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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 89.3 pts. and median of 90 pts. in 268 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Red White on 12/31/2023 & rated 96 points: Absolutely amazing wine quite drinkable now I wouldn’t wait any longer to drink it. I literally can’t think would be beneficial, but hey, it’s a pier (273 views) | | | Tasted by Nekodab on 7/27/2023 & rated 98 points: Super smooth, very underrated, all the checks in the boxes (548 views) | | | Tasted by Josch48 on 3/6/2023 & rated 92 points: Dark, opaque black cherry color, deceptively indicative of generous extraction. The nose initially presents with slightly dusty sweet blue and black fruit, pencil box and cedar, complementary additive aromas of plum, raisin, and prune, along with vanilla and caramel tinged Medjool date.
The mouthfeel has a surprisingly medium light viscosity, with vestigial tannins and a still bright acidity supporting delicately dry blue fruit flavors, held in a lightly concentrated suspension, reminiscent of an older, (perhaps on its graceful evolutionary descension), second growth Margaux, say Pavillon Rouge.
This wine, which is 92% Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, and 8% Merlot (41% estate grown), is very French to my palate, and not at all what I expected from a Napa Valley producer, in the present day wine making style, even in what may be seen by some as one of the weaker Napa Valley vintages.
The deliciously elegant wine curiously takes me back to the 1980 and 1990 decades of Cabernet Sauvignon I enjoyed, which were produced by the undisputed master of Napa Valley winemaking, Robert Mondavi, who made California/French style, low alcohol (13.8% for this wine), beauties, long before the introduction of his collaborative Opus offerings.
These impressions have been given without having the benefit of food, and I highly anticipate the wine’s showing with hanger steak my wife has prepared in the oven.
With dinner the wine’s fruit is more forward with the supporting structure enmeshed with the food, for an even more smooth and silky mouthfeel, reminiscent of the Robert Mondavi reserve Cabernet Sauvignon style, that, like so many early Napa treasures, are sadly fast approaching extinction in favor of the ever increasing, economically unapproachable, high alcohol, port like, and unidimensional Napa Valley offerings of today.
When did this winemaking trend, generally speaking, of jammy over elegant complexity begin happening? Luckily, I am still able to find graceful red wines from Alexander Valley, and Howell Mountain producers.
I would appreciate any thoughts, insights, and suggestions along these lines.
All things considered, wine makes life exceedingly good. (911 views) | | | Tasted by Druvhöken on 9/5/2022 & rated 85 points: Svarta vinbär och kaffe, syltigt mycket frukt med lite mynta.
Fylligt Bra syra tanniner med mycket frukt.
Tråkigt slut, inte någon höjdare. (1193 views) | | | Tasted by muulva@live.com on 2/20/2022 & rated 92 points: The wine looks tawny colored. The legs are medium. There is light sediment in the bottle. It smells like cedar, bark, prune, forest floor and vanilla. It tastes like cedar, forest floor, mushroom, burnt and alcohol/hot. The body is medium. The wine finishes medium. The wine has medium acidity. (1822 views) | | | Tasted by bsw13 on 8/16/2021 & rated 92 points: Needed some air to start drinking properly. If you’ve still got one around I’d give at least 30 minutes, maybe an hour before drinking. It’s quite good. Great mouthfeel. It’s big with the right amount of acid to cut right through the indulgent edges. More claret/Bordeaux style than big California cab. Really solid. (2238 views) | | | Tasted by Sonoffalstaff on 2/28/2021 & rated 92 points: Best of the 4 I had, again keeping the wine allowed it to develop and show a lot of interesting elements not evident in earlier bottles. Deep colour indicative of the richness within. Old style Bordeaux nose occasionally touching on the barn yard. Red and blackfruits with real matiere. Long finish with some good minerality. (2277 views) | | | Tasted by aveeck on 12/29/2020 & rated 84 points: It didn't make it - cork disintegrated and the wine is just missing something. Rather perfumed on both nose & palette. Drinkable but not the fun we expected, especially compared to the 2006 Smith & Hook we paired with.... (2256 views) | | | Tasted by WineKnut on 11/2/2019 & rated 89 points: Pretty nice aged Napa. PNP and slow oxed over 4 hours. These are my impressions at the end of the night. Plum colored with decidedly light rim. Black fruit, tomato, strong tobacco, slight heat on the nose. Super developed secondary notes of saddle and salt and nice bright acidity keeping the fruit flavors fresh and young. A little bit of chalk and tea on the tongue as well. Good mouthfeel on the front, but fades and thins out quite quickly on the finish. (2989 views) | | | Tasted by df1962 on 10/8/2019 & rated 93 points: PnP post BT cellar packing
Ripe and fresh great nose. Cassis and plum on the palate subtle oak nice tertiary notes of leather and tobacco. Lingering finish. Complex and classy. Lots of appeal for fans of Old World and New World. Good real wine knows no borders.
