Wine Country: America

Wine Subregion: California

Wine Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon

Stags’ Leap Winery is certainly one of the most historic in the Napa Valley. Its Yountville area tasting room used to be, at various times in its history, the local post office and a Prohibition era speakeasy! In more modern times, it was the Doumani family who, over their long tenure at its helm, steered it into becoming one of Napa’s most important wineries and the prime mover in the creation of the Stag’s Leap District appellation. More recently, thanks to its ingestion by a corporate entity, it has grown far beyond the tiny estate production of its olden days. That being said, if one looks deep into the cellar, one might find small production wines like this gem- one of the best wines we’ve had from Stags’ Leap Winery since a memorable Petite Sirah made here the early nineties! Stags’ Leap winemaker Christophe Paubert has always loved Cabernet Sauvignon fruit from the Oakville appellation, just up the road and a world apart from the Stags Leap District he calls home. Some of that Oakville fruit has been a part of the backbone of the winery’s esteemed Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons for many years. The excellent 2018 vintage marked the first-ever release of a small-lot bottling solely from Oakville-a unique bottling that produced one of the best wines we’ve ever tried from this producer. The majority of the blend comes from Gamble Ranch, tucked away just off of Highway 29 and the Silverado Trail, in the heart of Oakville’s high rent district. This debut bottling of the Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon is a barrel selection of the best lots Christopher had to work with, and was fermented and aged separately in French oak barrels (25% new) for 19 months and blended just prior to bottling. The wood on the wine is designed not to overwhelm the fruit but it definitely adds a beautiful round nuance to the really seamless, velvet-like palate. There are small bits of darker, more tannic Petit Verdot and Tannat in the blend that add considerable backbone, mid-palate complexity and oomph to a wine shows a remarkable amount of character for an Oakville Cab in this price point. What fun!