STAG’S LEAP WINE CELLARS: A TIMELINE

1961

Nathan Fay plants the first Cabernet Sauvignon in what would become the Stags Leap District AVA

1969

Warren Winiarski tastes the 1968 vintage of Fay’s Cabernet Sauvignon

1970

Winiarksi purchases land next door to Fay, and founds Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. The SLV vineyard is planted the same year

1973

Winiarski produces a Cabernet Sauvignon from his three-year- old vines

1976

Steven Spurrier organises the Judgement of Paris tasting at which Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars’ 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon wins the red wine category

1986

Fay retires and sells his pioneering vineyard to Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. Winiarski replants it immediately

1990

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars releases its first bottling from the Fay Vineyard

2007

A partnership between Ste Michelle Wine Estates and Piero Antinori buys Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars

2013

Marcus Notaro is hired as winemaker

2020

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars celebrates its 50th anniversary organised more for education and fun rather than as a vehicle to alter the world’s perception of California wine.

It happened at a time in which the up-andcoming ‘kids from the sticks’, as Chateau Montelena’s Jim Barrett famously put it, were hungry to show their wares on the world stage. These pioneering California winemakers wanted to make a name for themselves, and what better place than up against the great, tried-and-true wines of France. Many of the producers featured in the competition didn’t even know of the tasting’s existence until they found out the results – they weren’t even aware that their wines had been entered.

The 1970s was a famously underwhelming time for French viticulture. As the Judgement of Paris organiser Steven Spurrier put it,

France was ‘resting on its laurels’. In addition to a string of difficult vintages, this decade saw increased use of pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers, in part due to the hangover from prior attempts to chemically abolish phylloxera almost a century earlier.

An increasing number of growers in Burgundy navigated away from the négociant system and into the logistically challenging world of domaine bottling. This resulted in lacklustre wines early on, even from top domaines. On a global level, the 1973 oil crisis would rock worldwide economies for years to come, and compounded stagflation in the US.

During such volatile and uncertain times, guards often change and many torches are passed, intentionally or not. This in no way diminishes the achievement of the Calfiornian producers who triumphed in 1976, but the context and timing serves as a reminder that comfort and confidence can easily lead to complacency.

The irony is that today, a region once deemed ‘too cool’ to ripen Cabernet Sauvignon is one of many trying to deal with the stylistic and existential challenges of overripeness in a world where both consumer tastes and the global climate are changing.

Vineyards and wines

In 1989, the Stags Leap District received AVA (American Viticultural Area) status, and was the first appellation in California to do so based upon its soils, which are mostly volcanic deposits shifted down from the Vaca range.

Fay’s 1968 Cabernet Sauvignon, the wine that inspired Winiarski to invest in this land, is actually fairly different to his own triumphant 1973 Cabernet. Wines from the Fay

The Fay vineyard was first planted with Cabernet Sauvignon by Nathan Fay in 1961

Warren Winiarski

estate and purchased fruit. Black cherries, dark chocolate and roasted espresso aromas lead to an earthy palate, more terroir-driven than the ripe, modern nose suggests. It’s aged for 16 months in 40% new French barrels and a small amount of American oak. Drink 2020-2035 Alc 14.5%

And three historic winesÉ

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Fay Cabernet Sauvignon, Stags Leap District 1990 96 N/A UK www. stagsleapwinecellars.com

An all-time classic Napa Valley Cabernet, perfectly encapsulating both the elegance of the Stags Leap District AVA and this era of the Napa Valley, between the postphylloxera replantings of the 1980s and the overripeness that often came with the late ’ 90s. Good bricking in the glass, with a beaming nose of crushed concrete, fresh rain and oiled leather. Red fruits and dried tobacco infuse the pure, svelte palate. Wonderful now but has another decade or more ahead. Drink 2020-2035 Alc 13.5%

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, SLV Cabernet Sauvignon, Stags Leap District 1990 96 N/A UK www. stagsleapwinecellars.com

The difference between the Fay and SLV sites only emerges fully with bottle age. Now three decades on, the sappy, dense, brooding character of SLV is here in spades, countering the grace and relative levity of Fay. Aromas of black tea, pipe tobacco and pencil lead; still dense and concentrated on the palate, showing flavours of red plums, nutmeg and star anise. In the glass, this gained in intensity for hours. Drink 2020-2040 Alc 13.9%

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Cask 23 Cabernet Sauvignon, Stags Leap

District 2009 95

£ 245 Handford

A great example of a modern Napa Cabernet coming into its own. After more than a decade of unfurling it reveals lovely, bramble, menthol and mint aromas. A classic Cabernet palate of cassis, blackberry and raspberry framed by a fresh, lifted herbal quality that echoes the nose. This blend of the best components of the Fay and SLV vineyards was fermented in 100% stainless steel then spent 20 months in 90% new French oak. Drink 2020-2040 Alc 13.5%