2022 Chimney Rock
“Elevage” Red
Stags Leap District • Napa Valley
Adds 6 bottles to cart • 750ml
Two 93-Point Reviews Anchor the Allocation
A Clean $35-Per-Bottle Value Gap
The value story is unusually clean: Chimney Rock lists the 2022 Elevage at $120 per bottle, while this WineSlash allocation is locked at $85. That is $35 off per bottle — roughly 29% below the official winery price — on an estate-grown Stags Leap District red blend with two 93-point professional reviews.
The comparable market is not a generic Napa red-blend bucket. This is a specific Chimney Rock estate bottling from a historic district where polished tannin, ripe fruit, and cellar-worthy structure command premium pricing. At a $125 market comp and $120 winery anchor, the $85 deal gives buyers a clear reason to move now without turning the page into cheap discount noise.
Captured at build time; exact market pricing varies by retailer, inventory, vintage, shipping policy, and promotion.
Merlot Plushness, Cabernet Frame, Petit Verdot Depth
Elevage is Chimney Rock’s Bordeaux-minded red blend — a wine built around the idea that Stags Leap District texture can be composed, not just extracted. The 2022 blend is Merlot-led at 58%, supported by 32% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Petit Verdot, which explains the wine’s plush mid-palate, darker fruit, and structural frame.
The reported 18 months in 90% new French oak is a luxury élevage choice: enough new oak to season the wine with cocoa, clove, vanilla and espresso tones, but still anchored by the district’s famously supple tannin profile. Expect black cherry, blackberry, cocoa, vanilla, black tea, lavender, bay leaf and a full, rounded finish.
Serve at cellar temperature and decant for 45–60 minutes. The wine is accessible now, but the structure and 2032 critic window make it equally suitable for a short-to-medium cellar hold.
How It Shows in the Glass
black cherry, blackberry, red currant, cherry
cocoa, vanilla, clove, black tea, lavender, bay leaf, herbes de Provence
medium-to-full body, supple tannins, fine-grained finish, bright finishing acidity
smooth, round, luscious, silky
long, polished, dusty-velvety
Chimney Rock’s Stags Leap Estate Signature
Chimney Rock began in 1980 when Hack and Stella Wilson purchased a 180-acre property on the east side of the Silverado Trail. The first 59 acres were planted soon after, and the first Chimney Rock estate wines followed in 1984. The Cape Dutch-inspired winery architecture became part of the estate’s identity in the early 1990s.
The Terlato family joined as partners in 2000, later taking sole ownership in 2004. Their stewardship sharpened the estate’s focus on Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux-varietal blends, with the vineyard now divided into 28 distinct blocks for highly specific viticulture.
This matters for Elevage because the wine is not a leftover blend — it is a deliberate estate composition, an annual portrait of Chimney Rock’s Stags Leap District texture and the winemaker’s blending judgment.
Built for Rich, Savory Tables
Elevage wants food with polish and depth: slow-braised beef, duck with dark fruit, mushroom risotto, charred lamb, or aged cheeses. The Merlot core carries plush black fruit and cocoa, while Cabernet and Petit Verdot keep enough tannin and acidity to handle richer sauces.
Serve + Decant Protocol: open 45–60 minutes before dinner, pour slightly cool, and use a Bordeaux stem. Pair the first glass with something savory and slow-cooked; return to the bottle as it softens and the spice, black tea and cocoa notes open.
Red-Wine-Braised Short Ribs
The gelatin-rich braise mirrors the wine’s plush Merlot texture while the sauce pulls out cocoa, black cherry and spice.
View Recipe →Wild Mushroom & Red Wine Risotto
Earthy mushrooms, Parmesan and red wine echo the wine’s savory oak, black tea and fine-grained tannin.
View Recipe →Secure the Allocation While It’s Still Available
This is the kind of Stags Leap red blend that rewards decisive buyers: estate provenance, serious critical support, and a polished texture profile that makes it easy to open now or cellar short term.
The $85 deal is not a vague markdown — it is a clean $35 per bottle savings against Chimney Rock’s $120 winery price.
Expect black cherry, cocoa, vanilla, clove, black tea, lavender and bay leaf, wrapped in the soft, graceful tannins that made Stags Leap District famous.
Decant 45–60 minutes with braised short ribs, duck, mushroom risotto or charred lamb, then follow the wine through its slow shift from fruit to spice to savory finish.
Secure your allocation before this 93-point estate blend disappears from the cellar.
