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Stags Leap District

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.

2003 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon

Light label condition issue

RP  100   
WE  96   
WS  93   
ST  93   

2003 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon

Label condition issue

RP  100   
WE  96   
WS  93   
ST  93   

2004 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon

WE  100   
RP  99   
WS  94   
ST  91-94   

2004 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon

WE  100   
RP  99   
WS  94   
ST  91-94   

2004 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon

WE  100   
RP  99   
WS  94   
ST  91-94   

2004 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon

Lightly depressed cork; light label condition issue

WE  100   
RP  99   
WS  94   
ST  91-94   

2005 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon

1.5ltr

Light capsule condition issue; light signs of past seepage

RP  97   
ST  94-97   
WS  92   

2006 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon

1.5ltr

RP  96   
ST  93   
WS  92   

2009 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon

6.0ltr

Light capsule condition issue; signs of past seepage; etched bottle

WA  98   
WE  97   
WS  96   
ST  94-96   

2011 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon

1.5ltr

RP  96   
JS  96   
VN  94+    
WS  93   
JR  15.5   

2012 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon

1.5ltr

RP  100   
JS  98   
WS  96   
VN  96   
JR  15   

2014 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon

1.5ltr

WA  98   
VN  97+    

2016 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon

1.5ltr

WA  100   
VN  100   
JD  100   
WS  95   

2018 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon

JD  100   
JS  99   
WA  98+    
VN  98   
WS  95   
JR  16.5   

2009 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon

1-bottle Lot, Wood Case, 6.0ltr

Etched bottle; Light case condition issue

WA  98   
WE  97   
WS  96   
ST  94-96   

2016 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon

6-bottle Lot, Wood Case

WA  100   
VN  100   
JD  100   
WS  95   

2004 Shafer Vineyards One Point Five Cabernet Sauvignon

Lightly depressed cork

WS  93   
WE  93   
ST  91   
RP  90-92   

2017 Realm Moonracer

JS  97   
JD  96   
VN  94   

2021 Realm Moonracer

VN  97   

1999 Robert Mondavi Stag’s Leap District Merlot

Light label condition issue

2013 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon

2014 Bevan Cellars Wildfoote Vineyard Vixen Block Cabernet Sauvignon

RP  99   

2015 Bevan Cellars Wildfoote Vineyard Vixen Block Cabernet Sauvignon

WA  98   
JD  96   

2012 Hall Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon

VN  93-95   
WS  92   

2013 Futo 5500 SLD

JS  98   
RP  97+    
VN  97