2022 Stags' Leap Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

From The Winemaker

The 2022 Stags’ Leap Napa Valley Cabernet shows the house style at its most accessible — still firmly rooted in the Stags Leap District’s volcanic soils, but expressed in a softer, more immediately drinkable register than the firmer 2021 vintage. The nose opens with black cherry, plum skin and cassis, followed by violet, cocoa powder and a distinctive graphite note that keeps the fruit from turning sweet. There’s also a subtle savory thread — dried herbs and bay leaf — a signature of Cabernets grown along the Palisades.

On the palate the wine is medium-to-full bodied with polished, supple tannins rather than the dusty grip of a drought year. The texture is what defines it: smooth entry, a rounded mid-palate of blackberry and dark chocolate, and a clean finish carrying cedar and espresso. Oak is present but integrated, acting as frame rather than flavor, allowing the fruit to stay fresh and lifted instead of heavy.

Where many Napa Cabernets lean rich and opulent, this bottling stays balanced and food-friendly — a Cabernet that works with steak but also with roasted chicken or pasta dishes. It is built more for enjoyment in the near term than long cellaring, yet still retains enough structure to evolve gracefully over the next several years.