2017 ARMILLARY Cabernet Sauvignon
ABOUT ARMILLARY
This ARMILLARY Red Blend is crafted especially for our wine club members. An armillary is a metal cage around a globe consisting of a spherical framework of rings representing lines of celestial longitude and latitude, as well as other astronomically important features. As the FAY and S.L.V. Estate Vineyards are the center of our world at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, a concentrated blend of the two could be considered our armillary, guiding and influencing everything we do.
VINEYARDS & WINEMAKING
ARMILLARY is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from FAY and S.L.V. made in a bold style with notes of chocolate and sweet berries that will age well over time. Individual lots are blended early in the fermentation process to enable the flavors to marry together during the aging process. The wine is 58% FAY and 42% S.L.V. and was aged for 20 months in 100% new French oak barrels.
VINTAGE
The 2017 vintage was a memorable one with more than its fair share of historic challenges – but it resulted in very high-quality fruit at lower yields. We started with a wet winter that brought much-needed water after several years of drought. Spring and summer temperatures alternated between unusually cool and unusually hot with a record-breaking heat wave over Labor Day weekend. Just as harvest was reaching its final crescendo, on October 8th tragic wildfires broke out that burned throughout Napa and Sonoma counties. At Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, the Atlas Peak fire burned right down to the edge of the estate vineyards. Thankfully the vineyard served as a giant fire break and the winery was undamaged and our employees were safe. We give a special thank you to the cellar and maintenance teams who demonstrated incredible dedication to wine quality in restoring power to the winery and caring for the fermenting wines under extreme conditions.
TASTING NOTES
This wine offers perfumed aromas of violets, ripe cherries and blackberries. The palate is rich and full-bodied with lingering flavors of ripe berry, hazelnut and coffee. ARMILLARY is our powerful wine produced from the estate.
FOOD PAIRINGS
Try pairing this robust Cabernet Sauvignon with beef tenderloin, rack of lamb, or herb-crusted pork roast.