Winemaker Notes
Deep red with purple hue. This Cabernet is abundant with aromas of black cherry, mocha, with subtle hints of mint and floral. This Cabernet is graceful and elegant with black cherry flavors on the entry. On the palate, this wine is luscious in the midpalate, while the tannin structure and finish are supple and round.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Winemaker and general manager Elizabeth Vianna first began working at Chimney Rock as a harvest intern in 1999, and has served as president of the Stags Leap District Winegrowers Association. Here she's crafted an elegant expression of the AVA, with plenty of power and drive. Lifted aromas of bright red and black berry, graphite and a sweet minty herbaceousness continue on the palate, alongside sandalwood, lavender and cassis.
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James Suckling
A creamy, succulent red with aromas of mulberries, raspberries, walnut cream and sweet spices. Full-bodied with firm, velvety tannins. Plush, flavorful finish. Delicious already but better after 2023.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District shows the complex, perfumed, elegant style of this appellation nicely, with plenty of red and black fruits, notes of tobacco, chalky minerality, and spice, medium to full body, ripe tannins, and outstanding length.
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Wine Enthusiast
Supple, layered and brooding in rich red fruit, this wine is lush and energetic in its youth. Toasted oak adds notes of baking spice and vanilla to the grand, decadent style.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Chimney Rock's 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District is a blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Merlot, with 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc. Aged 18 months in 50% new French oak, the wood is relatively restrained here, adding just hints of cedar and vanilla to the raspberry, cassis and cherry aromas. Medium to full-bodied, supple and silky, this is a fun, easy-to-drink Cabernet for drinking over the next decade.
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.