2001 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Cask 23

The estate’s flagship wine, the medium-bodied 2001 Cask 23 exhibits notions of berry fruit intermixed with spice, coffee beans, herbs, and a touch of the cow dung component. While the attack is attractive, the wine narrows out and concludes with an angular, uninteresting finish. It actually performs less well than its two siblings, which is hard to understand. It will age for 10-15 years, but this 2001 in no way recalls the great Cask 23's of the seventies and early to mid-eighties. What a shame! Tel. (707) 944-2020; Fax (707) 257-7501

Dark ruby-red. Ripe aromas of currant, sassafras, bitter chocolate, cured meat and menthol. At once sweet and green in the mouth. The dark fruit and earthy flavors are given a dry edge by the wine's strong menthol and herbal elements. And yet this concentrated, extremely backward wine has a distinct roundness and sweetness in the middle. Finishes quite dry and persistent, in need of at least five or six years of aging.