Winemaker Robert Brittan has strived to maintain the inherent character of this historic estate. In every vintage, he is a stickler for waiting to pick grapes until they have full phenolic maturity (fully ripe seeds and skins, not just assuming ripeness based on the grape's sugar content). This practice, requiring constant tasting and re-tasting in the vineyard as harvest nears, ensures that the characteristic "velvet hammer" Stags' Leap structure is allowed to fully develop. These wines epitomize the distinctive qualities of the soils, valley and district in which they are grown. For more details, visit www.stagsleap.com.

Stags' Leap Chardonnay, Napa 2001
Price $22
Rating 91
"It is typical of a refined understated chardonnay style with balanced hazelnut and citrus notes with a sweet toasted vanilla note from the French oak barrels. Through the finish, you'll pick up hints of spice, such as cardamom and nutmeg, with subtle notes of peach and fresh apple. These fruit and spice aromas and flavors will integrate and evolve with bottle age," says Robert Brittan, winemaker and general manager of Stags' Leap.

"I don't worship at the French alter," confesses Brittan, "but my approach is more European. I am very concerned about structure(crispness from acidity), without downplaying the fruit. You don't find the imprint of a winemaker's ego in this wine. You can achieve elegant complexity if you grow the grapes in the right place." Stags' Leap, known for important red wines, has been producing a chardonnay since 1988.

Stags' Leap Viognier, Napa 2001
Price $25
Rating 92
"Viognier loves sun which is why we let it have plenty," contends Robert Brittan, winemaker and general manager of Stags' Leap. "Ultimately, you get a glass of wine packed with beautiful flavors." Brittan cold ferments the Viognier in 100 percent French oak barrels that are 1-3 years old. He also likes to use malolactic fermentation to soften the wine and give it a rich, full-body in the mouth.

A sniff reveals bright notes of honeydew melon, honeysuckle and white peach. "In the mouth it is creamy and well structured, with flavors of pear, spice and lemon zest cascading into a long dry finish. Its formidable structure shows a nice balance of acidity while demonstrating a pronounced mineral note," observes Brittan. "This is a wine that continually surprises me. Just when I think it can’t get any better, the next vintage becomes my favorite."

Stags' Leap Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa 1999
Price $40
Rating 92
"We use grapes from the Stags' Leap Winery estate as the core," explains Robert Brittan, winemaker and general manager. "We fashion the Stags' Leap 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon with meticulously grown fruit. The 1999 growing season was a bit sneaky, being long and relatively cool through the summer and early fall, capped by a heat wave in early October which had vintners scrambling to bring in the fruit as it reached the final stage of ripening."

"The tannin structure and mouth feel of this wine go through an incredible evolution during the maceration period, early in the fermentation process," says Brittan. "We taste every tank, every day, waiting for that perfect moment when the tannins are resolved and the mouth feel soft." Aged in 50% new and 50% once-used Allier and Nievre oak barrels for 24 months, the cabernet was blended with 13% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc. "With aromas of black cherry, cloves and cedar, the wine coats the mouth with flavors of baked cherries, tobacco and black tea. Full-bodied, with firm, chewy tannins and a rich mouth feel, the wine persists with traces of blackberry jam and cinnamon toast," observes Brittan.

Stags' Leap Petite Syrah, Napa 1999
Price $31
Rating 92
"Petite syrah is a more delicate wine than its color or flavor intensity would imply," says winemaker and general manager Robert Brittan. "From the outset, the grapes that become a part of this wine are handled with extreme care. They are handpicked, transported the short distance to the winery in small bins, and fermented in small batches. You want to extract enough tannin to give the wine structure, but you don't want to overdo it. If you don't remove the skins at just the right time, you can easily create a monster."

The growing season in 1999 gave the petite syrah and other varietals in this wine plenty of time on the vine, allowing flavor development in the resulting wine. After fermentation, the wines were aged separately in oak barrels, about a third of which were new. After 18 months, it was time to blend. "Blending is where winemaking meets alchemy, particularly with our Petite Syrah," says Brittan. "There are so many elements to work with, and we find ourselves haggling over 1% of this or that." The final blend became 79% Petite Syrah, 15% Syrah, 3% Carignane, 2% Viognier and 1% Grenache.

"This wine gives off big aromas of blackberry, mocha, forest floor and truffles. These aromatics are echoed in the mouth and woven with flavors of blackberry syrup, orange marmalade and cola. A thick, creamy mouth feel finishes long with a sensation of bitter chocolate," observes Brittan.

Stags' Leap Merlot, Napa 1999
Price $31
Rating 93
"The 2000 vintage is a juicy, full, soft and supple wine. It's liquid velvet," boasts winemaker and general manager Robert Brittan. "On the nose, this wine entices the palate with aromas of black cherry and black pepper. In the mouth, it bursts with blackberry, currant and sweet oak flavors that lead to lingering hints of licorice, leather, smoke and chocolate."

