Stag’s Leap Cabernet

Thirty five years ago, on May 24, 1976, the wine world was turned upside down when a few upstart wine growers and makers from California beat out some of the best known French wines in what has become known as the Judgment of Paris.

Much has been written about this historic event as well as a movie by the same name and another popular movie of the events entitled Bottle Shock.

In honor of the 35th anniversary of that historic event, I have chosen to revisit the winner in the Cabernet Sauvignon tasting, Stags Leap Wine Cellars. My chosen wine is the 2007 S.L.V., a 34-year-old incarnation of the renowned 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon tasted in Paris.

Before getting into my review, however, some background and parameters of my tasting methodology are in order. I am not a professional wine critic nor am I an oenologist in the strictest sense of the word. Rather I am someone who is passionate about wine and have been studying, enjoying, savoring and collecting wine for more years than I care to recall. My reviews will not be esoteric like some of the professional reviews.

Descriptions such as ‘a licked lead pencil mixed with earthen mushrooms laced with notes of cigar leaf’ will not be used. Frankly, I seldom taste a lot of the things the ‘pros’ say about a particular wine. Rather, I approach wine much the same way as I do golf. I just want to enjoy it. Many times, golf is more about the beautiful surroundings and the social camaraderie and so too it is with wine. Wine is meant to be enjoyed and to be enjoyable.
My reviews will be simple, straightforward and to the point. I will not review a wine that is hard to find nor so limited that only we reviewers get to try it. For the most part, the chosen wines will be ones that tend to fly under the radar of the big guns in the industry but offer great enjoyment, good value and are readily available. In doing so I hope you will appreciate the advice and my recommendations.

In keeping with simplicity, I will rate the reviewed wines with the following familiar terms: Hole-in-One, a truly outstanding, one-in-a-thousand wine; Eagle, a remarkable sure winner; Par, a very respectable solid performance; Bogey, one off the mark but not terrible; OB, best to avoid this one.

Tasting Notes:
The 2007 S.L.V. (Stags Leap Vineyard) is a superb example of a beautifully made California cabernet. The 2007 vintage, in itself, produced some exceptional wines throughout Napa and much of the wine producing areas of the west. The season provided just the right mix of sun, heat, cool nights and moisture to provide a bountiful crop of outstanding fruit. In the hands of skilled vineyard managers and winemakers, the 2007 crop has been turned into some of the best Napa cabs in almost a decade. Certainly, there were some misses, but not the SLV. In the grand scheme of wines, this one will improve with more time in the bottle to mellow out the harshness of the tannins, but decanting it an hour or so before drinking will produce a similar effect. Overall, a luscious and smooth wine with a mouthful of rich fruit with hints of oak. Give this one some time. Great with a grilled rib eye.

Rating: Par

Is this wine as good as the 1973 tasted in Paris that bested the legendary French first growths? I honestly can’t say because I have not had the pleasure of tasting that particular 1973 Stags Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet. I have, however, tasted other 1973 Napa cabs by notable and well respected wineries and I have to say that the wines today bear little resemblance to the wines of 35 years ago. In my opinion, the wines being made today are superior to the ones produced for the Paris tasting. Today, winemaking is all about the precise science of the craft. Grapes are harvested at the exact moment of ripeness, sugar content and acidity, fermented at optimum temperatures and conditions, aged in clinically controlled environments, electronically monitored by the hour, aged and bottled at its peak by chemical analysis. In 1973, much of the winemaking in California was still in its infancy. The science was still being invented in places like UC Davis and Fresno State. Winemakers still went out into the vineyards, picked, squeezed, smelled and tasted the grapes almost daily until they thought they were just right to harvest. The French Bordeaux style was still the standard to which the Napa winemakers tried to emulate. Fortunately for them and us, Mother Nature intervened and produced a cabernet grape infused with all the characteristics associated with great Napa cabernets and little of the austerity and minerality of the French Bordeaux. The result is a wine that’s as unique to California as sourdough and Cioppino.