Stag's Leap Wine Cellars

Last updated

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars
Stags leap logo.jpg
LocationNapa, California, United States
Coordinates 38°23′58″N122°19′32″W / 38.399343°N 122.325543°W / 38.399343; -122.325543
Appellation Stags Leap AVA
Other labelsHawk Crest
Founded1970 (1970)
First  vintage 1972;52 years ago (1972)
Key people Warren Winiarski, founder
Marcus Notaro, winemaker
Parent company Antinori
Cases/yr130,000
Known forCabernet Sauvignon
Varietals Cabernet Sauvignon , Chardonnay , Merlot , Sauvignon blanc
Website www.cask23.com

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars is a winery founded by Warren Winiarski in 1970 and based in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley, California.

Contents

The winery achieved significant international recognition in 1976, six years after its establishment, at the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, also known as the Judgment of Paris, where its 1973 vintage Cabernet Sauvignon won first place among ten top French and California red wines in a blind taste test by predominantly renown French oenophiles.

The French wines submitted were prestigious first and second growths wines from the 1970 and 1971 vintage from Château Mouton-Rothschild, Château Haut-Brion, Château Leoville Las Cases and Château Montrose.

The result of the tasting has been described by Decanter as "a victory that put California on the winemaking map, and established Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars as a global superstar". [1]

History

Stainless steel fermenting containers that are part of the Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Stag's Leap Containers.jpg
Stainless steel fermenting containers that are part of the Stag's Leap Wine Cellars

Warren Winiarski was introduced to wine while on a year-long trip to Italy studying the work of Niccolò Machiavelli. After returning to Chicago, he found an interest in wine and in the early 1960s began to experiment with making his own wine at home. He moved to the Napa Valley with his wife and children in 1968, and took up a job with Chateau Souverain. Following this, he moved to work at the newly started Robert Mondavi Winery. [2] [3]

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars was founded in 1970 after Winiarski purchased a 44-acre (18 ha) block of land for under $200,000 that was situated next to the vineyard owned by modern Napa Valley Cabernet winegrowing pioneer Nathan Fay. Winiarski decided on purchasing land in the region after tasting a homemade wine from Nathan Fay's vineyard, after tasting the wine Winarski stated "I said to myself, Eureka! That’s it. This wine satisfied what I hoped was possible in the Napa Valley. It had not only regional character but also elements of classic or universal character." [4]

The purchased plot was planted to prune trees, cherries and walnuts as well as a small amount of Petite Sirah and Alicante Bouschet, these were replaced with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot vines and the vineyard was renamed to "Stag's Leap Vineyard" or "S.L.V". [2] [4] [5]

The first vintage produced from the new vineyard was in 1972 and was produced in a rented facility. Winiarski was in charge of making the wine, with assistance from Andre Tchelistcheff. The second vintage—the first that was produced at the estate and in commercial quantities— was from 1973. This '73 vintage was entered into and subsequently rated the top red wine at the now historic Judgment of Paris in 1976, launching the winery into the international spotlight. [5]

Following this achievement, the winery began to expand its land holdings, purchasing the neighboring "Fay" Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard in 1986, which nearly doubled the vineyard size owned by the estate, and a Chardonnay vineyard named "Arcadia" from Mike Grgich in 1996. Grgich was the winemaker at Chateau Montelena in the early 1970s and he produced the counterpart winning Californian Chardonnay at the 1976 Judgment of Paris. [6] [7]

A lawsuit initiated by Winiarski and a counter-suit filed by Carl Doumani, owner of Stags' Leap Winery, was decided in 1986 by the California Supreme Court. The two wineries were founded in the same year, and both claimed first use of the name "Stag's Leap". The court decided that the wineries were named after the area, so both were allowed to use the name. The judgment included a provision that Winiarski would keep the apostrophe before the "s" in his winery name, where Doumani would use the apostrophe after the s. [2]

Winiarski and Doumani became friendly after the lawsuit was concluded, releasing a 1985 vintage Cabernet Sauvignon with an equal percentage of grapes from each estate and named "Accord". They also worked together in an attempt to stop the Stags Leap American Viticultural Area from being created, but they were unsuccessful and the AVA was ratified as a sub-region of the Napa Valley AVA in 1989. [2]

