Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Merlot, Napa Valley
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars · California › Napa Valley › United States of America
Critics Average score from professional wine critics and publications.
87
/100
Reviews
16
professional
Vintages
No vintages
NV
Community Reviews
1717
Reviews
86.6
Avg Score
93
Highest
Taster #8950
· Mar 20, 2016
88/100
Good but not to my taste. A touch bland but smooth and flavoursome.
2004 vintage
Taster #6277
· Aug 18, 2013
88/100
Nice garnet colour and good viscocity. Floral aroma with a hint of herbs, including thyme. Cerise taste with other berries overlaying, leather and benign tannins. Drink this with joy and this wine should be had before 2016
2004 vintage
Taster #2166
· Jul 30, 2011
88/100
This bottle was a little disappointing. The finish was smooth but fruit weak.
2004 vintage
Taster #7406
· Jan 1, 2011
93/100
Had this wine for New Year's eve, it was at it's absolute peak. Awsome wine with still a few years to go.
2004 vintage
Taster #9971
· Jun 8, 2009
88/100
Drank after 01 silver oak alexander valley at lake. although the Merlot was fine, this is why we drink the silver Oak first.
2004 vintage
Taster #6102
· Mar 9, 2009
89/100
An excellent Merlot. Serve this at a dinner party and no one will complain.
2004 vintage
Taster #4648
· Oct 12, 2008
84/100
Nothing spectacular.
2004 vintage
Taster #0584
· Jul 24, 2008
87/100
Big red berry nose, dusty. Tannic and acidic. Red fruit. Not ready. Light chocolate.
2004 vintage
Taster #2936
· Jul 19, 2008
85/100
Is this really a Californian merlot I have before me????? Medium bodied, light fruit, no searing alcohol? It would appear so. For such a young wine straight out of the bottle I was expecting a black dollop of gooey fruit but this is much ligher of touch. A bit of earth and dust on the palate with not a lot of follow through on the mid-palate. After an hour or so it opens up to reveal some secondary characteristics (spices, …
2004 vintage
Taster #9242
· Jul 18, 2008
75/100
Loamy plum flavors turn dirty, gritty. I enjoy loaminess, it is the hallmark of the Stags' Leap District, in my opinion. But the fruit in this wine is clipped, and once the fruit ends, gritty tannins take over. Earthiness should be something that complements the fruit flavors; they should work together, and earthiness should understand its role. Look, earthiness and fruit are in the same band; earthiness plays keyboards, gets to sing some background vocals, but fruit is the main …
2004 vintage
Taster #2546
· Jul 17, 2008
83/100
1978 Cabernets (and Cab Blends) - Retrospective Tasting (Palo Alto, California) : Group's #8 (my #7) – 90 pts; 0, 0, 0, 3 – Medium slightly bricking red with clear meniscus; deep, slightly murky, vinegar and beef jus nose; very mature, drying plum palate with sweet tannins still firmly in place; medium finish (13% alcohol)
1978 vintage
Taster #6134
· Mar 26, 2008
89/100
nose: very easy nose of floral tones, black currant, cedar and vanilla notes. definitely oak influenced, but not overpowering taste: real nice backbone and you can taste the cab franc that was added. Nice cherry, black currant,floral tones and cedar in there overall: a really good merlot. Tries to do the california version of a St Emillion, and it somewhat works. Good weight and feel on the palate and is an enjoyable wine
2004 vintage
Taster #5576
· Feb 9, 2008
87/100
Nice oaky aroma. Very tight, with lots of chewy tannins. Needs food (which we unfortunately didn't have when we first opened it at a B&B in Fraser after a day of skiing). Drank the remaining half bottle the next day. It softened up a little but didn't improve appreciably. Where's the fruit?
2004 vintage
Taster #3291
· Dec 27, 2007
88/100
Great, big merlot. Not good for those looking for a smooth merlot. This is a very big wine.
2004 vintage
Taster #6134
· Nov 29, 2007
81/100
Binny's California Night (Highland Park) : nose: extremely tight nose. getting a little bit of blueberry and some black fruit notes, but it's taking a while to get them taste: very astringent and absolutely zero mid pallate. Not really getting much of any flavors on the mouth and it isn't as silky as a merlot should be overall: this isn't bad, but it's not good either. It's a very bland wine that just doesn't bring much of anything to the …
2004 vintage
Taster #9501
· Oct 13, 2007
Wasn't impressed .
2004 vintage
Taster #2659
· Sep 11, 2007
93/100
I loved this merlot. Stunning color in the glass. Deep plum purple. Vibrant notes of blackberry, casis, mocha and sweet spice. Awesomely lush and silky on the palate. Wonderful mouth feel. Beautiful medium long finish with tannins that slide off the tongue. Excellently balanced merlot. Very glad I have two more to enjoy.
2004 vintage