Stags Leap District is a valley within Napa Valley and the tiny area — just one mile by one-and-a-half miles — is the place where the grapes for some of the finest American red wines are grown.

Burrows Lightbourn Ltd represents Stags’ Leap Winery in Bermuda and on Monday, the company invited industry professionals and members of the media to taste some of their best. Burrow’s wine director Michael Robinson and Devon Larking of Treasury Wine Estates were our hosts.

On offer were six Stags’ Leap wines, ranging from a very nicely balanced chablis-style chardonnay to differing styles of petite syrah, for which the label is especially well known.

The wines were poured alongside a menu of four courses prepared in the kitchen of Port O’ Call, where the dinner was given.

Californian chardonnay was once oak-infused and subjected to extensive malolactic fermentation that typically resulted in a heavy and overwhelming wine. At Stags’ Leap at least, that is no longer the case. Their 2013 chardonnay is French in style, reminiscent of the quintessential chablis found there. A citrus, light floral nose, it is a very clean wine that has the structure and flavour notes which enhanced a robust first course — seared diver scallops with bacon jam, butter-poached lettuce and tomato confit.

Stags’ Leap Winery Merlot 2012 was a revelation. Famously, the film Sideways debilitated the market for merlot with the famous line delivered by wine snob Miles: “If anyone orders merlot, I’m leaving. I am NOT drinking any f*&^*ng merlot!” Sales of merlot plummeted by more than 30 per cent; ten years later the grape varietal has not fully recovered.

This 2012 should help matters. This is a bold merlot with some pepper in the nose and plenty of rich fruit up front. Seared salmon, prepared with a five-spice rub, was a good match for it. The chefs at Port O’ Call served an unusual — and good — dish with it, star anise purée.

Petit syrah is hard to find, but Stags’ Leap Winery makes the search worthwhile. Their 2010 is exceptional — big and beautiful, a well-bred wine that, conversely, is also filled with youthful ebullience. The smooth nose is redolent with promise, and the wine fulfils that promise as it bursts with succulent stone fruit flavours and peppery notes that conclude with an exceptional finish — it simply never seems to end.

A wine as full of excitement as this one was correctly served with a mouthwatering tenderloin of beef — porcini-dusted and roasted — an oyster mushroom cream and blue cheese hush puppies.

Magnums of Stags’ Leap Winery Ne Cede Malis Petite Sirah 2001, which is not ordinarily available, were carried to Bermuda by Mr Larking personally, for this event. Some ten years older than the 2010, it had aged gracefully, the robust notes smoothed with time and opening nicely in the glass.

The winery takes two approaches to the cabernet which they produce. They blend their own grapes with fruit from other Napa appellations, and they also make their own estate-grown cabernet sauvignon, which is called The Leap. The 2012 of both styles were opened on Monday evening.

Served with flavourful roast duck, pecan purée and watercress, the gamy richness of the bird and peppery flavour of the watercress balanced nicely with the two cabernets.

The blend reflected the spicy richness of this course, and while The Leap is smooth in the mouth, it is balanced with complex fruits and some pepper. It has a remarkably long-lasting finish — a perfect choice with which to end the wines for the evening.

Dark chocolate cake with pistachio mousse and white chocolate creme anglaise concluded the dinner.