Winemaker Notes
Bursting with ripe red and black cherry and berry fruit, dark chocolate and tobacco leaf. Touches of smoke, brown sugar, clove and dark fruit hint at the complexity that proper aging will bring. The palate lives up to the promise of the nose with loads of sweet cassis, black cherry and berry flavors. Well-integrated tannins are firm but silky, balancing the weight of the rich fruit perfectly for a velvety, full-bodied wine that drinks beautifully now and can be kept 10 - 12 years.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District exhibits a dense ruby/purple color along with a beautiful nose of sweet red and black fruits as well as subtle background oak and underbrush. Medium to full-bodied, stylish, and graceful with a delicate integration of wood, tannin, and alcohol, this finesse-styled red possesses both substance and length.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
6% Petit Verdot; 5% Merlot. Ripe cherries and dark chocolate abound in its rich aromas, and, if a bit colored by the trappings of ripeness, the wine is keenly focused on fruit and never loses its varietal way. It is moderately full-bodied, slightly fleshy in feel and firmed by fairly mannerly tannins, and its happy marriage of structure and polish is, in our eyes, the defining hallmark of the Stags Leap appellation.
Founded in 1978, Pine Ridge Vineyards sits in the heart of the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley, tucked beneath of ridge of pines that speak to the dramatic geologic origins of our home and unique soils. For over 40 years the winery has become a pioneer farming and vinifying Bordeaux grapes with a focus on Cabernet Sauvignon. Today, Pine Ridge Vineyards farms a collection of 160 acres of Napa Green sustainably certified estate vineyards across Oakville, Rutherford, Howell Mountain and Carneros, including 47 acres in the Stags Leap District.
The winery’s Chenin Blanc + Viognier bottling started out as an experimental blend over twenty-five years ago and is now one of the most beloved and highly acclaimed white wines available. Original and unique, this fresh white wine blend is crafted to be fresh, fruity and easy to pair and enjoy. The wine has also inspired a Pine Ridge Sparkling wine also made with Chenin Blanc and a splash of Viognier.
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.