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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 92.4 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 78 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by iamandyc on 6/20/2023 & rated 95 points: This wine has matured wonderfully but still has lots of stuffing to go on for years. Needed about 1-2 hours to fully open up. The fruit is still bursting with flavor and gets enhanced with lots of secondary notes. Fairly well balanced and nice energy on the smooth finish. On the downside, it did start to shut down after about 4 hours. I'd say drink them if you got them. (476 views) | | | Tasted by danielbleier on 5/15/2022 & rated 93 points: Classic California Cab notes, currant, blackberry, tobacco, and herb. Fully mature and ready to drink...side note, had to use a Durand as the cork was soft. The wine itself was well preserved, however. (766 views) | | | Tasted by Quiet Lion on 8/9/2021 & rated 94 points: Decanted 2.5 hours. Super yummy aged Stag's Leap Cab at peak with velvet tannins, mocha, licorice, black and red currants, Italian herbs, dried wildflowers. (1614 views) | | | Tasted by cos65 on 5/28/2020: Served blind
A bit shy at first, but opened up beautifully in the decanter with 45 minutes of air.
Peak drinking now
Ripe but restrained dark fruit, oak well integrated
Quite lovely (1775 views) | | | Tasted by drrobvino on 12/10/2019 & rated 92 points: 3rd of 3 bottles.
Chewy and thick, plenty of glycerin-laden black fruits and spices.
Some espresso grounds, mocha chips, finishing with a little green pepper and more black fruit.
This wine is in a really nice place right now, ready to drink with a short decant. Will likely drink well through 2023+.
Not a rebuy for me at $80 USD. (2001 views) | | | Tasted by iamandyc on 7/10/2019 & rated 96 points: This was clearly a bottle at its peak performance!! Had a great nose, amazingly complex palate and long finish. Richly bodied wine with lots of chocolate, coffee, earth but not heavy or taxing. Nice supporting structure to lengthen and keep the finish lively. It was a head turner! Went amazingly well with coffee marinated tri-tip steak. Wow!! (2064 views) | | | Tasted by wconnolly on 5/29/2018 & rated 92 points: Completely consistent with my previous experience documented here. This wine is in a great place right now. Opens beautifully with a bit of a floral nose. Ripe, bright, red fruit on the palate...strawberry, raspberry, cherry and a bit of cola. A touch of acidity and some gentle tannins add some backbone and complexity. Wish I had more but I don’t think this will be as tasty in another 5 years. Drank with friends at Magnolia’s Restaurant in Charleston accompanying a low country bouillabaisse. (2236 views) | | | Tasted by iamandyc on 12/25/2017 & rated 94 points: Wonderful bottle right from the start. Aging beautifully. Deep, dark, rich body and mouthfeel with good acidity and tannin to balance it out. Pencil lead, some earthiness lurk below the fruit. Nice finish. (2113 views) | | | Tasted by ONEFIVE on 11/26/2017: A bit funky initially.
Whatever that was blew off and let forth a torrent of cherry liquor, licorice, and blackberry.
The acid balances the fruit nicely, so this does NOT come off as a sweet fruit bomb.
Tannins are still there but I’m unsure how this will age beyond the next 10 years. My guess is more tertiary development but it’s pretty damn good right now with some air. (1686 views) | | | Tasted by wconnolly on 11/5/2017 & rated 92 points: Rock Blocks are always fun since they change from year to year. The 2007 is medium garnet in color with a touch of bricking at the rim. The color belies the freshness of this wine. This is a bit more fruit forward than the 2008 with notes of bright red fruit...raspberry, strawberry cherry and cola. Less brooding than the 2008 and a touch less structured. This is right at the apex of its drinking window. (1608 views) | | | Tasted by nm10 on 7/16/2017 & rated 94 points: Dark red and a lovely nose of flowers, smelled like a St. Estephe. Cherry liqueur, cassis, and pencil shavings. 50 second finish. Really nice. (1685 views) | | | Tasted by drrobvino on 4/12/2017 & rated 92 points: This Napa wine weighs in at 15% abv.
The nose shows off black cherry liqueur, raspberry jam, vanillin, and cinnamon.
The palate is certainly full in body, showing off ripe black and red cherry fruit, road asphalt, and a licorice/spice mix.
