2013 Malk Family Vineyards Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon

Malk Family Vineyards was started in 1997 when Brian and Nancy Malk bought hillside acreage in the Stags Leap District. They planted vineyards and their first commercial release was a 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon. Though he has lived in the U.S. since the 1970s, Brian Malk is from South Africa and his grandfather owned a vineyard near Capetown. The couple hired Robbie Meyer as winemaker. Meyer has worked with Peter Michael Winery, Lewis Cellars and has two of his own labels, L’Angevin and Peirson Meyer Wines. Malk’s flagship wine is its Stags Leap Cabernet Sauvignon, though it also makes Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. The drawing of a Straffordshire Bull Terrier on every label is an homage to the Malks’ beloved bull terrier.

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.

One of the most widely grown grape varieties, it can be found in nearly every wine growing region. A cross between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. It’s a hardy vine that produces a full-bodied wine with high tannins and great aging potential.