Steltzner is a new addition to the Dakota Shy portfolio in 2021. This wine shows the exceptional elegance and energy that Cabernet can achieve in the top sites of The Stag’s Leap District.
Displays a gorgeous range of aroma, flavor and texture with a superb layering of dark fruit, floral and spice notes. The deeply fruited palate has an energetic spine of acidity that carries violet, cherry and fresh herb flavors over a lush textural core to a long vibrant finish. Fresh herbs, cherry pie and baking spice flavors linger. Complex and elegant.
I knew of the Steltzner family almost immediately after moving to the valley in 2003. I waited on the patriarch over several occasions at the famed Martini House restaurant where I got my start in Napa Valley. I always thought, this guy is a farmer, so much like the farmers I grew up with in North Dakota – but such a different product of farming. It was those early interactions at the restaurant with growers like Dick Steltzner that planted the seed in my mind of one day making my own wines. His daughter, Allison Steltzner, now leads the legacy, allowing Dick to retire. Allison has become a friend of ours over the many growing seasons since and we’re so fortunate to now be working with her family’s fruit.
Located in the Stags Leap District, this wine is on the opposite side of the spectrum in comparison to the Switchback. Equally as delicious, a cerebral wine that evokes one to think reflectively, as to what old Napa may have looked like 50 years ago.
Appellation | Stag’s Leap |
Blend | 100% Cabernet Sauvignon |
Barrel Aging | 18 months, 70% New French Oak |
Clones | Martini Clone, 337 |
Rootstocks | 1103P |
Soils | Boomer-Forward-Felta complex, into Bale clay loam |
Vineyard Manager | Jim Barbour |
Winemaker | Tom Garrett |
Production | 175 cases |