Stag's Leap Wine Cellars KARIA Chardonnay 2018

  • 91 Wine
    Enthusiast
  • 91 Wine &
    Spirits
  • 91 Robert
    Parker
  • 90 Decanter
  • 90 James
    Suckling
  • 90 Jeb
    Dunnuck
4.3 Very Good (63)
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Stag's Leap Wine Cellars KARIA Chardonnay 2018 Front Bottle Shot
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars KARIA Chardonnay 2018 Front Bottle Shot Stag's Leap Wine Cellars KARIA Chardonnay 2018  Front Label

Product Details


Varietal

Region

Producer

Vintage
2018

Size
750ML

ABV
14.5%

Your Rating

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Somm Note

Winemaker Notes

This is a graceful Chardonnay with generous aromas of Asian pear, honeydew melon and lime along with a touch of hazelnut and vanilla oak. Medium-bodied, the wine has a silky texture and mid palate leading to a soft finish with a touch of creamy oak.

Try pairing this Chardonnay with grilled chicken with lemon aioli, grilled salmon with a cucumber, tomato and fresh dill salsa or roast chicken breast stuffed with spinach and feta cheese.

Professional Ratings

  • 91
    This is an opulent, structured and mineral-driven white wine, richly layered and robustly built with weight and ample body. Brioche, honeycomb and baked apple meet a complement of fresh acidity and a lasting note of stone.
  • 91

    Clean and brisk, this takes creamy Napa Valley ripeness and adds a smoky, raw-almond depth of flavor. Pour it with mackerel pâté.

  • 91

    The 2018 Chardonnay Karia rolls effortlessly out of the glass with exuberant scents of honey-drizzled apricots, fresh melon and mandarin peel with hints of lemon drops and marzipan. The medium to full-bodied palate is chock-full of stone fruit and savory layers, delivering a lively backbone and a spicy kick to the finish.

  • 90
    Ripe yellow fruits and toasty, nutty, oak-driven aromas from fermentation and eight months’ ageing mainly in 30% new barriques with a small portion in stainless steel. The palate is thick and forward thanks to 89% malolactic fermentation, with subtle acidity propping up the finish. From grapes sourced from across Napa Valley, including Atlas Peak, Oak Knoll, Carneros and Coombsville. Drinking Window 2020 - 2026
  • 90

    Ripe-apple, papaya and toasted-hazelnut aromas. It’s full-bodied and phenolic with crisp acidity. Toasty finish. Drink now.

  • 90

    The 2018 Chardonnay Karia comes from a selection from throughout the valley and offers a light gold color as well as a rich, well oaked, buttery style that includes attractive orchard fruits, white flowers, vanilla, and spice-driven aromas and flavors. It has good acidity as well and is balanced and medium-bodied, all making for a certainly delicious Chardonnay geared for near-term drinking.

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  • 93 Wine
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Stag's Leap Wine Cellars

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars

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Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, California
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Winery Video

Considered one of the "first growths" of Napa Valley, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars produces renowned Cabernet Sauvignon from its historic Stags Leap District estate vineyards. Learn about Stags Leap history and estate-grown wines.


History of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars was founded in 1970 with the purchase of a 40 acre property in the now famed Stag’s Leap District AVA in Napa Valley. The winery brought international recognition to California winemaking and the Napa Valley region when their 1973 S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon won the 1976 Paris Tasting, also known as the "Judgement of Paris."


Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Estate-Grown Cabernet Sauvignon

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars' three estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignons - CASK 23, S.L.V. and Fay - are among the most highly regarded and collected Cabernet Sauvignons worldwide. The Cabernet wines are fashioned to express richness balanced by elegant restraint, an approach often described as "an iron fist in a velvet glove."

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One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.

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One of the world's most highly regarded regions for wine production as well as tourism, the Napa Valley was responsible for bringing worldwide recognition to California winemaking. In the 1960s, a few key wine families settled the area and hedged their bets on the valley's world-class winemaking potential—and they were right.

The Napa wine industry really took off in the 1980s, when producers scooped up vineyard lands and planted vines throughout the county. A number of wineries emerged, and today Napa is home to hundreds of producers ranging from boutique to corporate. Cabernet Sauvignon is definitely the grape of choice here, with many winemakers also focusing on Bordeaux blends. White wines from Napa Valley are usually Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that claim specific wine characteristics based on situation, slope and soil. Farthest south and coolest from the influence of the San Pablo Bay is Carneros, followed by Coombsville to its northeast and then Yountville, Oakville and Rutherford. Above those are the warm St. Helena and the valley's newest and hottest AVA, Calistoga. These areas follow the valley floor and are known generally for creating rich, dense, complex and smooth red wines with good aging potential. The mountain sub appellations, nestled on the slopes overlooking the valley AVAs, include Stags Leap District, Atlas Peak, Chiles Valley (farther east), Howell Mountain, Mt. Veeder, Spring Mountain District and Diamond Mountain District. Napa Valley wines from the mountain regions are often more structured and firm, benefiting from a lot of time in the bottle to evolve and soften.

SWS974089_2018 Item# 639349

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