2014 Sueno Profundo Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District Napa Valley

Once Every 40 Years in Stags Leap District

Founded in 1972, well before Stags Leap earned its AVA status, Clos Du Val leaped to the top after Pierre Brejoux, a judge in the famous 1976 tasting, rated Clos Du Val’s Cabernet above Château Montrose and Léoville-Las Cases. In a 10-year anniversary rematch hosted by the French Culinary Institute, Clos Du Val’s 1972 Cabernet finished FIRST, outpointing Ridge, Stags Leap Cellars, and all of the “Grands Châteaux,” proving to the world that Napa Valley could be every bit as cellar-worthy as its French rivals.

Fast-forward 40 years, in the third consecutive drought year on the coast, Stags Leap District pumped out some of the boldest, sappiest, most age-worthy Cabernets since that timeless 1972 vintage, none more exciting than that of Clos Du Val.

Today’s 2014 Sueño Profundo Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District was drawn from a sister property, directly next door to legendary CDV. The vines share the very same gravelly loam soils, the same south-facing exposure, and in 2014, the fruit yielded the same velvety tannins and MASSIVE black fruit concentration.

As we would find out over lunch at Angèle this past September, no one was poised to take advantage of these riches more than Ry Richards. The wunderkind winemaker spends his days up at Chappellet on Pritchard Hill at head winemaker Phil Titus’s side, and every other available hour fashioning Sueño Profundo Cabernet Sauvignons. When we finally caught up with Ry, he was smiling ear to ear in front of a bottle of the 2014 Sueño Profundo Stags Leap Cabernet Sauvignon — the same bottle he’d been telling us about for the better part of six months.

“Anyone who was walking the rows and purchasing fruit in Stags Leap in the weeks leading up to harvest had to consider ponying up for the bounty to throw a vineyard designate on the label. The fruit was impeccable,” Ry said. “But the price was already $8,500/ton and I’ve got a 2-year-old at home. At this stage in the game, paying an upcharge was still too rich for my blood.”

He poured from his bottle into Riedel stems, sat back, and observed. We swirled, we sniffed, we swished. Understandably, Ry was beaming.

We went all in.

Ry told us how he lucked out in 2014 in Stags Leap. “When people talk about 2014s, they’re always comparing the vintage to 2012 and 2013. In my eyes, the only thing that is different is that yields are slightly down.”

Echoing Richards is Robert Parker, Jr., who wrote in his “Game Changer” report that 2014, like the previous two vintages before it, had ideal temperatures and drought conditions and should pave the way for quite possibly the best back-to-back-to-back vintages the Valley has ever experienced.

Compared to $75/bottle — and about a fraction of the price of superstar neighbors Odette, Stag’s Leap, and Shafer — Ry Richards’ 2014 Sueño Profundo Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap is an absolute beauty. Opaque purple-black in color, with lavish aromas of crushed blackberry, raspberry, a dash of smoke, tobacco, and new-wood cedar. Big, bold, and sappy on the attack, expansive on the mid-palate, finishing with excellent persistence and tension, arguing to age gracefully until 2035.

Unless you’re willing to wait another 40 years, don’t skip this one. 100 cases are up for grabs, just $27/bottle. Strict limit of one case per member.

• ABV 14.50%
• Enjoy right away
• % Cabernet Sauvignon