Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
A very great Napa Cabernet by any standard. Defines the modern style of soft richness, with lavish flavors of blackberry tart, crème de cassis, blueberry, dark chocolate and the richest, sweetest toasty oak you can imagine. It's soft and ripe enough to drink now, yet shows a subtle structure that suggests aging for a decade. Possesses the extreme complexity and finesse that mark the greatest wines.
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Wine Spectator
Tightly wound, yet rich and generous, offering a mix of power and finesse, driven by a thick, mouthcoating core of blackberry, wild berry, black licorice, mineral, floral and spicy notes that are long and persistent. Best from 2012 through 2023.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A wine that remains somewhat closed and austere is the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Stagecoach Vineyard. Performing better than it did last year, it needs 5-6 years of bottle age, and should keep for 25-30 years. Its dense purple color is followed by notes of wet stones, smoked herbs, black currants, and ink. Deep, rich, backward, and ageworthy, it should be forgotten for a few years, and drunk over the following three decades.
92+ points.
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.