Wine Advocate
par Joe Czerwinski le 15/09/2022
Even applying the usual caveats regarding barrel samples, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon S.L.V. looks extremely promising. The aromas are already strikingly complex, with hints of smoke, violets and cassis-scented fruit. There's an overall sense of richness and harmony in this medium to full-bodied wine, which comes across as being extremely silky, without being soft.
One of Napa Valley's iconic estates, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, founded by Warren Winiarski, has been jointly owned and operated by a partnership between Tuscany's Antinori family and Washington's Chateau Ste. Michelle since 2007. Winemaker Marcus Notaro joined Stag's Leap Wine Cellars in 2013, arriving from another Antinori-CSM joint venture, Col Solare in Washington State. After nearly a decade, it seems clear that he's becoming more and more comfortable with the role and the local conditions.
"My idea is—particularly after a couple of years—I see the personalities of the vineyards. It's my idea to express that," said Notaro. "The first year, I was like, I don't know if I can change that. When I realized that this place was innovative, that's when I realized I could do more. The best wines are when I'm matching our style to what the grapes give us. Grapes from this area give us something almost ideal—ripe in flavor but not too alcoholic."
We took a quick tour of the estate vineyards, which are undergoing extensive redevelopment. "We need to be set up to handle September [heat]," explained Notaro. New plantings are being set up with rows that run from northeast to southwest as a result. Irrigation comes in the form of reclaimed water purchased from the town of Yountville.
The grapes are handpicked at night; unlike many of the valley's high-end wineries, there's no optical sorter (yet). In the winery, Notaro feels he gets more complexity with controlled fermentations, "rather than something that blasts through." He'll typically cold soak for a few days prior to fermentation and likes the results he gets from using rack and return during this stage, then he backs off on extraction once he feels fermentation is getting close. He's even been experimenting with adding yeasts other than Saccharomyces cerevisiae during the cold soak instead of adding sulfur. That said, he remains flexible in the overall approach. "We farm and ferment for the season," he said.
The core of the property are the two adjoining vineyards: S.L.V., planted by Winiarski in 1970, and Fay, which Winiarski purchased from neighbor Nathan Fay in 1986. The first Fay Vineyard-designated wine was from the 1990 vintage. According to Notaro, Fay offers more of a perfumed, berry-pie style, with softer, lush tannins, while S.L.V. is the estate's darker side, with more cocoa powder and a dustier feel. He uses different yeasts and barrels to help emphasize those differences.
The first vintage of Cask 23 was made in 1974, and at the time, it was simply the best barrels from S.L.V. Since 1990, Cask 23 has been a blend of the best barrels from the two vineyards. Notaro says that today, his focus for that selection—normally made in December following harvest—is on complexity and length.
As this was my first time to sit down with Notaro, we tasted through the four most recent vintages: 2018 and 2019 from bottle, final blends of the 2020s prior to bottling and barrel samples of the 2021s.
He characterized 2018 as a lush, long vintage, with a cool summer that yielded ripe tannins. "It was softer, more flexible in terms of what you could do with vinification." One of the most generous vintages since Notaro arrived in Napa, he said overall yields on the estate were close to three tons per acre, like 2014.
Except for "some crazy weather during bloom," Notaro said that 2019 in Stags Leap was similar to 2018. Yields were lower as a result, with less uniformity among the grapes and a bit more vegetative growth.
While 2020 featured a couple of heat spikes, the big challenge was smoke. "We learned a lot in 2017," said Notaro. "You needed to sample the grapes as close to harvest as possible and do a little mini-fermentation. Then do sensory analysis as well as lab numbers. In this vintage for here, yeah, the fires were going on, but I didn't feel we had a big settling in as far as the smoke goes."
With the long delays in getting smoke-taint analysis from commercial labs, Notaro said they had the ability to send samples to their own facilities at Chateau Ste. Michelle. He added that they made less wine, due to the heat events. "For Artemis, we rejected some vineyards that are normally included, including one of our own.
"The [2020] wines are riper, but I think they're true to their origins. I think we're good. I think we made the right decision," said Notaro. "I feel like we would've given up, that we would've let down fans of our wines. You've got to go for it. You've got to try."
Of 2021, Notaro said it was very dry, with low yields, more similar to 2019, including a bit of irregular weather at bloom. That said, he continued, "I like the wines; they're flavorful; they're fresh. The first few fermentations I was a bit nervous, because of the lack of uniformity we had, but as they finished up, I felt like we were OK."