Winemaker Notes
Blend: 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Unctuous red with blueberry, blackberry and hints of vanilla on the nose and palate. Full body, very fine tannins and a fresh, clean and beautiful finish. Better in 2018 but already a joy to taste.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
The 2012 Clos Du Val Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is a Napa Valley classic showing bold black fruits, accents of dust, and dried leather. Firm on the palate, this wine would be perfect with a tender fillet mignon. Drinks nicely now. (Tasted: October 3, 2016, San Francisco, CA USA)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The flagship wine that made Clos du Val famous (I especially remember their 1973 and 1974) is the Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District. The 2012 possesses sweet, ripe (but not overripe) blackcurrant and black cherry fruit, dusty, loamy, forest floor notes, medium body, attractive elegance, and a broad, savory mouthfeel. The tannins are present, but well-integrated. This elegant, finesse-styled Cabernet should drink well for 10-15+ years.
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Wine Enthusiast
Dense and briary, with black and red plum notes complemented by a strong sense of clove, this wine is cushioned in tar, oak and cigar box, showing nicely resolved tannins. Blended with 16% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, it is enjoyable now and will cellar well for many years to come.
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.