Mark Farrell

9.8

Deep ruby color with a nose of blackberries, casis, cedar, graphite, anise, and maybe hints of fig and red bell peppers. Some finishing vanilla and pipe tobacco as well. Nose has quite a bit going on. This wine has the structure that can only be formed from a master architect. Full-bodied with both balance and power. Plenty of tannins to allow for at least a decade of additional aging. I like them young, but I’m probably a year or two early. Still excellent. These Myriad wines are consistently good. I haven’t had a bad one yet. This is the best one I’ve had so far. — 2 years ago

Jay Kline

9.2

Last night, a buddy of mine who’s a Disabled Veteran and Registered Architect, announced that he was assuming control of a SDVOSB Architecture firm. He had spent the better part of a year of trying to reach a purchase agreement. So it was an evening of celebration. He’s been a Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars fan for some time and he planned to pull the cork on a few bottles. We had a couple of rando bottles too but all were California Cabernet Sauvignon. The fourth bottle and the second of the two rando bottles. This was actually one of the better 2011 wines I’ve had from Napa. I thought it was not only an accurate representation of a cool and wet vintage, it was quite a delicious example of one and still has years to go. — 5 years ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Last night, a buddy of mine who’s a Disabled Veteran and Registered Architect, announced that he was assuming control of a SDVOSB Architecture firm. He had spent the better part of a year of trying to reach a purchase agreement. So it was an evening of celebration. He’s been a Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars fan for some time and he planned to pull the cork on a few bottles. We had a couple of rando bottles too but all were California Cabernet Sauvignon. This was the opening salvo and a very good one at that. Perfumed, lush, velvety fruit with lovely structure. Hugely quaffable and already drinking very well with a short decant but I think this is pretty characteristic of the 2014 vintage. — 5 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

On the nose; very ruby, floral plum fruits of; blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, Thompson raisins, fresh dates and prunes. Black licorice, creamy dark fruit cola, caramel, milk & dark chocolate, soft beautiful dark spice, touch of eucalyptus, fresh herbs, limestone, soft presence dry crushed rocks, a whiff of pepper, fresh lavender, violets and dark withering floral bouquet.

The body is full and lush. Fine meaty, tarry, tannins. Very ruby, floral plum fruits of; blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, Thompson raisins, fresh dates and prunes. Black licorice, creamy dark fruit cola, caramel, milk & dark chocolate, soft beautiful dark spice, touch of eucalyptus, fresh herbs, limestone, soft presence dry crushed rocks, suede leather, dry clay, dry top soil, dry underbrush, a whiff of pepper, fresh lavender, violets and dark withering floral bouquet. The acidity is very nice. There is good structure, tension, length and balance that needs 10 years plus to flush out. The finish is good, well balanced with fine powdery sticky tannins.

Photos of, Cliff Lede tasting facility, wire woven sculptures that decorate the grounds, Owner David Lede and the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard.

Producer history and notes...Cliff Lede Vineyards (pronounced LayDee) was founded in 2002 on what used to be S. Anderson Vineyard, a winery that was founded in 1971 by Stanley and Carol Anderson primarily known for their sparkling wines.

Cliff Lede is from Leduc, Alberta a small town just south of Edmonton. The reason you see a Canadian flag in front of the parking next to the US Flag. David and Cliff helped run their father’s construction company he founded in 1947, Leduc Construction. Later the company was renamed to Ledcor Construction in 1982. They ultimately built the business into one of the world’s largest construction companies. Through Cliff, the company established business in the Napa Valley focusing on wineries, restaurants, premium resorts and private residences. Some of their more notable works include; Morimoto Restaurant, Davis Estate Winery, Lokoya Winery, Marciano Estate and the Riverfront Residences in downtown Napa.

After several decades at Ledcor, Cliff decided to pursue his passion for wine. His first introduction to wine was helping his mother make wine at home. Later he began collecting wines from Bordeaux, and even considered purchasing property there. However, he fell in love with Napa after business took him to Northern California.

