2013 5500 Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon

The 2013 5500 is a quintessentially Stags Leap wine. Striking in its aromatics, the 2013 is surprisingly silky and impeccably polished from start to finish. Rose petal, lavender, mint, red cherry and plum are front and center. Soft, supple and beautifully expressive, the 2013 has softened considerably since I first tasted it from bottle a few years ago. This is an absolutely stunning wine. In particular, I am deeply impressed with how finessed the 2013 has become over time and how well the oak has integrated.

The 2013 5500, from Tom Futo's Stags Leap estate, emerges from the glass with a mélange of blackberry jam, crème de cassis, smoke, lavender cloves, licorice and mocha. Dark, sensual and totally inviting, the 2013 possesses off the charts richness and intensity, but also a crystalline sense of purity. As the tannins continue to soften, the fruit has taken on a demi-glace-like unctuousness that is hard to resist. Underlying veins of salinity give the flavors an extra kick of brightness on the classic, slightly linear Stags Leap inflected finish.

Blackberry jam, cloves, menthol, pine and new leather are some of the many notes that jump from the glass in the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon 5500. The flavors are totally alive, vivid and nuanced throughout. Most importantly, the balance of fruit, acidity and tannin is exceptional. The more I tasted the 5500 the more I think there is a real possibility it might one day be a better and more complete wine than the Futo. Here, too, the wine possesses nearly off the charts richness, power and extract. Graphite, menthol, cassis and smoke add the final nuances of complexity.