Drink or hold easily for another five years. (2824 views) | | | Tasted by Matty the wine collector on 4/7/2019 & rated 90 points: Delicious. Drank perfectly eight out of bottle (2796 views) | | | Tasted by Julieandluca on 3/25/2019 flawed bottle: Too old (2441 views) | | | Tasted by mdkraft99 on 12/26/2017 & rated 90 points: Didn't take formal notes, consistent with other tasting notes, overall very good but not outstanding (3874 views) | | | Tasted by TC16 on 3/17/2017 & rated 89 points: Ok bottle, not great. Provenance somewhat suspect so likely some storage issues in the past. More earthy than I would have thought with a bit of a stewed thing almost peeking through. Leather and tobacco, tastes "aged." Medium tannins and acidity, tastes a bit disjointed. (5400 views) | | | Tasted by CDH on 1/20/2017 & rated 87 points: The cork came out in two pieces. On the nose & palate I got rich blackberry, although the fruit receded fairly quickly. Medium acidity, however you have to pay attention to sense it. Medium-plus tannins. More tannic than a typical cali Cab. I think this wine would go better with food, but on its own it is a bit disjointed: retiring fruit, tannins front & center and moderate acidity. Still, I am enjoying it. I don't think this wine will improve with age. Drink up and pair it with a steak or something rich. (5912 views) | | | Tasted by WG198 on 1/2/2017 & rated 92 points: The wine had a nice dark garnet color. It presented a pleasing aroma of red fruit, with some hints of vanilla. Cherry and raspberry dominated the taste and carried over to a pleasing medium long aftertaste. The wine lasted us two nights and was even better on the second. It was an excellent choice to accompany the lamb. (5424 views) | | | Tasted by cephomer on 8/21/2016 & rated 91 points: Drank with the Freids and Friedmans last nite. I'm not a lover of Calif cabs, so this wine came as a bit of a surprise to me as it was on the subtle side. Not at all a fruit bomb and fairly understated. Plenty of black fruit here, some cedar and the oak is nicely integrated. Still a bit on the sweet side (this is a CA wine, after all...), but overall very enjoyable. (6549 views) | | | Tasted by Barry'sFault on 7/3/2016 & rated 92 points: Brilliant. Full Napa dirt, cassis, at peak flavor. (5494 views) | | | Tasted by askoje on 3/14/2016 & rated 91 points: Nose of dark cassis, vanilla and mocha. Napa fruit, not too sweet, alcohol and oak is well balanced. Hints of dust/gravel on the end of the nose with more air. This wine was decanted for 2 hours.
Great mouthfeel, dark cherries and mocha. Quite smooth tannins and a long dry finish. Very solid Napa cab drinking very well now. Will save the last bottle about 1 year more. (4327 views) | | | Tasted by hankj on 3/1/2016 & rated 89 points: Serious in style Napa Cab perhaps without the overall quality to completely pull it off. I don't see this as going anywhere special from here forward - will gain softness at the prices of fruit. Not at all a bad wine, particularly if you like your cabs leaning a little narrow and austere with solid aromatics. (4100 views) | | | Tasted by NapaTom on 2/24/2016 & rated 91 points: this is outstanding. Not a fruit bomb and still a bit ithgt I think, but really coming into its own. medium minus body. dark fruits, good complexity. excellent food wine. No hurry, still showing plenty of nice tannins (3690 views) | | | Tasted by BdgrKm on 11/14/2015 & rated 89 points: This wine probably just past its peak. Cork split upon opening, and at the very end there was some sediment in the last pour.
The bouquet started slightly vinegary, but the wine tasted fantastic. Over an hour it opened up and became a smooth pairing with a Rib Eye and garlic mashed potatoes. I'd suggest drinking it soon if you have it in your cellar! (3512 views) | | | Tasted by The Raven on 2/13/2015: A very drinkable wine. Not too heavy like a lot of cabernets, but still good enough to pair with a good steak. (4811 views) | | | Tasted by slippytoad on 2/11/2015 & rated 91 points: Incredibly expressive upon opening. Gorgeous aroma and delicate mid palate. Declined quickly after opening. (3858 views) | | | Tasted by lquam on 1/21/2015 & rated 87 points: Deep purple, cloudy, but minimal sediment. Forest floor and wet herb notes on the nose. Still quite tannic. Dark, stewed fruits, hints of leather, and tobacco. (4137 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Richard Hemming, MW
JancisRobinson.com (5/7/2010)
(Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Artemis Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, May/June 2010, IWC Issue #150
(Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Artemis Napa Valley) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of JancisRobinson.com and Vinous. (manage subscription channels) |
| Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Producer website
NOTE: This is easily confused with Stags' Leap Winery, but Stag's Leap Wine Cellars is a different winery. Stag's Leap Wine Cellars is considered one of Napa Valley's first-growths. "We were founded by Warren Winiarski and his family in 1970 and are best known for our estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignons — CASK 23, S.L.V., and FAY. Over the years, our wines have become some of the most highly regarded and collected wines worldwide. They are fashioned to express classic elegance, structure, and ageability, and to reflect the place in which they are grown." Stag's Leap Wine Cellars was known only in the Napa Valley until the now-famous 1976 Paris Tasting, when Winiarski's 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon, the first wine produced at the new winery, bested four top-ranked Bordeaux entries, including first-growths Château Mouton-Rothschild and Château Haut-Brion. The tasting landed Stag's Leap Wine Cellars squarely among the ranks of the world's most noteworthy Cabernet producers and placed Winiarski among the ranks of world's most respected winemakers. It also fundamentally transformed how Californian wines were viewed worldwide [StagsLeap See details here].Cabernet 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)Napa ValleySt. Helena |
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