Winemaker Notes
Blend: 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, 3% Malbec
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Brooding aromas of blackberry compote, licorice, cedar and graphite. The palate is full-bodied with fine tannins and balanced acidity, giving notes of olive tapenade, mocha, blood plums and blueberries. Very well balanced and poised, with a powerful undertone. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Odette's 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate boasts gorgeous aromas of ripe cherries alongside hints of vanilla and stone fruit. Full-bodied, it's silky, ripe and generous in the mouth, with a long, mouthwatering finish. Really harmonious and elegant, it's classic Stags Leap District, despite the torrid early September heat.
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Wine Spectator
Shows some punch, with a juicy edge to its core of dark plum, blackberry and açaí berry. Licorice snap and apple wood notes also offer drive through the finish, with the fruit keeping pace (a rarity in this vintage).Tasted three times, with consistent notes.
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.