The winery achieved significant international recognition in 1976, six years after its establishment, at the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, also known as the Judgment of Paris, where its 1973 vintage Cabernet Sauvignon won first place among ten top French and California red wines in a blind taste test by predominantly renown French oenophiles.

The result of the tasting has been described by Decanter as "a victory that put California on the winemaking map, and established Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars as a global superstar".

[1] Warren Winiarski was introduced to wine while on a year-long trip to Italy studying the work of Niccolò Machiavelli.

[2][3] Stag's Leap Wine Cellars was founded in 1970 after Winiarski purchased a 44-acre (18 ha) block of land for under $200,000 that was situated next to the vineyard owned by modern Napa Valley Cabernet winegrowing pioneer Nathan Fay.

This '73 vintage was entered into and subsequently rated the top red wine at the now historic Judgment of Paris in 1976, launching the winery into the international spotlight.

Grgich was the winemaker at Chateau Montelena in the early 1970s and he produced the counterpart winning Californian Chardonnay at the 1976 Judgment of Paris.

[6][7] A lawsuit initiated by Winiarski and a counter-suit filed by Carl Doumani, owner of Stags' Leap Winery, was decided in 1986 by the California Supreme Court.

[11] The winery achieved significant international recognition in 1976, four years after its establishment, at the Judgment of Paris where its 1973 vintage Cabernet Sauvignon won first place among ten top French and California red wines in a blind taste test by leading French wine experts.

[4] The result of the tasting has been described by Decanter as "a victory that put California on the winemaking map, and established Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars as a global superstar",[8] and by Paul Lukacs as "most important, it enabled not only the United States but also Australia, South America, and the rest of the New World to emerge as legitimate sources of increasingly superior wines.

Other items chosen from among the collections for this historic list included Neil Armstrong’s space suit, Abraham Lincoln’s top hat, Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, and Lewis & Clark’s compass.”[15][16] The San Francisco Wine Tasting of 1978 was a re-tasting of the same wines 20 months after the Paris event.

[6][8] The flagship red wine is named "Cask 23" and this is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon fruit from the SLV and Fay vineyards.

[21] Stag's Leap Wine Cellars produces a mid-level range under the designation "Napa Valley Collection".