2017 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Artemis, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California, USA

2017 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Artemis, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California, USA

Product: 20178016379
 
2017 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Artemis, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California, USA

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Description

A delightful blend dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon with small percentages of Merlot and Malbec from the estate’s prime vineyard locations, 2017 continues a consistent run of this charming wine. Wild raspberries and cherry blossoms waft from the glass, lifted and fresh, with underlying aromas of bramble and white pepper. Lovely balance through the palate delivers a crunchy core of red berries and a chalky tannin profile; the mid-palate is concentrated and sonorous yet held in check by a vibrant acidity and medium in the body.

Impressively fresh with integrated oak (a mix of just under half French and some new American oak for 18 months), this juicy wine finishes with flicks of sweet spices and plums, nothing short of delicious, to be honest! It holds the structure and complexity to contend with a 5th growth, and Bordeaux has cellaring potential, too.

Chris Lamb, Account Manager, Berry Bros. & Rudd

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Critics reviews

Decanter92/100

Artemis is a solid, respectable expression of modern Napa Valley Cabernet (with 4% Merlot and 1% Malbec), made using both estate and purchased fruit. Black cherries, dark chocolate and roasted espresso aromas lead to an earthy palate, more terroir-driven than the ripe, modern nose suggests. It’s aged for 16 months in 40% new French barrels and a small amount of American oak.

Drink 2020 - 2035

Matthew Luczy, Decanter.com

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About this WINE

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars

Warren Winiarski gave an up a promising academic career in Chicago to pursue his dream of making wine. He learnt his trade at Robert Mondavi before setting up Stag's Leap Wine Cellars in the heart of the Napa Valley in 1972. Success was instantaneous when the 1973 vintage of Cabernet Sauvignon took first place over leading red Bordeaux at a major comparative tasting in Paris in 1976.

In 1986 Warren Winiarski purchased the adjoining Fay Vineyard which, in what is known today as the Stag's Leap District Appellation, which had been planted by Nathan Fay in 1961. Cask 23, the proprietary red wine blend made only in select vintages, is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Stag's Leap vineyard and the Fay Vineyards. Warren coined the descriptive phrase 'iron fist in a velvet glove' to describe his polished but sturdy Cabernets. Winemaker Michael Silacci joined the winery in 1995, and together with assistant winemaker Julia Winiarski is producing outstandingly complex, multi layered wines that are amongst the very finest in California.

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Napa Valley

Napa Valley

North Coast's Napa Valley is California's most famous viticultural area (AVA), claiming some of the most expensive agricultural land in the world and producing wines of ‘cult’ status.

Its 16,000 ha of vines lie over a strip (40 miles long-5 miles wide) of diverse soils (clay, gravely, volcanic), with its northernmost end on the side of Mountain Helena and its foot in San Francisco Bay. The valley is framed by two mountains ranges Vaca (to the north) and Mayacamas (to the south), yet the main climatic influence is the cool wind and fog that is sucked in from San Pablo Bay during the afternoon, allowing grapes to ripen slowly and evenly. 

The area enjoys a variety of unique microclimates, as temperatures can vary dramatically as much as 15 degrees, from the north to the south end of the valley. These differences have led to the creation of several sub-AVAs (14 in total) including:

Atlas Peak, Chiles Valley District, Diamond Mountain District, Howell Mountain, Los Carneros, Mt. Veeder, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena, Spring Mountain District, Stags Leap District, Yountville, Wild Horse Valley and Oak Knoll District. The Calistoga AVA is still pending approval.

Both the “Napa Valley” designation and the sub-AVA name must appear on the wine label simultaneously, with the exception of wines from the Carneros AVA, which is shared between the Napa Valley and the Sonoma County.

Cabernet Sauvignon is the undisputed king of Napa grapes, occupying over 45% of the vineyard acreage, followed by (predominantly) Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Riesling, Zinfandel, Merlot, Cab. Franc and to a lesser extent Petite Sirah, Sangiovese, Barbera, Dolcetto.

Recommended Producers
Frog's Leap, Dominus, David Ramey, Viader, Stag's Leap Cellars, Paras Vineyards, Heitz.

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Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon

The most famous red wine grape in the world and one of the most widely planted.

It is adaptable to a wide range of soils, although it performs particularly well on well-drained, low-fertile soils. It has small, dusty, black-blue berries with thick skins that produce deeply coloured, full-bodied wines with notable tannins. Its spiritual home is the Médoc and Graves regions of Bordeaux where it thrives on the well-drained gravel-rich soils producing tannic wines with piercing blackcurrant fruits that develop complex cedarwood and cigar box nuances when fully mature.

The grape is widely planted in California where Cabernet Sauvignon based wines are distinguished by their rich mixture of cassis, mint, eucalyptus and vanilla oak. It is planted across Australia and with particular success in Coonawarra where it is suited to the famed Terra Rossa soil. In Italy barrique aged Cabernet Sauvignon is a key component in Super Tuscans such as Tignanello and Sassicaia, either on its own or as part of a blend with Sangiovese.

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When is a wine ready to drink?

We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.

Not ready

These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.

Ready - youthful

These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.

Ready - at best

These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.

Ready - mature

These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.