In August 2007, Winiarski sold the winery to Chateau Ste. Michelle and Marchesi Antinori Srl for a reported value of US$185 million. The sale included the winery facilities, as well as the SLV and Fay vineyards. The Arcadia vineyard was kept by the Winiarski family and will continue to provide fruit to the winery on a contract basis. Winiarski, 79 at the time of the sale, was looking to retire and his family members were not in a position to continue running the business. Winiarski agreed to continue as a part-time advisor for three years following the sale. [8] [9] [10] In May 2023, Marchesi Antinori bought Ste. Michelle's 85% stake and became the sole owner. [11]

Judgment of Paris and subsequent competitions

The winery achieved significant international recognition in 1976, four years after its establishment, at the Judgment of Paris where its 1973 vintage Cabernet Sauvignon won first place among ten top French and California red wines in a blind taste test by leading French wine experts. [8] [12] The French wines tasted were prestigious first and second growths wines from the 1970 and 1971 vintage from Château Haut-Brion, Château Mouton-Rothschild, Château Leoville Las Cases and Château Montrose. [4]

The result of the tasting has been described by Decanter as "a victory that put California on the winemaking map, and established Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars as a global superstar", [8] and by Paul Lukacs as "most important, it enabled not only the United States but also Australia, South America, and the rest of the New World to emerge as legitimate sources of increasingly superior wines." [4]

A bottle of 1973 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon was placed into the Smithsonian National Museum of American History collection in 1996 as a result of placing first in this competition and to reflect the impact that the achievement had on the United States wine industry. [2] [13] [14]

The bottle was also included in the book, The Smithsonian’s History of America in 101 Objects, by Richard Kurin, the Smithsonian Institution’s Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture. Other items chosen from among the collections for this historic list included Neil Armstrong’s space suit, Abraham Lincoln’s top hat, Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, and Lewis & Clark’s compass.” [15] [16]

The San Francisco Wine Tasting of 1978 was a re-tasting of the same wines 20 months after the Paris event. Stag's Leap again won first place with a different set of judges. [17] [18]

At the French Culinary Institute Tasting of 1986, held ten years after Paris, Stag's Leap received sixth place, and in the Wine Spectator Tasting of 1986 it won fourth place. [19]

In the Judgment of Paris 30th Anniversary tasting with the same wines and vintages tasted at the original Judgment of Paris competition, Stag's Leap achieved second place. [20]

Vineyards

Vineyards at Stag's Leap in 1990 Stag's Leap, Napa Valley, 1990.jpg
Vineyards at Stag's Leap in 1990

The "S.L.V" (Stag's Leap Vineyard) was the initial vineyard owned by the estate. It consists of 35 acres (14 ha) of Cabernet Sauvignon and 1 acre (0.40 ha) of Merlot. This vineyard was the source of the grapes that produced the wine that won the 1976 Judgment of Paris. [6] [7]

The "Fay" vineyard was purchased in 1986. This was the vineyard that originally inspired Winiarski to make wine in this area. It is the oldest Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard in the area and consists of 66 acres (27 ha) of Cabernet Sauvignon and one-half acre (0.20 ha) of Petit Verdot. [6] [7]

Arcadia is a 128-acre (52 ha) vineyard near Mount George in the Napa Valley. The vineyard was purchased in 1996 from Mike Grgich. It was retained by the Winiarski family after the sale of the estate in 2007. It still provides grapes for the estate on a contract basis. [6] [8]

Wines

Bottles of Stag's Leap Cask 23 Cabernet Sauvignon Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon CASK 23 1997.jpg
Bottles of Stag's Leap Cask 23 Cabernet Sauvignon

The flagship red wine is named "Cask 23" and this is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon fruit from the SLV and Fay vineyards. The first vintage of this wine was produced in 1974, after Winiarski noticed that a specific cask, numbered 23, stood out from the other casks produced that year. It is not produced every vintage, but only in years that are viewed by the winemaking team as producing excellent quality fruit. [2] [5] [21]

