Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Tomahawk Vineyard offers a darker fruited, meaty, masculine and mineral-driven style. Coming from a site in Stags Leap, and aged in 80% new French oak, it's medium to full-bodied and nicely textured on the palate, with solid balance, good ripeness, lots of tannins, and a good finish. Forget bottles for 4-5 years and enjoy over the following two decades.
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Vinous
The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Tomahawk Vineyard is explosive in the glass. Inky dark fruit, chocolate, new leather, licorice, chocolate and incense are amplified to the maximum in this decidedly full-throttle, dense Cabernet Sauvignon.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Tomahawk Vineyard comes from the southern end of their property and consistently produces one of the more powerful and concentrated wines, even though it never loses its Stags Leap personality. The 2014 exhibits an opaque ruby/purple color, a much more muscular style than its predecessors, with loads of tannin, concentrated fruit, plenty of minerality and depth. This is a proposition for patient collectors who are willing to wait 3-4 years and drink it over the following 25. Nevertheless, it is impressive – but patience is a virtue.
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Wine Enthusiast
Shy at first on the nose, this youthful beauty is defined by richness and robust body, the tannins firm and well-integrated. Woody and herbal, it shows classic varietal character, with currant and clove flavors and an Old World flair of dusty chalk and chocolate notes. It's persistent, pleasant and complex.
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.