vineyards all three wines, made in limited numbers, are classic SLD Cabernets. There is also the Cask 23 Cabernet, which is a blend of the Fay and S.L.V. Cabernet, from Stags Leap District fruit. Today, the winery is owned by Marchesi Antinori of Tuscany, and the Fay Vineyard is still produced, along with an S.L.V. Stag's Leap Wine Cellars purchased the Fay Vineyard in 1986 and began to produce a vineyard-designated Cabernet, beginning in 1990. Meanwhile, the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from Fay's vineyard were sold to wine producer Joseph Heitz, who bottled them separately the Heitz Fay Vineyard offering was one of the first vineyard-designated Cabernet Sauvignons in Napa, and during the 1970s, this was one of the most famous of all Napa Cabernets. The Stags Leap District was on the viticultural map, and interestingly, when the tasting was repeated ten years later at the French Culinary Institute with the same wines, the highest ranking wine this time was the Clos du Val! Yes, the Stags Leap District had arrived and was now considered one of the world's premier production zones for Cabernet Sauvignon. Amazingly, the Stag's Leap wine was judged as the best red, besting such luminous wines from Bordeaux such as Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Chateau Haut-Brion, both from the outstanding 1970 vintage. Spurrier selected two Cabernet Sauvignons from the Stags Leap District: the 1972 Clos du Val and the 1973 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars - both were the initial releases of these wines. In 1976, British journalist Steven Spurrier arranged a special tasting in Paris of California whites and reds that would be tasted blind alongside their French counterparts wines from both territories would be among the finest produced at that time. The younger Shafer remembers that his father wasn't sure which variety to plant, but thanks to an invitation from Fay to taste his homemade 1968 Cabernet Sauvignon, his father was, in his words, "completely blown away." It went a long way toward steering him to Cabernet Sauvignon for his initial hillside planting in 19." The first harvest of Shafer Cabernet was in 1978 today this winery's Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon is not only one of the best Cabernets in the Stags Leap District, it is also routinely considered one of Napa Valley's finest wines. All the research indicated that hillsides produced the highest quality fruit." In 1972, John Shafer, a successful businessman from suburban Chicago, purchased 200 acres here his son Doug who made the move with his parents, recalls that all the local properties for sale at that time were on the valley floor, "but Dad chose this one because he was looking for a hillside site. While grape growing in the Stags Leap territory dates back to the 1870s, the modern history dates to the early 1960s when Nathan Fay planted Cabernet Sauvignon in this area. John (l) and Doug Shafer, Shafer Vineyards, Napa Valley Photo ©Robert Holmes When the funneling of cool breezes from nearby San Pablo Bay along with the afternoon heat that gets trapped in the Stags Leap District Palisades rock outcropping combine with the beautifully well drained soils, it creates a magical vortex for balanced ripeness, balanced acidity, great mouthfeel and wonderful concentration."įor Warren Winiarski, who founded Stag's Leap Wine Cellars in 1972, the red wines produced here are like "an iron fist in a velvet glove," a now legendary statement that perfectly captures the splendid blending of power and sleekness in these wines. "I think the essence of the AVA - and what makes it so special - is the “holy trinity” of soil, climate and geology. For Elizabeth Vianna, winemaker at Chimney Rock, there is an amalgamation of factors that helps to produce elegant Cabernets in this district. Given its southern location in Napa Valley, it is a cooler area than the northern reaches of the valley, resulting in a more subdued style of Cabernet Sauvignon than other Napa areas.
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