Addendum Stags Leap Cabernet Sauvignon 2017
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
Wine
Enthusiast
Product Details
Winemaker Notes
This district is characterized by gravelly soils over a clay-like substructure along with stronger nightly cooling due to closer proximity to the San Pablo Bay. The resulting wines have been described as "textural hedonism"; wines full of flavor and intensity with a softer, elegant structure. The 2017 Addendum Stags Leap District absolutely delivers.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
One of the standouts, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District has a terrific sense of elegance and purity as well as medium to full-bodied richness, classy black cherry and blackberry fruits, plenty of spice and floral notes, ripe tannins, and a great finish. It's going to drink nicely for 15 years or more.
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Wine Enthusiast
Sizable tannin and oak add to the breadth and intensity of this appellation wine, aged 25 months in 100% French oak, 60% of it new. Currant, clove and toasted notes accent a full-bodied style and weight, with flecks of crushed rock and stone.
Other Vintages
2018-
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Wine
Spectator -
James
Suckling -
Wine &
Spirits
Addendum is a small, hands-on Napa winemaking endeavor from the seasoned Fess Parker family winemaking team. A standalone label, Addendum represents a unique opportunity for this well-established Santa Barbara County winery to make Bordeaux varietal wines, work side-by-side with committed Napa growers, and carry on the tradition of exploration and pioneering adventure embodied by Fess himself.
The Addendum approach to winemaking begins with curiosity and a profound respect for the rhythms of the vineyard. All vineyards chosen for the Addendum portfolio begin with a meticulous consideration of soil. It is the Addendum philosophy that few factors are more important in winemaking than the farming of appropriately matched varieties and soils. Addendum’s exceptional wines are crafted solely from top Napa sites that can reveal distinctive Cabernet characteristics.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
Legend has it that quick and nimble stags would escape the indigenous hunters of southern Napa Valley through the landmark palisades that sit just northeast of the current city of Napa. As a result, the area was given the name, Stags Leap. While its grape-growing history dates back to the mid-1800s, winemaking didn’t really take off until the mid-1970s after a small but pivotal blind tasting called the Judgement of Paris.
When a 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon won first place against its high-profile Bordeaux contenders, like Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Chateau Haut-Brion, international attention to the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley escalated rapidly.
The vineyards in this one-of-a-kind wine growing region receive hot afternoon air reflecting off of its eastern palisade formation. In combination with the cool evening breezes from the San Pablo Bay just south, this becomes an optimal environment for grape growing. While many varieties could thrive here, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot dominate with virtually no others, save for a spot or two of Syrah.
Stags Leap soils—eroded volcanic and old river sediments—encourage well established root systems and result in complex, terroir-driven wines. Stags Leap District reds have a distinct sour cherry and black berry character with baking spice and dried earth aromas, and supple tannins.