Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is a big and luscious red but shows style and tension. Full body, polished and silky tannins. Very long finish of tar, blackberry and crushed stone. Very tannic. Give it a year or two to soften. Better in 2018.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon M5 Stagecoach Vineyard is a big, hulking, masculine style of Cabernet Sauvignon with loads of volcanic earthiness and minerality. It’s powerful, rich, tannic, concentrated and impressive. This wine, made from 99% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Malbec, spent 24 months in 100% new oak. For those with patience wanting a big, backstrapping, pedal-to-the-metal style of Cabernet, forget it for 4-5 years and drink over the following 2-3 decades.
Rating: 94+
One of the most prestigious wines of the world capable of great power and grace, Napa Valley Cabernet is a leading force in the world of fine, famous, collectible red wine. Today the Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon are so intrinsically linked that it is difficult to discuss one without the other. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that this marriage came to light; sudden international recognition rained upon Napa with the victory of the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1976 Judgement of Paris.
Cabernet Sauvignon undoubtedly dominates Napa Valley today, covering half of the land under vine, commanding the highest prices per ton and earning the most critical acclaim. Cabernet Sauvignon’s structure, acidity, capacity to thrive in multiple environs and ability to express nuances of vintage make it perfect for Napa Valley where incredible soil and geographical diversity are found and the climate is perfect for grape growing. Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that express specific characteristics based on situation, slope and soil—as a perfect example, Rutherford’s famous dust or Stags Leap District's tart cherry flavors.