Lot 385 | 2011 Stags Leap District

A Beauty

Sometimes I can look at a bottle and remember it. This is the case here. An amazing Stags Leap. I think I know where this one came from and the bargain is exceptional.

Wish I had ordered more

Last bottle of this. Huge aromatic fruit forward bouquet with rasberry and cherry overtones. Rich dark fruit flavor smooth and slightly tannic with hint of pepper undertone. Dark garnet color.

Still maturing but aging well

Pulled this bottle for our anniversary dinner. Decanted for about two hours before dinner. Very nice dark ruby color and great taste of blackberry and cherry. I'm thinking it will only get better over the next few years. Paired with steak, asparagus and grilled mushrooms. This wine deserves a 91 point rating. Very nice.

Great sipper

Tight right out of the bottle but, after an hour or so decant, the flavors came out. A big mid palate cherry bomb then, about a half an hour later, berry flavors (blackberry in particular) came through. A very nice wine to sip over the course of an evening.

Great value for a 2011

Almost gone thru 2 cases of this

Oh my...

We let it breath while we prepared dinner and enjoyed this stunning Cab. Will fight the urge and let the remaining 11 bottles age into their full glory.

Wish I'd Ordered More

After 30 minutes in the glass - WOW. Great intensity, complexity and drinkability. Sold Out, so just bought 3 other cabs from Cam - every bottle so far has been a terrific. I've told a couple friends, however fear demand for Cam's wine may exceed supply. Keep the great wine comin. My trouble is letting them sit and age.

Great wine

Thoroughly enjoyed it over the holidays. Would be better in a year or so.

Connect the dots

It appears that the new venture produced a trial run from the 2011 vintage, declassified it, and sold it off. That leaves us to ponder what an exceptional winemaking team could do with a somewhat variable vintage. Lot 385 is a superb effort. It is infanticide to drink it now, yet it begs to be sampled. The floral element in the nose suggests that there may be Cabernet Franc in a blend. The nose is slow to open, yields to a bit of humidor and sweet oak, and the components need time to integrate. If you must sample it now, decant it, and let it sit for hours as Pierre suggests in his review. I left a bottle open overnight., to the advantage of the wine. Entry is tight and tannic. This really needs time to bloom, but the monolithic quality will evolve. Take a flyer on this offering while it is still available, for it is both enjoyable and educational.

What a difference a year makes.

I bought this wine last year and was hoping for a stags leap experience, but was severely disappointed. Tonight I opened a bottle and was blown away. Holy Cow. I immediately ordered another case to put down with those I bought last year. OMG, these will only get better year after year. They show great potential. Grab some before its gone guys.