Cask 23 Vertical Tasting

About a year ago a bunch of wine aficionados decided to organize a Cask 23 vertical tasting. Why Cask 23? Many of us had good experiences with this wine but at the same time we all felt that we do not know enough about this winery/wine. So after a few mails we were able to find 12 Cask 23 fans and a total of 16 vintages of Cask 23. Despite these numbers, it also needs to be noted that very few people in our wine tasting circle had a broad range of Cask 23 in their cellars. Just from the highly rated 91 and 92 vintages there was plenty of supply.

It needs to be noted that all the bottles came out of great cellars, from people that cellar extensive collections at perfect conditions. This was really key for the amazing quality of the tasting and also the likely reason why none of the wines showed signs of improper storage. Out of the 16 vintages only very few wines were bought at auctions with the majority of them being purchased directly from reputable sources upon release.

Like Heitz Martha's Vy and Ridge Monte Bello I see the Stag's Leap Winery as a true classical winery. What I most appreciate about this winery and their top wine 'Cask 23' is that they remain true to their style. It appears that the winemaker are not very influenced by the critics -they do not try to 'build' wines to maximize the critics' points, they are not crowd-pleasers and not really easy to understand. But fortunately Stag's Leap crafts wines that show their own distinct style, show the character of the vintage and the grapes. The Cask 23 shows an great ageing potential and I would go as far to say that they need to age at least 15-20 years to show their full potential and I would guess that great vintages can age well for 40+ years.

• 1922 Château Sigalas Rabaud 96 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Tasted blind: Dark amber color, reminded me of a Coke. Nose of malt, caramel, dried apricot and banana. It was quite bitter in the finish but still had a wonderful sweetness. The wine was elegant and long. No hurry to drink.

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• 1978 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Cask 23 94 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

  Tasted blind: Intensive red. Nose of Blackberries, Coffee, Mint and pencil. Very long, the wine is fully mature but still shows reserves for many more years to come. This wine really showed the how gracefully Cask 23 can age. Very elegant. Drink - 2025.

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• 1983 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Cask 23 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

  Tasted blind: Still very dark in color. Nose of pencil and dark fruit (Cassis). Very smooth tannins. balanced and long. What a great wine for such a difficult vintage. The wine is fully mature but still has the potential for a few years of cellaring. Drink now - 2020.

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• 1985 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Cask 23 95 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

  Tasted blind: Dark in color, one would never think that the wine is almost 30 years old. Nose of leather and coffee. The wine is very deep, long and has a wonderful balance between tannins and sweetness. Lots of dark berries. This wine is now in a wonderful drinking phase but still has a lot of reserves to age gracefully. Drink now - 2030.

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• 1990 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Cask 23 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

  Tasted blind: Dark clear red. Nose shows hints of pencil and flintstone. Very balanced wine with a wonderful sweetness (dark berries). As a small complaint I would say the wine is a bit on the dry side. But that is complaining at a high level. Still youthful with a good potential to age.

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• 1991 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Cask 23 95 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

  Tasted blind: Deep garnet in color. Leathery, berry and cassis nose. Wonderful sweetness, length and overall balance. This is an old-fashioned Napa beauty. Well stored bottles have plenty of life left. Drink now - 2030.

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• 1992 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Cask 23 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

  MAGNUM, tasted blind: Deep garnet shows first sign of aging. Like many cask shows flavors pencil, leather and cassis. Very elegant, long and blanced. There is a nice sweetness to this wine (red berries). This magnum still has a great potential. The wine is beautiful to drink now but can be easily stored for a few more years.

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• 1993 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Cask 23 92 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

  Tasted blind: Garnet with some brick color at the edges. Very much a leather dominated nose that reminds of a St. Julien. The wine shows dark and red berries and is a nice drinking wine. But comparing this one to the other wonderful Cask 23 it just has less blance, dryer tannins, more acidity and less power. Soo kind of a Diet Cask 23. Still a great effort for the difficult 1993 vintage. Drink now - 2020.

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• 1994 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Cask 23 96 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

  Tasted blind: Still dark in color. Pencil, cassis flavors. Very powerful, massive fruit (for a Cask 23), smooth tannins and a great length. The aftertaste shows plenty of sweetness of dark fruits (blackberries, cassis) and hints of Coke. This is a wonderful Cask. Luckily the wine is still quite affordable as the most renowned wine critic did not like it as much as I did. This wine goes directly in the the top-10 of my 'wines to buy' list. Drink now - 2022.

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• 1997 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Cask 23 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

  Tasted blind: Very deep red, almost like a barrel sample. Nose shows lots of espresso, plums and leather. The barrel sample style is continuing in the mouth, hard and dry tannins, tartiness all a bit rustic but very complex. Chocolate, dark berries and vanilla. this wine still needs some time to find its balance but in a few years I can imagine this to be a great wine. Wait or decant for a few hours.

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• 1998 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Cask 23 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

  Tasted blind: Deep crimson. Ripe tastes of portwine, black licorice and Coke. As with the 1997 the tannins are still dry and some tartiness. One realizes that this comes from a weaker vintage, with the wine being a bit shorter and less complex than other Cask 23 but at the same time the lack of complexity is substituted by the plus on elegance. Wonderful wine which still shows some potential. Drink over the next 10 years.

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• 1999 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Cask 23 95 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

  Tasted blind: Deep crimson. Nose of cooked currant and black licorice. The wine is very smooth and long and still quite youthful. I expect the dry tannins and tartiness to go away in a few years of time. Plenty of sweetness and power. In a few years this could be a blockbuster Cask 23. Decant or wait.

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• 2000 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Cask 23 95 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

  Tasted blind: I would never have expected the 2000 behind this great wine. Still intensive garnet color. Nose of cassis, Coke and Coffee. Nice balance and pleasant acidity. Smooth tannins but overall the wine is still feels in the beginning of its maturity. What a surprise. Drink now with no hurry.

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• 2001 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Cask 23 94 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

  Tasted blind: Nose of leather and coffee. Tannins not yet integrated and still some tartiness to it. Nice dark fruit showing but this wine is still too young. The rating is for the potential in 5 years of time, currently the wine drinks more in the 91-92 pts range. Give this Cask 23 some time to grow up...

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• 2003 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Cask 23 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

  Tasted blind: As with many Cask 23s the bouquet shows black locorice and currant flavors. This wine shows rich flavors of dark fruit, is long and has plenty of power. At the moment quite massive and a bit dominated by aciditiy. Again like all the post-2000 Casks requires some time to finds its balance. I see this one developing in a modern 1985. Potential for 95pts in a few years.

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• 2004 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Cask 23 94 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

  Tasted blind: Bouquet of leather and coffee. This wine shows flavors of of dark fruit (Currant), is long and has plenty of power. At the moment quite massive tannins but has plenty of sweetness to support them. The wine still needs to find its balance over the next decade. Potential for 95pts in a few years.

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• 2005 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Cask 23 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

  Tasted blind: Bouquet of cooked cherries and caramel. This wine is long and has plenty of power. At the moment quite massive tannins but has plenty of sweetness to support them. The wine still needs to find its balance over the next decade. Potential for 95pts in a few years.

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Hardly ever did I have a vertical tasting on such a high quality level. There were no real up-and-downs as with other vineyards. All tasted wines showed extremely well on a 90+ point level. But again, despite the assigned points I want to say that the joy of drinking these wines in such a broad range cannot be rated on a rating scale. It was a truly unique experience. Thanks to all who participated in the tasting and making this event happen.