Stag's Leap Wine Cellars "FAY" Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
(Stags Leap District, Napa Valley, California) - [WS 95]

About the Winery:
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, notably known for being the winery that won the Cabernet Sauvignon competition in the famous 1976 Judgment of Paris, was founded in 1970, and is considered a Napa Valley first-growth estate.

"Our signature style has often been described as “an iron fist in a velvet glove,” a reference to the artful balance between ripeness and restraint, softness and structure, that yields Napa Valley wines of exceptional beauty and long life. Achieving that style requires a level of attention to detail found only among the world’s best and most dedicated wine producers."

Tasting Notes:
The 2021 FAY Estate Cabernet Sauvignon offers fragrant and generous aromas with notes of boysenberry, Bing cherries, strawberry preserves, a touch of spice, cookie dough, and subtle floral notes. This wine exhibits a youthful, vibrant mouthfeel with a savory coating and lasting finish. Tannins are silky and persistent with lasting berry notes.

Food Pairing:
Try pairing this estate-grown Cabernet with Maitake mushroom risotto, maple-glazed salmon or grilled buffalo burgers with caramelized onion & Havarti cheese.

About this Wine

The FAY vineyard is where the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars story began. Established by pioneering grape grower Nathan Fay in 1961, it was the first planting of Cabernet Sauvignon in what is now the Stags Leap District. At the time, conventional wisdom maintained that the area was too cool for Cabernet Sauvignon. But tasting Nathan Fay’s homemade Cabernet in 1969 was a defining moment for the founder of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. Here was land capable of producing a wine that could rival the best in the world. Within a year an adjoining ranch, now known as S.L.V., was purchased. And, in 1986, the winery purchased Nathan Fay’s vineyard and named it FAY in his honor. The first vintage of a single vineyard FAY Cabernet Sauvignon was 1990.

Vineyard & Winemaking:
FAY vineyard remains one the great Napa Valley vineyards, producing fruit with an abundance of supple red and black berry character, voluptuous perfume and a luscious, fine-grained texture. The grapes were primarily sourced from Blocks 2C, 3A, 8AB, 3B, 2A, 6 and 2B, which combined, give the wine its classic red-fruit tones and aromatic top notes as well as its structure. When the various lots are blended and aged in French oak barrels, the resulting wine gives us the classic expression that is a hallmark of our estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignon, “an iron fist in a velvet glove.” With this vintage, Winemaker Marcus Notaro used careful barrel selection to marry the unique characters of FAY vineyard to the barrel type and toast level to further enhance the fruit in the wine. The wine was aged for 20 months in new French oak.

Technical Information

Blend: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Aging: 21 months, 100% new French oak
Alcohol: 14.8%

95 Points - Wine Spectator:
Rich and caressing, with a lovely gilding of violet to its core of anise, boysenberry, blackberry and mulberry notes. The long, polished finish shows a suave kiss of toast. This gorgeous red is aimed at the hedonist crowd. Drink now through 2038. 3,450 cases made.