Winemaker Notes
The 2020 FAY Cabernet Sauvignon delivers complex aromas of blue fruit, licorice, cherry and floral spice. The palate is loaded with fresh fruit flavors and has a savory and creamy mid-palate.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of crushed blackcurrants and cocoa-dusted black cherries with purple flowers and chocolate undertones. Full body. Broad and opulent with compact, plush and well-integrated tannins. Attractive succulence and finesse with a firm, lingering finish and notes of bitter spices and violets to close.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Fay Vineyard features lovely cherry fruit, interwoven with strands of dried herbs, hints of black cherries and a touch of vanilla. It's medium to full-bodied, round and generous yet focused, showing typical Cabernet restraint and structure, then finishing with gentle, silky tannins and a big, highly enjoyable whack of cassis.
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Wine Enthusiast
This perfumed and perfectly balanced wine brings a little restraint to the table. Raspberry, blackberry and mint flavors are braced in a lively way by good fruit acidity and moderate tannins for a slight grip in the texture. The wine will be easily paired with savory, meaty dishes and worth cellaring. Best from 2025–2035.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Fay comes from a single vineyard in the Stags Leap District and is based on 98% Cabernet Sauvignon with 2% Cabernet Franc. Beautiful creme de cassis, spring flowers, violets, and chalky mineral notes emerge on the nose, and it's medium to full-bodied, with beautifully integrated background oak, ripe tannins, and a great finish.
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Wine Spectator
Packs a core of boysenberry and plum puree notes, coated with melted licorice and backed by sweet toast on the finish. Offers a fine-grained feel, with a subtle tug of earth at the end. Drink now through 2035.
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."
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.