Stag's Leap Winery

California Wine, Napa Valley

About Stag's Leap Winery

A fashionable country resort in the mid-twentieth century, popular with Hollywood due to its 1892 stone Manor House and historic gardens, legends of bootleggers and gangsters, ghosts and gypsies, Stags’ Leap has been home to three major family groups up through the modern revitalization of the winery that began in the 1970s.

Stag's Leap Manor, as it was called in the 1920s, was known as one of the prominent country retreats in the Napa Valley at a time when resort and spa business was big. In addition to lodging and dining, amenities included lawn tennis, swimming, horseback riding, children’s activities, golf, music, cards, a library, and Napa Valley wines and liquors (prior to and after Prohibition).

How does the Cabernet Sauvignon vine find itself with such an appropriate home in the Stag's Leap appellation? Volcanics, topography, a touch of marine influence. The wines that grow here are velvet intensities, a gift to the winemaker who understands restraint.

Care of the vines throughout the growing season is monitored by Brecon Jackson, Vineyard Operations Manager, first and last on the scene. Estate fruit is complemented by longtime partnerships with some of the best growers in the Napa Valley and Carneros.

Stag's Leap Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

Cabernet Sauvignon is synonymous with the Napa Valley in general and Stags Leap District in particular. In the Estate vineyards, we take full advantage of this ideal location, planting Cabernet vines in deep, well-drained loamy volcanic soils. - winery

Stag's Leap Winery Chardonnay 2006

This Chardonnay is a story of balance, a delicious intersection of richness and minerality achieved through careful selection of fruit, hand picking, and traditional techniques that are part of the winery’s classical standard of winegrowing. - winery

Stag's Leap Winery Petite Sirah 2005

The flavors, structure, and elegance express themselves with greater intensity and purity from the soft touch of cross-blending.” The winery’s long association with prime Petite Syrah growers in the Napa Valley has resulted in an optimum choice of fruit every season. - winery

Stag's Leap Winery Viognier 2006

An elegant expression of Viognier, this wine’s rich and distinctive style has grown out of our long and well-regarded history with Rhône varietals. Originally created as a Porch Wine for family and friends of the winery in order to tell part of the story of the Rhône-style field blend made from heritage vines on the property, Viognier began to be made in its own right in 1998. The wine has bold yet elegant acidity with balance and finesse on the palate and the signature fruit and floral aromatics that speak of a well made Viognier. - winery

Stag's Leap Winery Ne Cede Malis 2005

This complex, multi-faceted Rhône-style blend is a special tribute to the oldest vineyard on the property. Block Five, now called the Ne Cede Malis block (Never give in to misfortune) because it has survived more than a few impulses to replace the 1930s era vines, is a true field blend, a survivor of the nineteenth century, when field blends were common practice. What makes this estate wine unique is the convergence of the terroir, the vine age, and the traditional winemaking process itself, requiring the harvesting and co-fermenting of all varieties at the same time. Fermenting these varieties together rather than blending them together later result in a completely different quality in the structure, aromas, and finish of the wine. It remains a delicious and compelling source of information about the history of the estate itself, fruit wrapped in velvet to the finish. - winery