Other wines in the top level "Estate & Single-Vineyard Collection" include two Cabernet Sauvignon single vineyard wines, from the "S.L.V" and "Fay" vineyards, as well as a Chardonnay from the "Arcadia" vineyard. [21]

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars produces a mid-level range under the designation "Napa Valley Collection". These wines are made from estate owned vineyards as well as purchased grapes from other vineyards in the Napa Valley. Wines in this range include a "Artemis" Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, "Karia" Chardonnay and a Sauvignon blanc. [21]

A range of second wines are produced at a lower price point, under the brand name "Hawk Crest". This label was started in 1974. [3] [6] [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Livermore Valley AVA</span> Wine grape–growing region in California, U.S.

The Livermore Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area in Alameda County, California, surrounding the city of Livermore in the Tri-Valley region. It is named after the Livermore Valley, which is named, along with the city, after Robert Livermore, a landowner whose holdings encompassed the valley.

The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, also known as the Judgment of Paris, was a wine competition, to commemorate the United States Bicentennial, organized in Paris on 24 May 1976 by Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant, and his American colleague, Patricia Gallagher, in which French oenophiles participated in two blind tasting comparisons: one of top-quality Chardonnays and another of red wines. A Napa County wine rated best in each category, which caused surprise as France was generally regarded as being the foremost producer of the world's best wines. By the early 1970s, the quality of some California wines was outstanding but few took notice as the market favored French brands. Spurrier sold predominately French wines and believed the California wines would not be favored by the judges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">André Tchelistcheff</span> American winemaker

André Viktorovich Tchelistcheff was America's most influential post-Prohibition winemaker. Tchelistcheff is most notable for his contributions toward defining the style of California's best wines, especially Cabernet Sauvignon. Called the "dean of American winemakers", industry pioneers, such as Rev. John Staten of Field Stone Winery, Robert Mondavi, Louis Martini, Rob Davis of Jordan Vineyard & Winery, Joel Aiken, Michael Silacci of Opus One, Greg La Follette, of Ancient Oak, and Rick Sayre of Rodney Strong Wine Estates, considered him their mentor. Andre advised Warren Winiarski in launching Stag's Leap Wine Cellars which famously made the 1973 SLV Cabernet Sauvignon that was awarded the most points in the ”Judgement of Paris” wine tasting in 1976. Andre also assisted Ste. Michelle Wine Estates in launching the Anthology program at Conn Creek Winery in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren Winiarski</span> California winemaker (1928–2024)

Warren Winiarski was an American Napa Valley winemaker and the founder and proprietor of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Grgich</span> Croatian-American winemaker (1923–2023)

Miljenko "Mike" Grgich was a Croatian-American winemaker in California. He was the winemaker behind the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay that bested several white Burgundy wines in the wine tasting event that became known as the Judgement of Paris. In recognition of his contributions to the American wine industry, Grgich was inducted into the Culinary Institute of America's Vintner's Hall of Fame on March 7, 2008. The tribute came at the same time that Grgich was celebrating his 50th vintage of winemaking in the Napa Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grgich Hills Estate</span>

Grgich Hills Estate is a winery located in Rutherford, California in the heart of the Napa Valley. The winery changed its name in 2006 when it first began producing only "estate grown" wines made from grapes grown exclusively in vineyards owned by the winery. The Napa Valley Wine Train has a passenger stop located at Grgich Hills Estate. Grgich Hills' vineyards are certified organic and biodynamic and it converted to solar energy in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ridge Vineyards</span> Northern California winery

Ridge Vineyards is a California winery specializing in Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay wines. Ridge produces wine at two winery locations in northern California. The original winery facilities are located at an elevation of 2,300 feet on Monte Bello Ridge in unincorporated Santa Clara County in the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA, south of Los Altos, California and west of Cupertino, California. The other Ridge winery facilities are at Lytton Springs in the Dry Creek Valley AVA of Sonoma County. Ridge Vineyard's 1971 Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon gained prominence for its fifth-place finish in the 1976 "Judgment of Paris" wine tasting.

