2018 Stags' Leap Winery Twelve Falls

Stag’s Leap Winery is near Yountville, in the Stag’s Leap District of Napa Valley. The 240-acre estate was founded in 1893 as Stag’s Leap Manor, but since 1997 it has been owned by Beringer Wine Estates. The estate produces Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Merlot, Chardonnay, Viognier and several blends.

Stags Leap District AVA in southern Napa Valley has a storied history. It is home to Stag’s Leap Cellars, whose 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon won the famous Judgment of Paris blind tasting that included several of Bordeaux’s most exalted First Growths. Vineyards were started in area in the late 19th century, but the district’s rise in prestige started in the late 1960s when Nathan Fay planted Cabernet Sauvignon. Fay later sold his estate to Warren Winiarski, founder of Stag’s Leap Cellars. The district was given its own AVA designation in 1989, and today there are 1,400 vineyard acres. The AVA is especially notable because it was the first in the U.S. to be granted AVA status based on terroir. Its distinctive soils is a mix of volcanic soils, river sediment and loamy clay-like soil. Because the soils don’t retain water well, vineyards in Stag’s Leap tend to grow fruit with great intensity and flavor. Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for 95% of the grapes planted in Stags Leap.