Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars’ 2023 S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon is positioned as a commemorative release: the winery notes that 2023 marks the “50th anniversary” of S.L.V.’s win at the Judgment of Paris, and it goes further, drawing a direct line between this vintage and its history by saying the season was “similar in character to the winning 1973 vintage” (Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars).

The wine is a 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc blend (Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars). Fruit sources are spelled out with unusual precision for a consumer-facing note: blocks 2A, 3A, 1A, 1B, and Block 4—planted in 1972—along with additional eastern-side blocks defined by volcanic soils (Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars). Elevage is equally specific: 21 months in “100% new French Oak,” with the finished wine listed at 14.8% alcohol, total acidity of 0.51 g/100ml, and pH 3.82 (Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars). Those numbers suggest a ripe, full-bodied Napa Cabernet profile, while the stated pH also points to a supple, broad feel rather than a sharply etched style.

In the winery’s tasting description, the aromatic set is classically Cabernet: “dark fruit aromas” with “cocoa,” “baking spices,” “cassis,” and “subtle cedar spice” (Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars). The palate is described as “rich” and “firmly structured,” with “gravelly and iron-tinged mineral nuances” and “dark chocolate” on the finish (Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars). That combination—dark fruit and chocolate framed by mineral and tannic structure—signals a wine built to drink well young with decanting, while also having the architecture for cellaring.

Professional critical reception, as reported by the winery, is notably strong. James Suckling awarded the 2023 S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon 98 points (James Suckling, via Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars), an excellent score that places it among the estate’s most highly rated recent releases in that publication’s scale. No other independent critic notes were provided in the available materials.