The wine is aged in 100% French oak barrels, approximately half of them new, to give the merlot more structure and richness without the aromas or flavors being out of balance. The Stags' Leap Merlot, in Brittan's opinion, "tastes like a merlot is supposed to taste, with concentrated fruit, complex flavors and a classic structure that, based upon my experience, feels right in the mouth."

Stags' Leap Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa 199
Price $65
Rating 97
Aromas of rich dark fruit with resounding dusty qualities, then flavors of blackberry, black cherry, eucalyptus, fine leather, cocoa powder and classic Bordeaux-like pencil shavings demonstrate that this is an important wine.

Spending his first few years observing the behavior of the old vines at Stags' Leap Winery, winemaker and general manager Robert Brittan immersed himself in the terroir of the estate, studying its geology, soil structure, and the way the sunlight falls over the vines during different times of the day and year.
Brittan closely observes the vines reaching maturity and has an accurate sense of the character and personality of every block on the property. "My favorite block for cabernet sauvignon, it's block seven, without a doubt," Brittan answers with confidence. "I can count on that block to produce consistently superior fruit year after year, which means it was the natural choice to build my Estate Cabernet around."

"On the nose, this wine starts with bright cherry notes, layered with cedar, coffee and cassis. The entry introduces raspberry, plum, vanilla and earthy flavors in the mouth. Just around the mid-palate, jammy fruit surrounds chewy tannins and well integrated oak notes," observes Brittan. "There's a density in the mouth. It's elegant without being heavy. The finish exhibits hints of mineral notes which enhance the luscious fruit through a long finish. Created from almost 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine contains a very small amount of Estate Merlot, added by the winemaker to provide a bit of briar character and complexity. This wine reminds me of the reason that I came to work at Stags' Leap nearly 15 years ago. There are soils here and a series of climactic conditions which consistently produce wines with a unique personality."

Stags' Leap Reserve Merlot, Napa 2000
Price $55
Rating 94
Aromas of ponderous dark fruit with complex mineral and eucalyptus, then flavors of gripping, dark fruit, plum, mint, cassis in this powerful wine.

The Stags Leap District, with its gravelly, sandy soils and warm climate, is an exceptional growing area for merlot that can really hold its own. Merlot, in the opinion of winemaker Robert Brittan, defies conventional wisdom. He adds the grape to cabernet sauvignon not to soften the wine but to give it structure. Similarly, he loves merlot as a stand-alone grape that has a richness and structure all its own that deserves to be exploited. But not all merlots, he cautions, are up to the challenge.

Stags' Leap "Ne Cede Malis" Reserve, 1999
Price $60
Rating 91
"The name means don't give into evil or evil people. This appears in a stained glass window in the family home," explains Robert Brittan, winemaker and general manager. Stags' Leap founder Horace Chase was so moved by this adage, he had it etched into a stained glass window of the Manor House, originally his home and the focal point of the Stags' Leap property today. Brittan felt it would be a fitting name for a wine crafted with fruit from the oldest vines on the property.

Ponderous aromas of mulberry, black fruit, black pepper and beautiful fresh earth, then flavors of leaner black fruit, green peppercorn, there is an intriguing meatiness in this red.

This Rhone-style blend "Ne Cede Malis" (pronounced Ne KAY Day Mah Lees), is an outgrowth of Brittan's longstanding fascination with a 70-year old field-blend vineyard nestled in a corner of the Stags' Leap estate. "While tasting wines, predominantly Petite Syrahs, spanning twenty years from this vineyard, I became convinced that there was something unique about the wines that were born of this block of vines. I was so intrigued that in the early 1990's we conducted genetic research on the old block vines to learn what made them so distinctive," explains Brittan. "The probe uncovered a handful of different Rhone varietals which we began harvesting and fermenting separately to see what flavors each varietal contributed to the blend." In the final analysis, however, he found that blending the varietals after fermentation didn't give him the characteristic flavors he was after. The secret it seemed was in the growing, harvesting, crushing and co-fermenting the fruit from this hallmark vineyard.

"1999 was a great year for petite syrah, which dominates this blend. It was a warmer vintage than the previous year, and as a result, produced ripe fruit with intense flavors. Since we dry-farm our oldest vines on the property, we are always at the mercy of Mother Nature," says Brittan. "In 1999, we were blessed with the heat that petite syrah loves, plus we received enough moisture to allow the fruit to achieve complete maturity. The wine boasts wonderfully deep dark flavors of blackberry, black cherry, licorice and cassis. It also possesses an earthiness that adds still another dimension to this complex wine. There are so many layers of flavors and textures in this wine that I find something new to enjoy in every glass."