Cliff Lede owns 60 acres of vineyards in the Stags Leap District. This includes the Twin Peaks Vineyard surrounding the winery and tasting room. The Poetry Vineyard was acquired a year after Cliff established Cliff Lede Vineyards. It is planted on steep hillsides down to the Silverado Trail. It’s planted with red Bordeaux varietals, mostly Cabernet Sauvignon. The soils there are extremely rocky. Despite being so close to the Poetry Vineyard, the soils in the Twin Peaks Vineyard are dramatically different. They are gravelly loam.

From a viticulture aspect, this diversity of terroir is a good representation of what the Stags Leap District has to offer, ranging from its upper most reaches of 400 feet to the valley floor. Even among their two Stags Leap properties, there are micro-climates. The west facing vineyard hillsides become quite warm during the day in the summer but cool off significantly in the evenings. This diurnal temperature swing is important for growing premium grapes including maintaining acidity.

The winery also owns a 20 acre vineyard in Calistoga at the base of Diamond Mountain planted primarily to Cabernet Sauvignon as well as a small block of Sauvignon Blanc.

Further to the north in Mendocino County is their Savoy Vineyard, which is a 42 acre site in Anderson Valley. It is planted mainly to Pinot Noir along with Chardonnay. It provides fruit for their FEL Wines (a name that Cliff chose to pay homage to his mother, using the first three initials of her full name Florence Elsie Lede.

Cliff’s love for all things “Rock and Roll”, he named all their blocks in their Stags Leap District Vineyards after famous rock and roll songs or albums such as “Dark Side of the Moon”, “Walk on the Wildside”, “Light my Fire” and “American Girl. ”Collectively these are referred to as the “Rock Blocks.”

David Abreu quickly realized the exceptional terroir of the Poetry Vineyard as did Cliff when they initially tried some of the S. Anderson wines from this site. Abreu oversaw its replanting and clonal material sourced from a number of premiere Napa vineyards. While Abreu was the original vineyard architect, he is no longer involved in the management of the their vineyards. They are now controlled by their in-house vineyard team.

The winery, tasting room and the nearby luxury Poetry Inn all opened around 2005. Architect Howard Gillam was hired to design the winery. Cliff’s background in construction and architectural preferences certainly influenced its design. The tasting room has a more contemporary feel rather then some of his more rustic looking designs. It features beautiful views of the Napa Valley. Inspired by the shape of tanks during a visit to Château Latour in Bordeaux, Cliff commissioned Missouri based Paul Mueller Company to create special truncated tanks for fermentation to help submerse more of the cap. Each tank corresponds to a specific vineyard block. During harvest, a specially designed crane gently moves and lowers a hopper full of whole berries into each tank.

Sorting is a big part of their attention to detail before fermentation. After the grapes come into the winery, they are sorted by hand, then run through an optical sorter and then finally put through an additional final hand sorting. Nearby is a 20,000 square foot cave that connects directly to the winery. World famous Michel Rolland was brought on in the early years as a consultant. Philipe Melka also made Cliff Lede wines for several years and today Christopher Tynan is the Winemaker. He was formerly Assistant Winemaker at Colgin.

Total annual production is between 18,000 and 20,000 cases depending on what Mother Nature gives them. The majority of this is comprised of their Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc and their Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon. — 6 years ago

Aaron Tan

8.9

There's an uncanny similarity between the tasting notes of this wine with that of the 15' Overnoy Poulsard I had a couple of years ago, which leads me to believe that vinification or in particular, biological factors, may be the grand architect of these wines.

Pours out with an orangey hue of red. Reductive smokey aromas, followed by dried roses, twigs and grass, tabacco, dried herbs, and earth. The palate felt a little simple and short - cherries and grass, on a bitter, high acid finish.

