Stag's Leap Wine Cellars

California

CASK 23 Estate-Grown Cabernet Sauvignon

Napa Valley

$225 USD

Release Price

Drink Window

14.5%

ABV

3.71

pH

5.8

TA

RS

Nose

The wine opens with deep red and black cherry aromas along with notes of juicy strawberry, cocoa and spice.

Palate

The wine has an elegant texture with very fine tannins and great acidity. On the palate the wine is full bodied with rich dark berry fruit with hints of cedar and white truffle that lead to a long fruit and spice driven finish.

Growing Conditions

CASK 23 is a tale of two vineyards that come together in a harmonious blend. For the 2010 offering, slightly more than half of the grapes were grown in our FAY vineyard while the balance was from select areas in S.L.V. Specific blocks within these adjoining ranches provide distinct attributes to the wine. Vines planted in volcanic soils on the eastern hillsides of S.L.V. and FAY give CASK 23 its structure, concentration, spicy intensity and elegant tannins; those grown in the alluvial soils in the middle and lower sections of the two vineyards add vibrant fruit flavors, a supple mid-palate and perfumed aromatics.

Harvest

2010 was a year that proved you should never judge the end by the beginning. It was slow to start, with heavy spring rains and a cool summer. A summer long on sweaters and short on, well, shorts. The “normal” start of the harvest season was delayed by two to three weeks in most vineyards. Mother Nature brought us a heat spell in late August, followed by another which, after a much longer time on the vine than in most years, resulted in a rather compact harvest with white and red grapes coming in from the vineyards in tight succession. The slow grape maturity of the 2010 vintage aptly suited our Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars house style, creating wines of elegance with great extraction and fuller flavors.

Winemaking

Fermentation: 100% stainless steel tank.

Aging

Each lot was vinified and aged separately in small French oak barrels for 21 months, allowing the characteristics of each block to develop, while adding subtle spice notes. 90% new French oak

Food Pairing

Serve CASK 23 with filet mignon with blue cheese crumbles, grilled venison with a red wine reduction or black pepper-crusted Ahi tuna steaks.

More from this Producer

Stag's Leap Wine CellarsFAY Estate-Grown Cabernet Sauvignon

The FAY vineyard is where the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars story began. Established by pioneering grape grower Nathan Fay in 1961, it was the first planting of Cabernet Sauvignon in what is now the Stags Leap District. FAY vineyard remains one the great Napa Valley vineyards, producing fruit with an abundance of supple red and black berry character, voluptuous perfume and a luscious, fine-grained texture.

Stag's Leap Wine CellarsCASK 23 Estate-Grown Cabernet Sauvignon

First created in 1974, CASK 23 is a tale of two vineyards that come together in a harmonious blend. The wine is a blend of the most distinctive Cabernet Sauvignon from the S.L.V and FAY vineyards, resulting in a wine of extraordinary depth and richness balanced by restraint. Over the years, CASK 23 has become one of the most highly regarded and collected wines worldwide.

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S.L.V., also known as Stag’s Leap Vineyards, is the winery’s first vineyard. Planted in 1970, this vineyard achieved international fame when three-year-old vines from the 1973 harvest produced a wine that stunned the wine world when it bested some of France’s greatest wines in a 1976 blind tasting known as the “Judgment of Paris.” Today, this history-making vineyard continues to produce wines with layers of complexity, spicy intensity and excellent structure—promising long life and ageability. The 2018 S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon has generous aromas of violet, plum dark fruit, cocoa dust and graphite. On the palate the wine has a rich, gravelly structure with pure fruit, dusty tannins and a long, savory finish. The tannin structure, dark fruit, and pleasing minerality point to this wine’s ability to age. Enjoy with Dirty Rice and Andouille Sausage, Birria Beef Tacos, or Mushroom Ravioli with Arrabiata Sauce.

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