Stags Leap SLV Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 (750ml)

A firm but refined, elegant wine that shows great balance, tension and a wonderful bouquet of floral, savory and black-fruited flavors. Creme de cassis, dried cherry, cigar box, bay leaf and black olive notes fill the aromas and flavors, while snug, fine-grained tannins light up the texture. Full-bodied. It's a vintage worth aging.

The 2021 SLV is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged 21 months, in 100% new French oak. It's a concentrated, opulent vintage of this wine. Bright nose of violets, blackberry and blueberry compote. Full-bodied with plush velvet tannins that are ripe, powerful and super granular. An undercurrent of huckleberry fruit mingles with graphite minerality. Natural acidity is present and juicy. The long finish is bright and floral and resolves with more ripe black fruit, salted dark chocolate, and toasty oak.

Savory flavors and a pleasing richness are well matched with succulent while abundant tannins and juicy length. This iconic wine features flavors of blackberry and refreshing dried herbs spun through with spices.

Rich and well-fruited, but with a touch of restraint, as boysenberry, blackberry and cassis notes move slowly and steadily, flanked by suave hints of alder and warm earth and backed by subtle echoes of violet and savory on the finish.

The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon S.L.V. comes across as darker-fruited than the Fay, more concentrated and tannic. Hints of pencil shavings and dark chocolate accent black cherries and cassis on the nose, while the full-bodied palate is rich and velvety, finishing long.