Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is absolutely pure gold, and the only downside is that there were just 300-500 cases produced. Brilliant, showstopping aromatics of cassis, blueberries, tobacco, iron, cured meats, and camphor just about jump out of the glass, and this beauty hits the palate with full-bodied richness and depth. Deep, layered, seamless, and flawless are all the buzzwords here. Count yourself lucky if you have bottles of this elixir in the cellar.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve (80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot) is off-the-charts, mind-blowing. Absolutely opaque purple color, a stunning nose of lead pencil shavings, spring flowers, blueberry and blackberry liqueur, a full-bodied skyscraper-like textural extravaganza, luxurious ripeness, freshness and fruit. It’s a big wine at 15.4% natural alcohol, but you’d never know that if it weren’t on the label, as everything is beautifully married in one harmonious, glorious wine. The wine has an almost endless finish of 45-50 seconds that just hints at its ultimate potential. If you have discipline, put it away for 3-4 years and watch it unfold and develop for at least two decades.
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.