Our take
Stags' Leap Winery Merlot Napa Valley Red Wine
- Style
- Red wine
- Size
- 750 ml
- Grape
- Merlot
- Region
- Napa Valley
- Shelf barcode
- 0089819044412
Our take
What we make of this bottle
Merlot is a red grape that can stand as a complete wine on its own or soften a Cabernet-led blend. It generally ripens earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon and often carries a rounder structure. Regional guides describe plum and other dark fruit in it, with less forceful tannin than Cabernet Sauvignon in many examples. 1 shoppers have rated it, averaging 2 out of five, which lands well below the 4.71 median for our list, but a sample that small cannot carry real weight.
This wine comes from Napa Valley, a wine region only about thirty miles long that has been federally recognized since 1981. In our September 2026 checks, prices fell between $38.99 and $47.99. Stags' Leap Winery says on its own site that grapes were first planted on its Napa Valley property in 1872, and that Carl Doumani, then the owner, sold the estate in 1996 to Beringer, now part of Treasury Wine Estates.
Stags' Leap Winery's own listings for its two most recent Napa Valley Merlot vintages describe a wine built mostly from Merlot, rounded out with Malbec and a small amount of Petite Sirah, sourced mainly from the cooler, southerly Oak Knoll district with additional fruit from Oakville and the Stags Leap District. Both vintages spent roughly a year and a half aging in French oak, and both drew a 95-point score from the critic James Suckling, who called the more recent release “lush, fruit-driven and perfumed.”
Our call: this suits a shopper who trusts the producer's own account and a critic's backing; Stags' Leap sources the fruit from Oak Knoll and ages it about a year and a half in French oak, and a 95-point score from James Suckling has followed the wine's recent vintages. Pass if you weight shopper opinion heavily: the one rating on our record is a low score from a single shopper, and one score cannot settle which read is right.
The Grocery Store Wine Desk · written Sep 16, 2026 from our research file for this wine. Numbers reflect our latest checks.
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Read our take →The prices we checked
Dated store checks, not a promise about your store.
- Kroger, Atlanta suburbs, GA$44.49
- Kroger, Cincinnati, OH$39.99
- King Soopers, Colorado Springs, CO$38.99
- Kroger, Knoxville, TN$39.99
- Kroger, Richmond, VA$47.99
The regular price can vary by store and date.
From the producer
History & ownership (Stags' Leap Winery)
Stags' Leap Winery says on its own site that grapes were first planted on its Napa Valley property in 1872, and that owner Carl Doumani sold the estate in 1996 to Beringer, which is now part of Treasury Wine Estates.
Research status
What we are still checking
Our overview above draws on the dated store feed, shopper ratings, our region and grape research, and any sourced producer facts. We are still working to confirm the current release, the full producer record, and the bottle itself, and we update this page as we learn more.
Getting to know Napa Valley.
Napa Valley is only about 30 miles long, yet its floor, hillsides and mountain sites differ sharply. The valley name establishes origin, while a nested AVA or vineyard gives a closer reading of place.
What the name means
Napa Valley has been a federally recognized American Viticultural Area since 1981. Seventeen smaller AVAs now sit within its boundary.
How grapes grow here
The valley has a dry Mediterranean climate. San Pablo Bay cools the south, summer afternoons grow warmer toward the north, and fog lowers overnight temperatures across much of the valley.
What lies under the vines
Volcanic, marine and river activity created unusually varied ground. Napa Valley Vintners reports half of the world's twelve soil orders and 33 soil series within the region.
How large the region is
- Land under cultivation
- 47,216 acres, or 19,108 hectares, are reported under cultivation.
- Nested AVAs
- 17 approved AVAs sit within the Napa Valley AVA.
Places within the region
- Valley floor
- Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena and Yountville are among the nested floor and benchland AVAs.
- Hills and edges
- Atlas Peak, Howell Mountain, Mount Veeder and Los Carneros show how elevation and bay influence change within the valley.
Getting to know Merlot.
Merlot is a red grape that can make a complete wine or soften a Cabernet-led blend. It generally ripens earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon and often has a rounder structure.
Category guide
What to expect in the glass
Regional guides describe plum and other red or dark fruit, with less forceful tannin than Cabernet Sauvignon in many examples. Climate and blending can make it fresh and medium-bodied or broader and richer.
Sources: New Zealand Winegrowers; Napa Valley Vintners. Checked Aug 10, 2026. See all 28 Merlot wines we cover →
Where this information comes from
- Store listing
- Price, package, product identifier, and shopper rating. Checked Aug 10, 2026.
- Barcode
- The shelf barcode shown here is computed from the store product identifier. It has not been checked against a bottle.
- Method
- Every price, rating and fact here is a dated observation. How we check.