMelody Go for it!
@CruelMelody @LambruscoKid Thanks for ordering! I am so very grateful for your support…I am currently trying to learn how to be a homeschool teacher for my 4 kids, while running my wine brand…and yes, trust me wine is considered essential!!! Stay safe and enjoy the wine, cheers, Faith Armstrong
@FarmstrongWines I feel ya; I’ve got two girls under three, we’re trying to figure out how to keep them busy without daycare while my wife works from home and I attend to grad school work. It’s a weird boat we’re all in, but if it truly helps flatten the curve I guess it’s worth it!
@FarmstrongWines thanks for offering your great wine at this price!
Their Field White Blend offered here on Casemates was yummy! https://casemates.com/forum/topics/farmstrong-field-white-blend
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2016 Farmstrong Field Red Blend - $50 = 27.76%
My household was very pleased to be selected as a labrat on this. Thank you!
I’ve been struggling since we opened this bottle to describe in a way that conveys that we liked this wine because it’s good and solid, but not amazing. It is a good daily drinker to us.
Well balanced and pleasant is the description we kept coming back to.
The color is a lovely ruby. A surprising notation was the legs. The wine when swirled in the glass reminded me of a dessert wine visually.
On the nose, we all described some red fruit but it was not strong. I actually wondered if all three of us were suffering some loss of smell due to allergies or maybe a virus, though there are no other symptoms here.
The mouthfeel on this was nice (husband said it was a bit oily for him, but I didn’t get that). It’s slightly dry in a very pleasant way.
On the palate it was again some red fruit, maybe cherry or current, but not fully distinct to any of us. The finish is slightly tart and here I tasted subtle cranberry.
I saved enough to try a glass the second day it was open and I didn’t care for it the second day. It was a bit sour to me that day. Not enough to put it down the drain, mind you, but it was definitely not benefiting from the extra air and I had only put the cork back in the bottle overnight.
Overall though, I did like this wine. I guessed it would likely retail for $20-$25 and felt it would be an outstanding deal at $10-$15. The wine is subtle. It’s not overly light but it’s also not in your face bold or heavy. I imagine this would be a nice summer wine for people who don’t want to drink white wine.
@airynne “A summer wine” . I like that. Thank you for your nice review.
/giphy knotty-likeable-brandy
/giphy inane-dejected-doll
Dang, so here we are under house arrest and happy as a clam day drinking wine while still sitting in conference calls from home. Then casemates had to surprise us with lab rattage. We still have all our wine deliveries going to my parent’s home since they are usually the ones at home during the day whilst @coffeemate and I are not. So now I had to go find my shoes which I hadn’t worn in days and put on my big boy pants and try to remember how to drive my car to pickup my lab rat bottle. My parents say hi to everyone from a safe 6 feet away.
On to the wine. We were excited to try this out but couldn’t make heads or tails of the blend as others have noted. We didn’t want to cheat right away and google this sucker so we poured in a decanter and dove right in. Right off the bat this was a paler wine than I expected. I guess I was thinking this would be more of a GSM blend or something. I couldn’t get much on the nose but, like others, that could just be my allergies kicking in.
First sip provided a surprisingly light and mellow wine. Muted dark fruits and maybe a hint of sour cherries followed by a splash of pepper. After cheating and googling (waited all of 10 minutes), it made perfect sense that this was Carignane based. After reading the description on the 2015, we tended to agree with most of the descriptors like the pencil shaving but got lost when they mentioned clafouti. By now I was too lazy to google.
By strange coincidence, we paired this with chili relleno and spicy rice. It wasn’t planned, it’s just what we had for dinner. As others have mentioned, this held up pretty decently to spicy food. @coffeemate didn’t necessarily agree with that but your mileage may vary. She described it as a very easy drinking everyday wine that should go well with food.
All in all, a pleasant lighter offering. If you’re into the big wines or like to get your oak on, then this isn’t the wine for you. But if you’re looking for something light to pop and pour, then this might be worth it, especially at the casemates price point.
@javadrinker thank for you review! I am glad you are safe and sound and enjoy some time at home…I am trying to home school my 4 kids while trying to run a wine brand…so ummmm, things are a gong show over here!!
Thanks for helping spread the word on Farmstrong Red. I could use all the help I can get right now getting these wines to people to enjoy during this crazy time we are in, all of my restaurant and retail business has ground to a total halt. I am grateful for your support. Stay safe and drink well!
Cheers,
Faith
I enjoyed the white blend offered just about a year ago to the date, so I’ll grab a case of this.
Edit: there’s not a good a good gifpy for smooth-divine-toffee, so I’ll save everyone’s eyes.
@markgm thank you so much, I am excited for you to try the Farmstrong Red. Enjoy and thanks for the purchase!
Faith Armstrong
Winemaker/Owner
Farmstrong
You all got me at “light summer wine”-and while I am posting I would like to say that UPS has been working out just fine for us-no problems at all.
Hello everyone,
This is Faith Armstrong, the owner and winemaker of Farmstrong Wine. I am here to answer any question you may have about this wine! I apologize for not jumping on this chat sooner…I have been trying all day, in addition to being a business owner I am also a mother of 4 kids and we are on our second week of Shelter in Place here in Napa Valley and…well have become a homeschool teacher of a 2nd, 3rd, 8th and 10 grader’s…ummm…it is a good thing I have a lot of wine on hand!
Lessons are done for today and I am here to share, answer questions, talk about what home cooking goes with this wine…please say hi and let me know if I can help!
/giphy brave-contentious-seat
