Stag’s Leap Cabernet Sauvignon Reviews

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

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

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

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.

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