Wine & Spirits - Winter 2017 - 51

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars

The Withers

Forty years after the 1973 Stag's Leap Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon won the
Judgment of Paris tasting, the 2013 is among the most elegant textural
beauties of Napa Valley.

What started as a garage winemaking project quickly snowballed into an ambitious exploration of two dynamic-and very different-California terroirs.

New Teamwork: Marcus Notaro was making wine for Col Solare,
a Columbia Valley venture between Marchesi Antinori and Ste.
Michelle Wine Estates, when the partnership took on Stag's Leap
Wine Cellars in 2007, after Winiarski retired. Notaro
moved to Napa Valley in time for the 2013 harvest, and set to work with Kirk Grace, scion of
Grace Family Vineyards, who had been farming SLWC's estate since 2006. With Grace's
knowledge of the vineyards, and Notaro's
winemaking chops, the two produced what
may be the best crop of cabernets from
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars in decades.
Old-School Restraint: The 2013 S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon is labeled with a facsimile
Marcus Notaro
of the 1973. Though it carries more oak to
polish the wine's tannins, it presents the same
refinement that would have appealed, decades
ago, to those judges in France: restrained ripeness,
red fruit tones and an evergreen freshness. More than
any overt flavor, what lasts is the memory of the wine's texture, a
pleasure that draws you back to the glass. Fay is more
delicate and floral than S.L.V. and less immediately giving, though when the fragrance of Fay and the structural intensity of S.L.V. come together in Cask 23, it's a
marriage of valley-floor and hillside fruit that's significantly greater than the sum of its parts. -J.G.

DETAILS & TOP WINES

Back to California: Media executive and consultant Andrew Tow
started collecting wine around 1981, zeroing in on Napa Valley wines
from the '60s and '70s that were still available on the market-classics from the likes of Beaulieu Vineyard, Heitz and Mayacamas. As
Napa Valley wines got bigger, his tastes shifted to Piedmont and Burgundy, until a run-in with an early Anthill Farms pinot noir bottling
rekindled his interest in California wine. On a trip to Sonoma, he
met David Low-one of the three Anthill partners-and they started
making a bit of wine together.
Going Pro: It began as a trade: Tow would take Low to Montana and
teach him how to fly fish, and Low would make a few barrels of pinot
noir for Tow to share with friends and family. Tow eventually showed
some of the experiments to a few wine retailers, and their enthusiastic responses spurred him to turn the project into a commercial venture. The wines-fermented and aged almost exclusively in neutral
barrels-seem to have hit their stride in 2014. The Charles Vineyard
pinot noir from Anderson Valley, with its firm red-cherry tone and a
cool fragrance, is a delightful introduction.
Into the Hills: Tow made his first pinot noirs in a shared facility,
where Tyson Freeman was producing some Sierra Foothills wines. Their savory fruit was intriguing to Tow,
who turned his attention in that direction as
well. The standout this year from The Withers
is one of those El Dorado wines-the 2014
Mr. Burgess, a syrah-led blend from several
vineyards planted on volcanic soils. With
time in a decanter, its dry-pine scent, fruit
warmth and stony tannins turn into something truly remarkable, a seamless umamirich masterwork. And don't miss the pale,
crisp, savory mourvedre-based rosé. Tow
Andrew Tow
was so intent on protecting the source of the
rosé fruit that he recently bought the site that
grew it. It's a 120-acre parcel (7.5 planted, with
room to expand) on the north side of the American
River Canyon in El Dorado County-The Withers's first
estate vineyard. -L.S.

TOP 100 WINERIES 2017

A Legend in the Making: Warren Winiarski had left his first winemaking
post at Robert Mondavi Winery when, in 1969, he tasted a cabernet
from Nathan Fay's vineyard under the Stag's Leap escarpment, a volcanic cliff at the southeastern edge of Napa Valley proper. He bought
the neighboring property and replanted it to cabernet in 1970. As it
turned out, the soil at his S.L.V. site was a rocky scree fallen from the
hillside, while Fay's vines grew in older, more finely textured soils
washed there by flooding from Chase Creek. Three years later, Winiarski had built a winery and harvested his second vintage from S.L.V.
Steven Spurrier presented that wine, among other California cabernets and Bordeaux, to a panel of French judges, who awarded it first
place. That win helped launch Napa Valley on the world stage, and
established a legend around Winiarski, who later expanded his Stag's
Leap estate with the purchase of the Fay Vineyard in 1986.

DETAILS & TOP WINES

Founded: 1970 * Winemaker: Marcus Notaro
Viticulturist: Kirk Grace * Owner: Ste. Michelle Wine
Estates & Marchesi Antinori * Acres owned: 205
Annual production: 136,000 cases * Estate grown: 18%
Location: Napa, CA * Website: cask23.com

Founded: 2013 * Winemaker: David Low * Viticulturists:
Ron and Chuck Mansfield (Placerville); David and Tyson
Freeman (grower relations) * Owner: Andrew Tow * Acres
owned: 120 * Production: 4,500 cases * Estate grown:
25% * Location: Placerville, CA * Website: thewithers.com

96 2013 Stags Leap District Napa Valley
Cask 23 Cabernet Sauvignon $260 (12/16)
94 2013 Stags Leap District Napa Valley 40th
Anniversary S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon $135 (12/16)
92 2015 Napa Valley Aveta Sauvignon Blanc $26 (6/17)

95 2014 El Dorado Mr. Burgess $42 (8/17)
93 2014 Anderson Valley Charles Vineyard
Pinot Noir $44 (8/17)
90 2016 El Dorado Rosé $22 (8/17)

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WINE & SPIRITS

BUYING GUIDE 2018

http://www.thewithers.com http://www.cask23.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - Winter 2017