North of the City of Napa, the Stags Leap American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a valley within a valley. Just a mile wide and three miles long, the position of the district creates a wind tunnel that slows ripening and vine growth, extending the growing season. The terrain is rocky and hot, yielding intensely ripe fruit with an elegance that refines over time.
If the Stags Leap AVA were an author, we think it would be early 20th-century symbol of grace and debauchery, F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald authored four novels and over one hundred short stories in his lifetime, refining his evocative, impressionistic style with each story. Like the wines of this region, his body of work holds contradictory sensory emotions in one breath: tragedy and celebration, softness and power, hedonism and restraint.
The Evocative Stags Leap AVA Wines
Like Fitzgerald’s work, Stags Leap AVA wines are poetic and powerful. The eroded soils of the Vaca Mountains, soils from ancient volcanic eruptions, and the alluvial fan that the district sits on make for a very diverse soil profile. The soils are mostly made up of sandstone, shale, gravelly loam, and volcanic material.
The rocky hillsides are a major factor in the mystique of these wines. The AVA sits between the Stags Leap Palisades and the Napa River. The hillsides of the Palisades provide good drainage and capture significant heat all summer, and this makes for highly concentrated fruit. But the balancing effect from the cool breezes ushered in from San Pablo Bay allows for wines with finesse and nuance.
Officially established as an American Viticultural Area in 1989, Stags Leap District is one of Napa Valley’s smallest and most distinctive sub-appellations, spanning roughly 2,700 acres. Vineyard elevations generally range from about 66 to 400 feet, and the district’s narrow, valley-within-a-valley shape helps channel breezes that slow ripening and preserve structure in the fruit. The region receives about 23 to 30 inches of rainfall annually, and its soils—formed from volcanic deposits and alluvial fans eroded from the Vaca Range—include gravelly loam, clay, sandstone, and shale. Cabernet Sauvignon is the leading variety here, joined by Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petite Sirah, all of which benefit from the AVA’s combination of warmth, drainage, and cooling airflow that produces wines known for both power and suppleness.
Stags Leap AVA Quick Facts:
- Established: 1989
- Elevation: Approximately 66–400 feet
- Soil Types: Gravelly loam, clay, sandstone, shale, and volcanic alluvial soils
- Annual Rainfall: Approximately 23–30 inches
- Climate: Warm with strong daytime heat, moderated by bay breezes and a long growing season
- Main Varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petite Sirah
These wines achieve both softness and intensity, a seeming contradiction—until you take a sip and are reminded of Fitzgerald’s ability to animate tragedy and youthful life in one sentence.
The Greats of Stags Leap and Fitzgerald
2016
And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.
Our 2016 Stags Leap Cabernet Sauvignon is the perfect pairing for Fitzgerald’s most acclaimed work, The Great Gatsby. Near-perfect weather conditions made for an outstanding vintage, and the wine is classic, beautiful, and powerful.
2017
She was incomprehensible, for, in her, soul and spirit were one – the beauty of her body was the essence of her soul. She was that unity sought for by philosophers through many centuries. In this outdoor waiting room of winds and stars she had been sitting for a hundred years, at peace in the contemplation of herself.
The 2017 growing season was very different than 2016. Weather was more unpredictable, with a firestorm breaking out in October. As winemakers, we love a challenge, and the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon has exceptional flavor, with rich dark fruit and elegant structure. We’re pairing this bottle with The Beautiful and Damned, one of Fitzgerald’s lesser-known but well-loved novels.
Wines with storytelling power
The Stags Leap AVA wines are storytellers at their core. They’re a window to a fascinating world of nuance paired with intensity. Rugged terrain, intimidating heat, unrelenting wind, and the relief of cool night breezes are captured in each bottle by our passionate winemakers. Like Fitzgerald, they feel deeply about the world they live in, and everything they do is in service of painting that picture for you.