I have been kind of exploring this area a bit lately. I find that I am fairly well drawn to the cabernet sauvignon here. I have tried the Shafer Hillside select $250, Chimney Rock Tomahawk $125, Chimney Rock Stags Leap $60 and a couple others. Obviously a large range in pricing and availability in these. I am trying to feel out the price range between $70-$100 area and wanted to get an impression from my fellow berserkers on a few bottles as to the value in price as related to the quality for the following. Also, age worthiness should be included. Trying to lay a few extras down for future consumption.
Baldacci Family Vinyard Black Label
Regusci Patriarc
Shafer One Point Five
Stags Leap Wine Cellars Fay
Silverado Vinyards Solo
Also, any help for the $40-$65 range. QPR’s. Maybe Stags Leap wine cellars Artemis?
i think you need to first determine are you trying to find wines made from 100% SLD fruit or you want to try producers with a winery in SLD. a line of demarcation would help. one point five and artemis for example, are not all SLD estate fruit as you know. regusci is american oak.
for SLD fruit you are looking at $100 per bottle for the most part. lindstrom is one i am a huge fan of, a celia welsh made/mike wolf farmed wine relatively close to HSS at half the price.
hartwell, their recent offerings with Benoit touquette at the helm, is another to consider.
I believe One Point Five has been an SLD wine for the last few vintages (although not all estate fruit), whereas it used to be simply a ‘Napa Valley AVA’ wine. It’s quite good and definitely age worthy.
I also like the Baldacci Black Label, although their “Brenda’s” is a good step up if you can find it for a decent price. Robinson Family also makes a very solid SLD cab in the sub-$100 range. I don’t know pricing on Hartwell, but have really enjoyed the Reserves. I suspect they might be $100+ on release, though.
Sub-$65, I greatly prefer Cliff Lede to the Artemis you mentioned.
I have some Lindstrom in the cellar ('06 an '07) but haven’t had one yet, so can’t add to Steve’s comment above.
Stags Leap District is my favorite AVA. Enjoy exploring!
+1 for Steltzner, it is great for the QPR, but I would not put it on the same level as Shafer. Their Napa Cab is in the $30-40 range, the Stag’s Leap Cab is now in the $60 range ($68 on the winery website) and they make a couple of single block wines.
Back in the Day the Stag’s Leap Cab was about $40. Sigh.
Love SLD!!! Although it seems this is the last “undiscovered” part of mainstream Napa Valley. By that I mean it used to be that it was Shafer and then everyone else, but now you add Odette to the mix, and Wildfoote Ranch (which is going to sell it’s fruit to go into $200+ block specific cabs), and Futo now making a $400 cab from SLD fruit, and things are going to get expensive really quickly for some of the smaller family owned wineries. Call it an arms race that is in the early stages.
That being said, One Point Five is all SLD fruit. The get a lot of it from Ilsley winery which sold to Robert Mondavi for years. I think at $70-$75 that the Shafer is the single best QPR in SLD, especially since I regularly open Shafer Cabs (before it was called One Point Five) that are 15 years old, and they are fantastic!
Odette’s Estate Cab is very good. The '12 is rockin, but the '13 is going to be mind-blowingly good, and especially they keep the price right around $95/bottle that would give the One Point Five a run for the money, QPR-wise.
I echo the sentiments about Lindstrom. Fantastic winemaker and amazing fruit. It definitely flies under the radar, but is definitely worth it. (On a side note: if you can ever visit the winery, which is not an easy reservation, it has the best views in SLD by far).
Ilsley, which is right next door to Shafer, literally, just started making a reserve, and I think it has potential to be very good.
Unfortunately, so many of the Stag’s Leap Wineries are getting swallowed up by corporation, but for my money those I listed are my favorites.
Hartwell - I was not a fan of their winemaking style however very recent barrel samples from Benoit Toquette’s newer leadership there show a very promising turn around!
+1 on Wildfoote (Bevan), Odette, Futo (they have a less expensive blend of Oakville/Stag’s Leap called the OV/SL) and Lindstrom
Steve, i am not certain but i think i would prefer to try the wines from specific wineries located in the SLD primarily.
I found this map that seems to show all wineries or owners of wineries in SLD. it is a lot less blurry when i downloaded it onto my ipad.
I think i want to stay to the east of silverado trail. I am looking for 100% or as near to it as possible sourced, farmed wines. Like chimney rock Tomahawks is very specific to a small patch of area inside chimney rocks SLD acreage.
I should mention that I have also had some good cabs from Malk, which is a tiny producer east of the Silverado Trail, not far from Odette. I haven’t had recent vintages, but believe they’re still well under $100.
In regards to Lindstrom, I have to echo the positive comments for it based on the 2009 vintage I had several years ago when it was released. 100% cab from 4 different clones from the SLD. More than held its own in a lineup with the 2005 and 2009 Corra cabs.
For those that care, Kapscandy and Goosecross are directly across from Stag’s Landing and Cliff Lede at the top of the map, just over the border into Yountville…
+1 on Odette. Their wine is fantastic, the winery is beautiful with a nice tasting by appointment, and I truly think its trajectory will lead them to become one of the best wineries not only in SLD but in Napa proper.
I have a couple '12s and a dozen '13s in cellar. 2013 Reserve is releasing next month and cant wait for my allotment.
Also been peeking at Futo of late, and have gotten on their mailing list, but haven’t pulled the trigger on anything yet.
SO much wine out there! Very tough to stay disciplined with a budget …
Check out a new producer named Four Winds. Their current bottling is Steltzner fruit, but their next release should be all estate. TRB winemaker, vineyard just below the palisades in SLD
