Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Fay Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
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Somm Note
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Try pairing this estate-grown Cabernet with Thai peanut and shrimp salad, savory plum tart with goat cheese, or herb-crusted lamb chops with creamy polenta.
Blend: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
From the famous site that kicked off a revolution in Napa Cabernet, this wine is aromatic in cedar, earth and sage. Robust and generously concentrated in berry, cherry and cassis, it is complex, structured and velvety smooth, the tannins supple and support- ive, unfurling slowly in the glass. Editors’ Choice.
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James Suckling
Very floral with violets and roses, as well as sweet berries, cherries and some redcurrants. It’s round and refined with lovely berry character and fine tannins.
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Wine Spectator
Very stylish, with a fine-grained alder and cedar backdrop that lets creamed plum, cassis and cherry reduction notes glide through unencumbered. Offers subtle savory, mineral and anise details that peek in throughout, with latent depth through the finish. Accessible, but there's absolutely no rush here.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars FAY Cabernet Sauvignon is authentic. TASTING NOTES: This wine stays honest and accurate in its aromas and flavors of red and black fruit, hints of dust, spice, and dried herbs. Enjoy it with a crown roast of lamb. (Tasted: February 25, 2022, Rutherford, CA)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Unlike many prior vintages, which often include a small proportion of Cabernet Franc, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Fay Vineyard is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Despite being aged exclusively in new French oak, the nose shows only hints of pencil shavings and vanilla, with the primary aromas being violets, redcurrants and cherries. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, silky, fine and elegant, with a long, gently oaky finish. Best After 2022
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Considered one of the "first growths" of Napa Valley, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars produces renowned Cabernet Sauvignon from its historic Stags Leap District estate vineyards. Learn about Stags Leap history and estate-grown wines.
History of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars was founded in 1970 with the purchase of a 40 acre property in the now famed Stag’s Leap District AVA in Napa Valley. The winery brought international recognition to California winemaking and the Napa Valley region when their 1973 S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon won the 1976 Paris Tasting, also known as the "Judgement of Paris."
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Estate-Grown Cabernet Sauvignon
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars' three estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignons - CASK 23, S.L.V. and Fay - are among the most highly regarded and collected Cabernet Sauvignons worldwide. The Cabernet wines are fashioned to express richness balanced by elegant restraint, an approach often described as "an iron fist in a velvet glove."
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
Legend has it that quick and nimble stags would escape the indigenous hunters of southern Napa Valley through the landmark palisades that sit just northeast of the current city of Napa. As a result, the area was given the name, Stags Leap. While its grape-growing history dates back to the mid-1800s, winemaking didn’t really take off until the mid-1970s after a small but pivotal blind tasting called the Judgement of Paris.
When a 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon won first place against its high-profile Bordeaux contenders, like Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Chateau Haut-Brion, international attention to the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley escalated rapidly.
The vineyards in this one-of-a-kind wine growing region receive hot afternoon air reflecting off of its eastern palisade formation. In combination with the cool evening breezes from the San Pablo Bay just south, this becomes an optimal environment for grape growing. While many varieties could thrive here, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot dominate with virtually no others, save for a spot or two of Syrah.
Stags Leap soils—eroded volcanic and old river sediments—encourage well established root systems and result in complex, terroir-driven wines. Stags Leap District reds have a distinct sour cherry and black berry character with baking spice and dried earth aromas, and supple tannins.