By Stag's Leap Wine Cellars
2020 'Winemaker Series' Petit Verdot

Vintage
A dry, hot growing season, coupled with a global pandemic and multiple wildfires, made 2020 a year we won't forget. Due to the dry winter, we started more tillage than normal in February to preserve soil moisture and reduce competition. Rain right at bloom interrupted fruit set, and provided a 'natural fruit thinning' that brought the crop in balance relative to the dry soil conditions. We were excited during the heart of the growing season, as vines were in balance and the timing of impactful viticulture practices (leafing, crop adjustment, etc.) was nearly perfect. Several heat events, including a three-day heat spike over Labor Day weekend, led to an early harvest. This was the year of the LNU Complex Wildfire and the Glass Fire Complex. As we do every vintage, we taste grapes in the vineyards and back up our findings with lab analysis. We are fortunate to have ready access to our own lab and the tools necessary to make educated picking, winemaking, and bottling decisions, ensuring overall wine quality. The warm weather this vintage produced wines with a riper character. We are very pleased with the resulting wines from the 2020 vintage (though there won't be as many bottles), which will carry our legacy forward.

Winemaking
Petit Verdot is one of the five main Bordeaux varietals, along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec. Dark and dense with a perfumed nose, Petit Verdot is usually used in small amounts to lift the aromatics and add body and complexity to Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2020 offering is a blend of 83% Petit Verdot (Battuello Vineyard), 12% Cabernet Sauvignon (Battuello Vineyard), and 5% Valdiguie (Greenwood Vineyard). All the grapes were harvested on September 24th. The wine was aged for 18 months in 100% new French oak.

Technical Details
Blend: 83% Petit Verdot, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Valdiguie
Appellation: Napa Valley
Harvest Date: September 24th, 2020
Fermentation: 100% Stainless steel
Aging: 18 months in 100% new French oak
Alcohol: 14.80%
TA: 0.55 g/L
pH: 4.00
Release Date: March 2023
Winemaker: Marcus Notaro

Tasting Notes
This Petit Verdot offers pleasant floral aromas along with notes of blackberry pie, plum, currant, and mint. The wine has a rich, full-bodied texture, with balanced, lingering flavors of oak spice and dark fruit. Pork roast with rosemary and sage or smoked beef brisket would be a flavorful complement to this wine.
[Information provided by Votto Vines]

Wine: 2020 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars ‘Winemaker Series’ Petit Verdot
Score/Rating: 93
Suggested Drinking Window: 2025 - 2031
Reviewed By: Owen Bargreen
Tasting Notes: Inky in the glass, the 2020 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars ‘Winemaker Series’ Petit Verdot is a resounding success from this highly challenging vintage. This comes off concentrated and intense with violets and black tea on the nose alongside tar and espresso bean. The palate is heady, deep and voluptuous, coming off clean. Intense black and blue fruits line the palate, as this is best enjoyed now.