Review: 2019 Stags’ Leap Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Limited Edition Reserve Napa Valley

Review: 2019 Stags’ Leap Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Limited Edition Reserve Napa Valley

Review: 2019 Stags’ Leap Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Limited Edition Reserve Napa Valley

Stags’ Leap produces a number of Cabernet Sauvignons that range from very good to outstanding, so it’s a pleasure today to have a chance to try their 2019 Limited Edition Reserve, which draws grapes from a number of their Napa Valley vineyards. This year’s bottling is 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Malbec, 3% Petit Verdot, and 2% Cabernet Franc.

You will want to decant this wine or give it a bit of time to breathe. At first pour, it is tight and a bit one-dimensional, but with some air it opens up nicely. The wine pours inky purple in the glass. The nose is subtler than the palate, but both offer juicy, well-integrated notes of plum, cassis, blackberry, and tea leaf. The wine has a silky mouthfeel, and its high acidity promises it will pair well with steak or even a pork ragu. The finish is medium to long, slightly drying, and introduces a light note of milk chocolate. Altogether, I might have liked a bit more complexity at this price point, but this is a good example of what Stags’ Leap does so well. This might be a good bottle to hold on to; another two years in the bottle should bring added depth.

A- / $100

2019 Stags' Leap Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Limited Edition Reserve Napa Valley

USD100
9

Rating

9.0/10

Robert Lublin is a longtime contributor to Drinkhacker and has also written for The Alcohol Professor. He regularly teaches whisk(e)y and wine appreciation classes for Arlington Community Education as well as Newton Community Education, both near Boston. He is a Professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston and has published numerous books and articles on Shakespeare as well as theatre and film history.

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