Napa: Stags Leap District AVA

Well south and on the eastern side of the valley, Stags Leap District (shunning the apostrophe) celebrates Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and virtually nothing else, with the exception of Shafer Vineyards’ Relentless Syrah. Other varieties grow well, but not with enough regional distinctiveness to call attention to themselves, nor to command the prices paid for the AVA’s Cabernets and Merlots. The hallmarks of its Cabernets are a greater emphasis on sour cherry and blackberry flavours than in counterparts from other parts of Napa, and suppler tannins. Eroded volcanic and old river sedimentary soils, reflective heat from the Palisades rock formations on the AVA’s eastern edge, and refreshing breezes from San Pablo Bay to the south make Stags Leap District a nearly perfect growing environment for red wine grapes. Curiously, it was little planted to Cabernet before 1970. It takes its name from a basalt palisade north east of Napa city, under the towering wall of which its vineyards lie, and from which deer were reputedly driven by indigenous hunters. Clos du Val and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars were the pioneers, since joined by Cliff Lede, Chimney Rock, Pine Ridge, Shafer, Silverado Vineyards, Sinskey, and others.