2020 Courtney Benham Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District Napa Valley

Shafer. Odette. Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars.

Great Cabernet from the Stags Leap District brings a mind-boggling marriage of power and elegance, and you usually have to part with $100 or MUCH more to experience it. Today, you need look no further than Courtney Benham’s outstanding 2020 Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon.

There is such phenomenal terroir and talent behind this wine, it’s hard to know which to name first. The source is a gorgeous gravelly benchland vineyard in the southeast corner of the AVA, on a slight west-facing slope. The winemaker is Keith Emerson, the president of Vineyard 29 and author of multiple 100-point wines.

Courtney Benham, one of California’s savviest operators since the 1980s, is among the few Napa luminaries with an inside line to this site. It’s his ability to leverage such industry connections into showstopping values that has made his label a sensation among Wine Access members. 

The grapes from this vineyard are exactly what Benham and winemaker Keith Emerson are searching for, and all they got was enough to fill a few dozen barrels. The key to this wine is the vineyard’s position on the southern end of Stags Leap District AVA, cooled by afternoon breezes from the San Pablo Bay that temper the afternoon heat, making this the most “finessed” corner of the appellation.

Emerson aged the juice through 40% new oak barrels for 18 months, lending its concentration a terrifically polished veneer. It’s drinking beautifully now, and will only get better for years to come—a cellarworthy release that savvy buyers will love. 

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Acidity
• Tannin

• ABV 14.10%
• 30 mins
• Now – 2035
• % Cabernet Sauvignon
• Serving temperature – 60°
• Cork