This wine is drinking beautifully right now, and should continue to do so through 2022+. A bit too ripe for my taste, but hard to push back the glass, nonetheless. (1504 views) | | | Tasted by bmartz1 on 3/23/2017 & rated 85 points: Have to say I was disappointed. No fruit, thin mouthfeel, but also none of the upside from having 10yrs of age. Maybe it's in a dumb period. (1365 views) | | | Tasted by Quiet Lion on 3/7/2017 & rated 93 points: Smooth, easy drinking Stag's Leap fruit from one of the consistently best affordable wineries in Napa. (1442 views) | | | Tasted by DanR on 11/27/2016 & rated 93 points: Super rich and sleek, with rounded corners, smoky oak, and a warm finish. Red currant, wild berry, barrel char, and vanilla on the palate. Tannins are tasty and melted. Medium acidity. Attention grabbing and modern, drinking at its peak. Heat is a bit distracting. Killer match with posole - generous sweet fruit counterbalances the intense, spicy, smoky chili. (1572 views) | | | Tasted by ejca on 6/11/2016: Popped and poured, pretty good wine. (1576 views) | | | Tasted by nm10 on 6/3/2016 & rated 93 points: Lovely wine. Ripe Napa cab with blackberry, anise, and cassis. 45 second finish. Cliff Lede makes wonderful wines in Stags Leap. I have very little concern that this won't still be a very nice wine in five years. (1426 views) | | | Tasted by kennyd on 1/22/2016 & rated 92 points: Spot on! A perfectly aged Stags Leap cab. Full, rich, smooth. All the things you look for. Even then, pouring through a Vinturi actually brought out the bouquet a touch more, and perhaps opened up the flavor some. This was the last bottle in our cellar. If you're cellaring any, I suggest not waiting any longer to drink it. I can't say that it's flattening, but it could quickly go that way. (1642 views) | | | Tasted by kennyd on 10/11/2015 & rated 92 points: Quite nice. Agree with comments of earlier tasters. One note, however, is that I actually think the wine is at risk for flattening off. Indeed, that may already be happening. I'm note going to wait any longer for the last bottle in our cellar. (1815 views) | | | Tasted by drrobvino on 7/20/2015 & rated 93 points: Quite delicious wine that initially had an off-aroma of burnt rubber, but this seemed to blow off 30 mins into the decant.
Enjoyed with steak this evening.
Complex and wild, showing off flavors and aromas of smoky licorice, black cherry, rich cassis, and plum, this full bodied wine was supported with ample med acidity. The tannins did not really emerge until 1 hour opened, and were quite soft and resolving, so I am moving my drinking window from 2022 back to 2020 at the latest. Not an extremely long-lived, structured wine, but pleasurable nonetheless. (1859 views) | | | Tasted by iamandyc on 6/2/2015 & rated 94 points: Took a full 6 hours of decanting for this wine to open up. Generous with dark fruits, earthiness, pencil lead, mocha in a rich package. Nose was somewhat closed. Long finish with fine tannins. Full bodied. Excellent with gorgonzola topped filets. Memorable (1692 views) | | | Tasted by BCharlieG on 8/2/2014 & rated 92 points: A cc from RockinCabs here "blackberry. Smoke, Chocolate and fresh barrel oak. Palate: Viscous and thick cabernet here, very deep black fruit that borders on over-ripe. Deep Cherry and Chocolate here too, and a nice Medicinal note. Finish: Very long and palate staining. Plum, Blueberry, Oak and Spice. Touch more residual sugar than I typically would have expected, but this is a very nice "all out" kind of cab. Reflects the vintage for sure"
Will say, this is one big hedonist wine with more glycerine than we tasted (vertical) on the '06 and the '08. That said, independently, a big hearty wine that has chewy tannins and a solid backbone even if the "sweet" component of the fruit is a little out of balance for the overall structure. Baked plum, baked cherry fruit, herbal with some hot pepper on the nose. Will let these hang a little longer in the cellar (2792 views) | | | Tasted by RockinCabs on 7/28/2014 & rated 91 points: Nose: Prune, Fig, Plum and Blackberry. Smoke, Chocolate and fresh barrel oak. Palate: Viscous and thick cabernet here, very deep black fruit that borders on over-ripe. Deep Cherry and Chocolate here too, and a nice Medicinal note. Finish: Very long and palate staining. Plum, Blueberry, Oak and Spice.
Touch more residual sugar than I typically would have expected, but this is a very nice "all out" kind of cab. Reflects the vintage for sure. (2255 views) | | | Tasted by AdamGoldston on 7/18/2014 & rated 94 points: Great bottle, drank very well with a beef dinner. I wish I had more. Earthy yet with a little spice (if that makes sense). (1808 views) | | | Tasted by GA Old World Guy on 12/28/2013 & rated 93 points: Good wine...not a great wine though. It probably could have used another 5 years of cellar time and it would have helped. Decanted about two hours prior to dinner and still had some tannins on the back end. I would have thought this would have been much better considering the price, but it was still a crowd pleaser. (2349 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| Cliff Lede Producer websiteCabernet SauvignonCabernet Sauvignon is probably the most famous red wine grape variety on Earth. It is rivaled in this regard only by its Bordeaux stablemate Merlot, and its opposite number in Burgundy, Pinot Noir. From its origins in Bordeaux, Cabernet has successfully spread to almost every winegrowing country in the world. It is now the key grape variety in many first-rate New World wine regions, most notably Napa Valley, Coonawarra and Maipo Valley. Wherever they come from, Cabernet Sauvignon wines always seem to demonstrate a handful of common character traits: deep color, good tannin structure, moderate acidity and aromas of blackcurrant, tomato leaf, dark spices and cedarwood.
Used as frequently in blends as in varietal wines, Cabernet Sauvignon has a large number of common blending partners. Apart from the obvious Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the most prevalent of these are Malbec, Petit Verdot and Carmenere (the ingredients of a classic Bordeaux Blend), Shiraz (in Australia's favorite blend) and in Spain and South America, a Cabernet – Tempranillo blend is now commonplace. Even the bold Tannat-based wines of Madiran are now generally softened with Cabernet SauvignonUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Napa Valley Napa Valley Wineries and Wine (Napa Valley Vintners)Stags Leap District Stags Leap District |
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