Winemaker Notes
The Investor is a red wine that beautifully blends together the unique flavors and expressions of Merlot, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec, resulting in a powerful, yet approachable assemblage with significant fruit presence. The Merlot contributes fresh red berry aromatics and a soft, velvety texture to balance the power of Petite Sirah, which adds concentration, tannins, spice and blueberry flavors. The Cabernet Sauvignon further increases the final blend’s complexity and depth and the Malbec’s incredibly vibrant floral aromatics heighten the blend’s freshness.
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
Dark ruby color; smooth, juicy, and ripe with rich spice and velvety texture. 42% Merlot, 30% Petite Sirah, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 9% Malbec aged in oak (American and French) for 18 months.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Proprietary Red The Investor is blended of 42% Merlot, 30% Petite Sirah, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Malbec aged 18 months in about 30% new oak. Very deep garnet-purple in color, it reveals freshly crushed black and red currants, black cherries and unsmoked cigars with hints of violets, chocolate box and cedar. Full-bodied and packed with vibrant black fruit layers, it has a firm, very fine-grained frame and finishes long and spicy. 10,000 cases produced.
A fashionable country resort in the mid-twentieth century, popular with Hollywood due to its 1892 stone Manor House and historic gardens, legends of bootleggers and gangsters, ghosts and gypsies, Stags' Leap has been home to three major family groups up through the modern revitalization of the winery that began in the 1970s.
Stags Leap Manor, as it was called in the 1920s, was known as one of the prominent country retreats in the Napa Valley at a time when resort and spa business was big. In addition to lodging and dining, amenities included lawn tennis, swimming, horseback riding, children's activities, golf, music, cards, a library, and Napa Valley wines and liquors (prior to and after Prohibition).
An intimate valley within the greater Napa Valley, Stags Leap is a place of natural beauty, storied buildings and gardens, a lively history, and a reputation for elegant wines showing finesse and intensity.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.