The Napa winery is pairing historic-vintage tastings, nationwide dinners and limited bottles with a broader effort to keep the Judgment of Paris relevant.
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars is marking the 50th anniversary of the Judgment of Paris with a yearlong programme of estate tastings, national dining events, wine gatherings and commemorative bottles. The Napa Valley winery is using the anniversary to connect its 1973 S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon, which won the 1976 Paris Tasting, with current visitors, collectors and wine enthusiasts across the United States. The programme places one of Napa’s defining historical moments within a contemporary hospitality and premium-wine setting.
The anniversary is being shared with the Napa wineries associated with the 1976 tasting, including Chateau Montelena, Clos du Val, Freemark Abbey, Heitz Cellar, Mayacamas Vineyards, Spring Mountain Vineyard and Spring Mountain Vineyard, alongside Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. On October 10, the winery plans an estate-based tasting followed by a winemaker-hosted dinner in its caves. A separate Judgment of Paris travel guide extends the occasion into curated Napa itineraries featuring participating estates, restaurants and accommodation.
The estate programme includes guided tastings of S.L.V. and FAY, historic cave visits paired with CASK 23, library-wine sessions and masterclasses focused on terroir and multiple decades of S.L.V. vintages. A commemorative experience with Bardessono Resort and Hotel Yountville is priced at $1,976 per couple, plus the hotel rate, and includes a private estate visit, limited-production and library wines, a seasonal lunch and one bottle of the anniversary S.L.V. Magnum. National activity includes critic-led seminars in London and San Francisco, dinners in New York City, Miami and Houston, and additional events with Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar and Mastro’s Restaurants.
The centrepiece of the bottle programme is the Judgment of Paris 50th Anniversary S.L.V. Magnum, scheduled to debut in May. The winery says 1,973 individually numbered magnums have been produced from the last remaining block of original S.L.V. vines planted in 1972, with each bottle presented in a luxury wood case. The 2023 S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon is also part of the spring range, while auctions including Christie’s Anniversary Collection, Auction Napa Valley and the Nashville Wine Auction will offer library selections and estate experiences.
The anniversary also frames the winery’s next phase around land stewardship. Under Head Winemaker Marcus Notaro, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars says it is maintaining its focus on Cabernet Sauvignon while building on Regenerative Organic Certified status achieved in 2024. The Antinori family, which assumed full ownership in 2023, describes its approach as generational and centred on preserving the estate’s land, identity and place in Napa Valley. Together, the programme links historic recognition with hospitality, collecting and agricultural continuity rather than treating the anniversary as a single retrospective moment.