Mayacamas Vineyards is a California wine producer located in the Mt. Veeder AVA in the Mayacamas Mountains within the Napa Valley AVA, bordering the Sonoma Valley AVA. The estate is known for producing wine of a more traditional style than the Napa trends of recent years that emphasizes power, weight, high levels of alcohol and extravagance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heitz Wine Cellars</span> Winery in California

Heitz Cellar is a California wine producer located within Napa Valley east of the town of St. Helena. An early modern era Napa Valley presence and pioneering exponent of French oak, the estate enjoys a historical renown with the success of its Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, and has also been described as a "master of Grignolino".

Clos du Val a winery located in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley, California. Founded in 1972, it earned global recognition in 1976 with its involvement in the famed Judgement of Paris in 1976. Clos du Val is French for “small vineyard estate of a small valley."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beaulieu Vineyard</span>

Beaulieu Vineyard is a winery near Rutherford, California, belonging to the appellation Rutherford AVA. It was established by Georges de Latour and his wife Fernande in 1900.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antinori</span> Italian wine company

Marchesi Antinori Srl is an Italian wine company, based in Florence, Tuscany, that can trace its history back to 1385. They are one of the biggest wine companies in Italy, and their innovations played a large part in the "Super-Tuscan" revolution of the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stags Leap District AVA</span> American Viticultural Area in California

The Stags Leap District AVA is an American Viticultural Area located within the Napa Valley AVA 6 miles (9.7 km) north of the city of Napa, California. The Stags Leap District was the first appellation to be designated an AVA based on the unique terroir characteristics of its soil. The soil of this region include loam and clay sediments from the Napa River and volcanic soil deposits left over from erosion of the Vaca Mountains. Like many Napa Valley AVAs, Stags Leap District is particularly known for its Cabernet Sauvignon. In 1976 at the Judgment of Paris wine tasting, the 1973 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet from the area that would become this AVA won first place in the red wine category, beating out classified Bordeaux estates. Today, the Stags Leap District is home to twenty different wineries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colorado wine</span> Wine made from grapes grown in Colorado, USA

Colorado wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in the U.S. state of Colorado. Most of Colorado's vineyards are located on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, though an increasing number of wineries are located along the Front Range.

Quilceda Creek Winery

Quilceda Creek Winery is a boutique winery in Snohomish, Washington specializing in premium Cabernet Sauvignon wine. The winery is named for a nearby creek in Snohomish County. Although the winery facility is located west of the Cascade Range, the winery sources all of its grapes from its four estate vineyards in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA and Red Mountain AVA. Quilceda Creek Winery has earned some of the highest reviews and awards of any winery in the United States and was the first American wine from outside of California to earn a perfect 100-point score from wine critic Robert Parker's publication The Wine Advocate. Since its founding in 1978, Quilceda Creek has received an additional seven 100-point scores from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, one 100-point score from Decanter (Magazine) and two 100-point scores from acclaimed wine blog OwenBargreen.com. In addition to critics' praise, one of the highest honors for Quilceda Creek happened when President Barack Obama chose to serve their 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley at a White House dinner to President Hu Jintao of China in 2011.

<i>Bottle Shock</i> 2008 film by Randall Miller

Bottle Shock is a 2008 American comedy-drama film based on the 1976 wine competition termed the "Judgment of Paris", when California wine defeated French wine in a blind taste test. It stars Alan Rickman, Chris Pine, and Bill Pullman and is directed by Randall Miller, who wrote the screenplay along with Jody Savin and Ross Schwartz. It premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Gustavo Brambila is a Mexican-American winemaker in the Napa Valley.