So armed with lessons from previous Delienne openings, the wine went back into the cooler for an overnight dose of slow-release oxygen. This was when it took a unexpected turn towards the Poulsard memory. Cherries and grass had turned into the distinctive blood orange and tea notes. A slight acetic note arose, which integrated well with the palate giving a rather savory impression. A peculiar chicken essence note was especially memory-inducing. I felt like it put on some weight too, with a lovely silky texture. It's an oddball for sure, but not an unwelcomed transformation, as you see, the aforementioned Poulsard was my engagement tipple. — 2 years ago

Jay Kline

9.5

Last night, a buddy of mine who’s a Disabled Veteran and Registered Architect, announced that he was assuming control of a SDVOSB Architecture firm. He had spent the better part of a year of trying to reach a purchase agreement. So it was an evening of celebration. He’s been a Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars fan for some time and he planned to pull the cork on a few bottles. We had a couple of rando bottles too but all were California Cabernet Sauvignon. To my palate, this was clearly the WOTN. It was positively bursting with character. It reminded me of the Heart of Fay that we began the evening with but it was dialed up a couple notches and just had a richness and sophistication about it that indicated its pedigree. I’m still not positive that it’s worth the tariff but it is undeniably really freaking good wine. FWIW, this saw a 30-min decant. — 5 years ago

Matteo Borré

10

"One of the Finest Wines I have ever tasted from Tronquoy Lalande, this estate has been resurrected by the Bouygues family (also the owners of Chateau Montrose) capably assisted by Jean Bernard Delmas, the Wine Architect at Haut Brion between 1961 and 2003. A Blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and a whopping 10% Petit Verdot, the 2010 boasts a dense purple color as well as a big, sweet bouquet of violets, black currants, earth and subtle oak. Admirable concentration, sweet, well-integrated tannin and a surprisingly sexy, opulent mouthfeel result in a Gorgeous Wine to drink over the next 12-15+ years". [Score: 90/93 Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (194), May 2011 / Score: 92 (205), March 2013] — 5 years ago

Martinez

8.9

Pinot Noir from a tiny family-run estate in Ronda. Founded by Austrian architect Martin Kieninger, the winery works with mostly Austrian varieties and rootstock Kieninger brought from Austria - Zweigelt, Blaufränkisch and Pinot Noir, a variety that seems to thrive in the Ronda-. Whole-cluster fermentation with indigenous yeasts and 12 months aging in French oak barrels. Shy nose. Red fruit and herbal notes. Full-bodied and quite bold (15% ABV!) for a Pinot Noir. Not terribly complex. — 3 years ago

Jay Kline

9.2

Last night, a buddy of mine who’s a Disabled Veteran and Registered Architect, announced that he was assuming control of a SDVOSB Architecture firm. He had spent the better part of a year of trying to reach a purchase agreement. So it was an evening of celebration. He’s been a Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars fan for some time and he planned to pull the cork on a few bottles. We had a couple of rando bottles too but all were California Cabernet Sauvignon. The last of the group and third SLWC bottle from the 2014 vintage. To my palate, distinctively different than the previous two which had much more in common but make no mistake, this is still very good. Lush and shamelessly approachable. I think this is only available to SLWC club members but not 100% sure. — 5 years ago

Jay Kline

9.2

Last night, a buddy of mine who’s a Disabled Veteran and Registered Architect, announced that he was assuming control of a SDVOSB Architecture firm. He had spent the better part of a year of trying to reach a purchase agreement. So it was an evening of celebration. He’s been a Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars fan for some time and he planned to pull the cork on a few bottles. We had a couple of rando bottles too but all were California Cabernet Sauvignon. I brought this bottle. It was part of my most recent delivery from Seavey and I was curious to try it out. Well...it was clearly infanticide. This was reductive at first and most of that blew off after about fifteen minutes. This was just so wound up. Delicious, fresh and almost crunchy fruit with a lot of structure. This was very bright compared to the Heart of Fay that preceded and just fell a touch short due to it being somewhat reticent. That being said, cellar time will be very kind to these and I would imagine this will show better down the road or with a lot of air, which this didn’t get. — 5 years ago