2013 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Cask 23, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California, USA

A barrel selection of the best of both from the S.L.V (45%) and Fay (55%) vineyards, the 2013 Cask 23 is dark and brooding, tightly coiled at the moment but there is plenty of black and blue fruit on the nose, along with the merest touch of smoke from the oak ageing.

Multi layered on the palate, with waves of lush fruit, ripe tannins, mocha and menthol, this will require patience. The finest Cask 23 for some time, give this at least five years in the cellar and enjoy over the following two decades. A Napa Cab to rival the Bordeaux greats.
Fergus Stewart, Private Account Manager

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars is a famous Napa valley “First growth” producing wines of exceptional beauty, full of New World vivacity yet balanced by Old World sensibility.  Warren Winiarski coined the descriptive phrase 'iron fist in a velvet glove' to describe his polished but sturdy Cabernets, marrying power and elegance.

2013 was a classic vintage, with textbook weather conditions, though we do see a 30% drop in production from the 2012.  Commenting on the 2012 & 2013 harvests, Robert Parker states “… as a wine critic commenting only on the quality, these are two very, very exciting vintages that will provide enormous pleasure over the next three decades. Readers who can afford the entrance fees will love these wines - make no mistake about that!” 
Robert Parker has accordingly given the 2013 (& 2012) vintage the highest ever scores for these wines.

The 2013 release celebrates 40 years since the controversial (at the time) 1976 “Judgement of Paris” tasting (particularly the S.L.V. bottling which displays a commemorative label) when the 1973 vintage of S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon took first place over leading red Bordeaux. 
The impact of the tasting for American wines was immediate, catapulting Californian wines onto the world stage by illustrating that exceptional wines could come from somewhere other than traditionally sacrosanct French terroir. 

Nevertheless, the estate has come a long way in the last 40 years producing some of the best wines to come out of California from some of the best and most envied terroir.  Winemaker Michael Silacci joined the winery in 1995, and together with assistant winemaker Julia Winiarski is producing outstandingly complex, multi layered wines that are amongst the very finest in California, if not in the world.

Warren Winiarski gave up a promising academic career in Chicago to pursue his dream of making wine. He learnt his trade at Robert Mondavi before setting up Stag's Leap Wine Cellars in the heart of the Napa Valley in 1972.

In 1986, Winiarski purchased the adjoining Fay Vineyard which, in what is known today as the Stag's Leap District Appellation, which had been planted by Nathan Fay in 1961.  S.L.V. is the name-sake single vineyard wine, a vineyard famed as one of the great sites of Napa valley.  Cask 23, the proprietary red wine blend made only in select vintages, is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Stag's Leap Vineyard (S.L.V) and the Fay Vineyards.  Artemis is a Cabernet Sauvignon named after a Greek goddess associated with the protection of wild animals, especially the sacred Stag, a wine produced for earlier consumption.