Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Fay Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Elegant and inviting with a nose of violet, cinnamon, vanilla clove and boysenberry that brings to mind a slice of dark berry pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The wine has a silky, velvety texture from the fine tannins and rich fruit core that allows the wineto flow over the midpalate and merge with the signature bright red cherry notes of the vineyard. While not bold in character, the 2012 FAY has great persistence and length, promising long life.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Fay Estate Grown possesses a complex bouquet of raspberries, blueberries, charcoal, graphite and spring flowers, abundant richness, and a medium to full-bodied, graceful mouthfeel with everything in perfect harmony. It exhibits gorgeous fruit, a complex personality, full body and terrific elegance and finesse. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2035.
Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Barrel Sample: 93-96 Points -
Wine Enthusiast
From the vineyard that helped propel the appellation's reputation into the stratosphere, this wine delivers both in terms of its historical significance, but also in present-day refinement and complexity. A flinty, earthy layer of black truffle and coffee open the aromatic profile of the wine before offering bold, brawny flavors of leather and black currant. The oak is well integrated and the tannins sizable yet behaved. This is a beautiful wine. Editors' Choice.
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Wine Spectator
Impressive, with a rich, juicy core of black currant, blackberry, dusty earth and savory underbrush, giving this an expansive, wellfocused range of flavors. Drink now through 2028.
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Decanter
Pretty and elegant, with floral and cassis perfume and supple tannins. Seamless from start to finish, with refreshing acidity.
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Wine & Spirits
This is a clean vintage from Fay, the historic Napa Valley vineyard tucked into the hillside of the Stags Leap escarpment on alluvial soils. The wine’s purple-and-garnet-hued fruit feels tied directly to its tannins, relatively light in body, but with firm depth of flavor. It’s fragrant, earthy and satisfying, an elegant partner for roast leg of lamb.
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Considered one of the "first growths" of Napa Valley, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars produces renowned Cabernet Sauvignon from its historic Stags Leap District estate vineyards. Learn about Stags Leap history and estate-grown wines.
History of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars was founded in 1970 with the purchase of a 40 acre property in the now famed Stag’s Leap District AVA in Napa Valley. The winery brought international recognition to California winemaking and the Napa Valley region when their 1973 S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon won the 1976 Paris Tasting, also known as the "Judgement of Paris."
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Estate-Grown Cabernet Sauvignon
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars' three estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignons - CASK 23, S.L.V. and Fay - are among the most highly regarded and collected Cabernet Sauvignons worldwide. The Cabernet wines are fashioned to express richness balanced by elegant restraint, an approach often described as "an iron fist in a velvet glove."
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
Legend has it that quick and nimble stags would escape the indigenous hunters of southern Napa Valley through the landmark palisades that sit just northeast of the current city of Napa. As a result, the area was given the name, Stags Leap. While its grape-growing history dates back to the mid-1800s, winemaking didn’t really take off until the mid-1970s after a small but pivotal blind tasting called the Judgement of Paris.
When a 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon won first place against its high-profile Bordeaux contenders, like Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Chateau Haut-Brion, international attention to the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley escalated rapidly.
The vineyards in this one-of-a-kind wine growing region receive hot afternoon air reflecting off of its eastern palisade formation. In combination with the cool evening breezes from the San Pablo Bay just south, this becomes an optimal environment for grape growing. While many varieties could thrive here, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot dominate with virtually no others, save for a spot or two of Syrah.
Stags Leap soils—eroded volcanic and old river sediments—encourage well established root systems and result in complex, terroir-driven wines. Stags Leap District reds have a distinct sour cherry and black berry character with baking spice and dried earth aromas, and supple tannins.