Stag's Leap Wine Cellars
The 1973 S.L.V. Cabernet took the top red spot at the 1976 Paris blind tasting, above First Growth Bordeaux. You taste in sight of the vineyard that grew it.
Why go
The founders bought the S.L.V. vineyard in 1970. Six years later a three-year-old Cabernet off that block went to Paris and beat the Bordeaux.1 That is one wine's result from one blind tasting, and the winery tells it as its own founding story. The tasting rooms look out over both estate vineyards, with the Stags Leap Palisades behind them.2 Marcus Notaro has been director of winemaking since 2013; Luis Contreras started here in 1996 as a temporary bottling worker, became cellar master in 2006 and winemaker in 2023.1 Guillermo Perez, fifth generation in a farming family, runs the vineyards and is pushing the estate toward Regenerative Organic certification.1
Order this / avoid
- Order: the estate Cabernets, S.L.V. and FAY, which are the two blocks in front of you.2
- Avoid: a ride share. The winery says plainly that Uber has been unreliable and tells you to carpool or hire a shuttle, and it puts no cap on shuttle size.2
- Avoid: bringing children. Everyone on the property must be 21, infants included, and only certified service animals are allowed.2
What locals & experts say
- Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, on its own founding:
It was a historic achievement at the 1976 Judgment of Paris blind tasting where Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 1973 S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon was awarded the highest honor in the red wine category above First Growth Bordeaux Chateaux.
1 - The same page, on the vineyard work:
Guillermo leads the efforts for the estate to be Regenerative Organic Certified®, which represents the highest standard for organic agriculture in the world.
1
Both of those are the house on itself. I read no outside palate on the current wines this pass, so I have no critic's line for you.
Good to know
- Dress for the cave. The tour spends about ten minutes underground, where the winery keeps it between 50 and 55 degrees. The Great Room dining cave is temperature controlled.2
- No weddings, and the reason is the county. The Napa County Winery Definition Ordinance bars social events on the property.2
- No tasting price is published. The site describes the experiences and names no fee, so call and ask. The only numbers it prints are the private-dining minimums, $12,750 for dinner and $9,750 for lunch.2
- Special diets are handled with advance notice, and there is an indoor backup in the cave and the FAY Visitor Center if the weather turns.2
- Hygiene: not established. No inspection instrument for this county is on file here.
Verdict
should-visit — One bottling off this land, the 1973 S.L.V. Cabernet, took the top red place at the 1976 Paris blind tasting over First Growth Bordeaux, and every Napa Cabernet price since has some of that in it. The vineyard is still here and you drink in sight of it: the tasting rooms look out over S.L.V. and FAY, and the tour spends ten minutes in a cave held at 50 to 55 degrees. Marcus Notaro has run the winemaking since 2013 and Guillermo Perez is pushing the estate toward Regenerative Organic certification, which is an aim rather than a badge and is written that way. The rung stops short of the top because everything read this pass was the winery's own, and because the site publishes no tasting price at all, so book by phone and ask what it costs.