Someone called Stags Leap Cabernets "an iron fist in a velvet glove" and this is a textbook example. All the elements are there: Blackberry and cassis fruit, fine smoky new oak, and gentle tannins. It doesn't hit you over the head. But then you notice the dense middle palate, the enormous finish. This beautiful wine is an ager. ——S.H.(3/1/2003)—— 92