Fay Cabernet Sauvignon 2019, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars

This single-vineyard wine has characteristic black morello cherry, raspberry leaf, sun-baked earth, powdered slate and graphite aromas. On the palate its plushness and sophistication are immediately apparent, and the tannins are gorgeously soft and silky. With its fabulous purity and length of flavour, this is utterly delicious, however it is only going to get better over the next two decades, so resist the temptation to open all your bottles straight away! This is a wine of honesty and directness, capturing vividly a particular summer at a particular, magical, place. The vineyard was planted by Nathan Fay in 1961 and existed as a separate property until 1986, when it was purchased by Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. Tasting Fay’s homemade wine from here was the eureka moment that made Warren Winiarski determined to purchase the neighbouring land, which became Stag’s Leap Vineyard. Although next door to SLV, the soil is different: composed primarily of grey alluvium from the creek that runs alongside. The wines from the two sites are also quite distinct, which is why they are bottled separately.