Winemaker Notes
The 2021 Fay Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon offers fragrant and generous aromas with notes of boysenberry, Bing cherries, strawberry preserves, a touch of spice, cookie dough, and subtle floral notes. This wine exhibits a youthful, vibrant mouthfeel with a savory coating and lasting finish. Tannins are silky and persistent with lasting berry notes.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Fay Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon has always been on my short list of top wines made in the world. The 2021, from an outstanding growing season, is one of the winery's best! This wine excels with aromas and flavors of bright fruit, aromas of blackberries and hints of earth and oaky notes. Invite your wine buds, add a prime rib, and enjoy. (Tasted: March 2, 2025, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Enthusiast
Savory, generous and impressive, this icon of a wine from the famed Fay vineyard flows through the mouth with flavors of cedar, sage and thyme. Richly flavored, concentrated and mouthwatering, this is a wine to savor. An impressive balance of succulent tannins and juicy acidity bring energy and great length.
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James Suckling
This is tight, concentrated and youthful, harnessing power in a polished package. It goes deep in black fruit, espresso beans and 90% cacao flavors. Intricately woven with fine-grained tannins and a full body for a focused, linear expression that will carry it for decades to come.
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Decanter
The 2021 Fay is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged 21 months, in 100% new French oak. It is a glass-staining ruby-purple. It has explosive aromatics of violets, earth, sweet cedar, black olive, espresso bean, black licorice, and dried fennel. It is full-bodied with gritty, granular tannins. The plush black and blue fruit character is laced with brown baking spices and marjoram. A chalky mineral intensity builds in this powerful wine, which boasts plenty of intrigue and the refreshing, savory qualities of the 2021 vintage.
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Wine Spectator
Rich and caressing, with a lovely gilding of violet to its core of anise, boysenberry, blackberry and mulberry notes. The long, polished finish shows a suave kiss of toast. This gorgeous red is aimed at the hedonist crowd.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Fay Vineyard boasts oodles of red-berried fruit accented by complex herbal nuances. The redcurrant and cherry notes lead into a medium to full-bodied palate that's silky in texture, framed by fine-grained tannins and finishing long and elegantly.
Considered one of the "first growths" of Napa Valley, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars produces renowned Cabernet Sauvignon from its historic Stags Leap District estate vineyards. Learn about Stags Leap history and estate-grown wines.
History of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars was founded in 1970 with the purchase of a 40 acre property in the now famed Stag’s Leap District AVA in Napa Valley. The winery brought international recognition to California winemaking and the Napa Valley region when their 1973 S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon won the 1976 Paris Tasting, also known as the "Judgement of Paris."
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Estate-Grown Cabernet Sauvignon
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars' three estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignons - CASK 23, S.L.V. and Fay - are among the most highly regarded and collected Cabernet Sauvignons worldwide. The Cabernet wines are fashioned to express richness balanced by elegant restraint, an approach often described as "an iron fist in a velvet glove."
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.