2003 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Napa Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon Fay, $80, 13.7% alc.: This dark garnet exudes a lovely perfume of rich black currant-cassis shaded with notes of chocolate, tobacco and perfectly integrated oak, all of which follows through beautifully on the palate. Like everything else tasted on this occasion, this exhibits the impeccable balance and finesse that is the hallmark of this producer; it has a lovely personality, with a smooth mouth feel and deceptive structure that will carry it well for several years of development in the cellar, and yet it already drinks so well that one might have a hard time keeping hands off, especially to pair with any fine cut of beef or lamb. Classic Napa Cabernet; an iron fist in a velvet glove indeed! Sourced from the legendary Fay Vineyard, seeing 27 months of French oak and 100% malolactic fermentation.
2003 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Napa Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon S.L.V., 98.8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1.2% Merlot, $110, 14.1% alc.: Dark garnet color, and although a little less effusive on the nose than the Fay, it still displays a lovely perfume that features a little dust, a little earth and black currant-cassis shaded with a hint of chocolate, and these impressions follow through on the palate beautifully; impeccably balanced, this is clearly a deeper, darker wine than the Fay, less immediately gorgeous and needing more time in the cellar, five years minimum. Another classic. 40% of Stag’s Leap’s S.L.V. Vineyard was too young for production in 2003, due to a continuous replanting program that had taken place over the previous decade, so this wine was sourced primarily from Blocks 1A and 2A, planted in the early ‘90s, along with Block 4, the last remaining block from the original 1970 planting. 100% stainless steel fermentation, followed by 27 months in French Oak; 100% malolactic.
- from Tasting Two Napa Wineries: Stags' Leap Wine Cellars and Merryvale Vineyards
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