1997 Silverado Estate Napa

[winoweenie]

Medium dark ruby, a nose which opened up after 20 minutes revealing brite cherry,cassis, lite spiciness and a sense of vanilla. Well-structured juice that shows rounded tannins on a core of solid of red fruits. Silky entry, a solid mid-palate, and a nice long finish. This wine still has lots of supple tannins that will take another 2 to 4 to resolve. A super effort that bodes extermely well for the two premium bottlings, " Stags Leap & Reserve ". 89/91

[ddf68]

I had this last fall at the winery and liked it a lot. Bright, red, silky, and elegant. I thought it showed some Stag's Leap character and the winery people confirmed that it is 65% fruit from the SL appellation. Pretty good deal for $30. I've got six in the cellar waiting for WW to give the green light.

Also had the Stag's Leap and Reserve and was less impressed. They were good, a bit tighter, and certianly more "serious" wines, but didn't justify the extra $$$, IMHO. Time will no doubt prove me wrong, but @ $65 and $90 it was easy to say no.

ddf

[winoweenie]

Ddf, these were released before my new posture of austerity so I have both in the ole' cellar in quantity. They should,IMHO, develop into something special. Howm-so-ebberly, the Napa be berry,berry good! WW