2023 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon SLV
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Tasting notes
The S.L.V. is a 34-acre estate planted primarily to Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc in 1970, famed for producing the triumphant 1973 Cabernet at the Paris Tasting. Its volcanic and alluvial soils offer excellent drainage, translating into wines of grip and structure, and the 2023 vintage is downright masterful. This is the classic iron fist in a velvet glove: the aromatics are subtle and restrained, belying the power and structure that unfold on the palate. Black-fruited and deeply layered, with sagebrush and ironstone notes, the wine builds with robust blackberry fruit and ultra-fine cocoa-powder tannins that provide a perfect foundation for the mineral-laced fruit. Polished, suave, and gorgeous in its youth, this is a wine that will age gracefully, developing beautifully nuanced complexity for deCades to come. Fermented entirely in stainless steel and aged for 21 months in 100% new French oak.
Critic scores
Decanter World Wine Awards
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
The 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon S.L.V. is a deep, powerful wine. Black cherry, plum, espresso, menthol and dried herbs infuse the 2022 with tons of aromatic complexity. Beams of tannin confer gravitas to this brooding, imposing young Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2023 offers an intriguing mix of the power that is typical of this site tempered by the restraint of this cold, late-ripening year.
Winemaker Marcus Notaro does the bulk of the blending early, so the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon S.L.V. should look more or less similar to this when it comes out of barrel next year. Loaded with black cherries and cassis, it's a full-bodied, rich and creamy textured effort, with a long, sturdy finish that bodes well for the cellar.
A classic wine from a great vineyard. So fragrant in pine needles, spearmint and blackcurrant aromas, then layers of violet, cocoa, cedar and bay laurel flavors wrapped in snug tannins. Fresh, firm and well-balanced, with many years of enjoyment ahead. Drinkable now and best from 2033.
About the producer
Warren Winiarski founded Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars in 1970 when he purchased the Stag’s Leap Vineyard in Napa’s Stags Leap District. The 1973 S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon – only the second vintage – won the famous 1976 Judgement of Paris blind tasting, rocketing the estate to fame.