Winemaker Notes
Staglin Family Vineyard winemaking is accomplished to create wines of intense fruit character, with soft, supple tannins that allow the wine to be drunk upon release, but have the capacity to age and become extremely complex over time. Their wines have a long finish, and deep color, characteristic of the grapes from the vineyard.
Professional Ratings
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Connoisseurs' Guide
From its wonderfully involving cassis and tea-leaf aromas to its deep, slightly loamy, lavishly fruited flavors, this wonderfully well-filled offering stands at the head of the class in 2000. Convincingly varietal in every way, it shows a plush and supple side to start, but its firm and structured follow-through reminds that this is young Cabernet and that its very best lies some years hence.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A superlative effort for the vintage, the 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon exhibits a deep purple color along with sumptuous aromas of creme de cassis, blackberries, loamy soil, licorice, and high class toasty oak. Medium to full-bodied and opulent, with remarkable texture as well as length for a 2000, it can be drunk now and over the next 12-15 years. Kudos to the Staglins for this effort.
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Wine Spectator
Mature yet complex, with integrated creamy mocha, dried currant, blackberry, mineral and sage flavors. Full-bodied, ending with a roasted coffee note.
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.