Press Room

Stag’s Leap Cabernet Sauvignon Reviews

Score: 90 | January 31, 2024 | Wine Advocate

Raymond's 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon District Collection Stags Leap comes across as slightly candied, with a mix of red and black cherries dominating the nose. In the mouth, this medium to full-bodied wine is plump and silky, not overly concentrated and nicely textured on the finish.

Score: 92 | December 27, 2023 | James Suckling

Ripe dark berries, chocolate, toasted spices, sweet tobacco and undergrowth. Full-bodied, firm and structured with polished and even texture and chalky tannins. Spiced and creamy finish. Attractive now, but better after 2025.

Score: 92 | October 31, 2022 | Wine Spectator

Lively, with a chaparral streak running through a mix of steeped plum, blueberry and blackberry fruit. Light alder and anise accents hang in the background. Juicy and open through the finish, too. Drink now through 2030. 194 cases made.

Score: 94 | March 10, 2022 | Jeb Dunnuck

Lots of ripe currants, loamy earth, truffle, and savory herb notes emerge from the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon District Collection Stags Leap, and it’s medium to full-bodied on the palate, with a layered, seamless, balanced style that’s already drinking nicely. As with all the Single Vineyard District Collection releases, it’s all varietal, and this release spent 19 months in 50% new Taransaud barrels.

Score: 92 | January 1, 2022 | Vinous/Antonio Galloni

The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District is a plump, juicy wine. Inky dark fruit, licorice, lavender and spice lend layers of nuance to this easygoing, wonderfully appealing Cabernet. There is a feeling of immediacy to the Stags Leap Cabernet that is impossible to miss.

-- Antonio Galloni

Score: 92 | June 30, 2021 | Wine Spectator

Gently mulled black currant and blackberry fruit mixes with dark tea, alder and sweet bay leaf notes. Shows a late tug of earth on the finish, which has good energy in reserve. Best from 2022 through 2030. -JM

Score: 90 | April 1, 2021 | Wine Enthusiast

Perfumed in red fruit, crushed rock and a note of sage, this big red is oak-driven and firm in lengthy, substantial tannin. Powerfully ripe and lush, it delivers velvety richness for days. Virginie Boone

Score: 93 | February 26, 2021 | Wine Advocate

Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon District Collection Stags Leap was aged in French oak, 53% new. Deep garnet-purple colored, it offers up vibrant notes of crushed black and red currants, mulberries and fresh black cherries with hints of camphor, lavender, tobacco leaf and tapenade. Full-bodied, the palate delivers taut, muscular black fruits with a firm grainy frame and plenty of freshness, finishing with a minty kick. 191 cases were made. -Lisa Perrotti-Brown

Score: 96 | January 27, 2021 | JebDunnuck.com

All the District Collection series are around 500 cases or less, and they give an incredible insight into the different appellations in the valley. Starting with the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon District Collection Stags Leap, it has perfumed red and black fruits and tobacco notes to go with full-bodied richness and a seamless, layered texture on the palate. Stags Leap is a cooler region, and you see that in the aromatics, but this brings serious fruit on the palate without losing its sense of finesse. It’s beautifully done and will evolve for 15-20 years.

Score: 92 | January 1, 2021 | Vinous/Antonio Galloni

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District is powerful and virile in the glass. It is also one of the most brooding wines in this range of small-lot Cabernets. Readers will have to be patient, but I imagine the Stags Leap Cabernet will always remain a brute. Inky dark fruit, chocolate, leather, spice and scorched earth saturate this backward, tightly wound Cabernet.

-- Antonio Galloni

Score: 93 | October 28, 2020 | Wine Spectator

A lush, polished style, with velvety waves of cassis, warmed plum sauce and blackberry preserves rolling through, all seamlessly inlaid with licorice and apple wood accents. The fruit stays vivid and intense through the finish. Best from 2021 through 2032. — JM