Caymus Vineyards is a Napa winery owned by Chuck Wagner and his family. It was named for George Yount's Rancho Caymus land grant, which in turn was named for the villages of Kaimus, the Wappo settlements previously existing in the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baldacci Family Vineyards</span>

Baldacci Family Vineyards is a family-owned winery located in the Stags Leap District AVA of Napa Valley. Established in 1998, Baldacci Family Vineyards owns over 50 acres of sustainably-farmed vines in three distinct Napa Valley appellations: Stags Leap District, Calistoga, and Los Carneros. The wine portfolio is focused on limited-production, estate-grown wines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cakebread Cellars</span> Winery in Rutherford, California, US

Cakebread Cellars is a Napa Valley winery known for its Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc wines, which are internationally distributed. Founded in 1973 by Jack and Dolores Cakebread in Rutherford, California, the winery produces approximately 200,000 cases of wine per year.

References

  1. ↑ Staff, Decanter (July 31, 2007). "Stag's Leap Wine Cellars sold to Antinori, Ste Michelle". Decanter. Archived from the original on August 6, 2023. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Emert, Carol (April 1, 2004). "The Winiarski Way" (In 1976, Warren Winiarski's Cabernet bested Bordeaux, and Stag's Leap Wine Cellars became famous. At age 76, he's still in control.). SFGate. Hearst Communications, Inc. Archived from the original on April 8, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
  3. 1 2 FRANK J. PRIAL (July 6, 1988). "NY Times - Wine talk". Napa Valley (Calif): Select.nytimes.com. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Lukacs, Paul (2005). The Great Wines of America: The Top Forty Vintners, Vineyards, and Vintages . W. W. Norton. pp.  365–373. ISBN   978-0-393-05138-4.
  5. 1 2 3 "Stag's Leap Wine Cellars". Wine Doctor. Archived from the original on June 29, 2010. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "After the leap: His celebrated winery sold, Warren Winiarski ponders his legacy - and his next move - SFGate". Articles.sfgate.com. March 28, 2008. Archived from the original on November 3, 2010. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
  7. 1 2 3 "Stag's Leap Wine Cellars - Estate - Map". Cask23.com. Archived from the original on November 21, 2010. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Murphy, Linda (July 31, 2007). "Stag's Leap Wine Cellars sold to Antinori, Ste Michelle". Decanter. Archived from the original on May 27, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
  9. ↑ Jack Heeger (July 31, 2007). "Wineries go on the block". The Napa Valley Register. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
  10. ↑ Jon Bonné (August 1, 2007). "Napa Valley Stunner - Famed Winery Sold". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on December 6, 2007. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
  11. ↑ Frank, Mitch; Sanderson, Bruce. "Antinori Takes Sole Ownership of Napa's Stag's Leap Wine Cellars". Wine Spectator. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  12. ↑ Frank Prial (June 16, 1979). "Wine talk: California reds score high in testing but some caveats must be weighed". The New York Times . p. 39.
  13. ↑ "Treasures of American History". National Museum of American History. October 24, 2008. Archived from the original (Chateau Montelena Chardonnay, by Miljenko Grgich, 1973; Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, by Warren Winiarski, 1973) on April 23, 2009. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
  14. ↑ "To Our Readers". Time. May 20, 1996. Archived from the original on January 10, 2007. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
  15. ↑ Melnik, Peg (October 30, 2013). "The Smithsonian Magazine includes wine in its "101 Objects that Made America."". The Press Democrat. Archived from the original on August 4, 2018.
  16. ↑ Edwards, Owen. "That Revolutionary May Day in 1976 When California Wines Bested France's Finest". Smithsonianmag.com. Archived from the original on August 14, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  17. ↑ Taber 2005 , p.  218 , 238 , 276
  18. ↑ "Vintners Club". Archived from the original on February 10, 2015.
  19. ↑ "California Wine Makers Again Top French Rivals". Los Angeles Times. September 17, 1986. Archived from the original on August 14, 2022.
  20. ↑ Comiskey, Patrick (May 31, 2006). "Tasted 30 years later: They're alive!". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012.
  21. 1 2 3 "Stag's Leap Wine Cellars - Wines". Cask23.com. Archived from the original on November 27, 2010. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
  22. ↑ Prial, Frank J. (September 11, 1991). "NY Times - Wine Talk". Select.nytimes.com. Retrieved January 30, 2011.

Further reading

38°23′58″N122°19′32″W / 38.399343°N 122.325543°W / 38.399343; -122.325543

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.