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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 90.9 pts. and median of 91 pts. in 132 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Zeitoun on 1/10/2022 & rated 90 points: Surprisingly, it was still tasty. Hints of citrus and acacia on the nose. Acid still vibrant and no oak present. Fruits subdued but very balanced and enjoyable. (961 views) | | | Tasted by West Coast Wine on 10/31/2020 & rated 92 points: Golden in color. Some oak, ripe pineapple, white peach on the nose but definitely more secondary notes on the nose. Med body, alcohol and acidity has resolved. Integrated and at its peak or starting to decline but would drink now and would not be disappointed. Last bottle of the 09’s and will miss this one. Drink now, in its sweet spot if you enjoy aged wine! Cheers! (1503 views) | | | Tasted by 84CHC on 4/28/2019: Slight oxidisation (2053 views) | | | Tasted by Tarpon222 on 12/31/2017 & rated 93 points: Love the Shafer style. Gorgeous gold color. Bright mouth watering taste. Minerality delivers a long finish. Oak is integrated. Completely disagree with any butteriness characterization. That I do NOT like. One more bottle to go and will enjoy shortly. (2854 views) | | | Tasted by skurtz on 12/21/2016 & rated 93 points: At Garth's. Soft, subtle, and delicious, almost a hint of sweetness in the citrus profile, but this is bone dry. Like the memory of a perfect Chardonnay. Lingering buttery finish. (4023 views) | | | Tasted by tfesmgk on 1/29/2016 & rated 93 points: My favorite chardonnay, big and bold (4315 views) | | | Tasted by Goldstone on 1/25/2016 & rated 92 points: San Francisco Wine & Food Society Dinner - Burgundy Grapes on a Sea Voyage (Waterbar, 399 Embarcadero, San Francisco): Light lemon gold colour. Nose is subtle...white pear and white pear. Palate is much weightier than the nose would suggest but has a beautiful balance between ripe canteloupe melon, slight vanilla from the oak, fresh hazelnuts ending with a beautiful distinctive flinty minerality. No malo here, which keeps it on its toes. Head filling and resonant. Beautifully made. I loved this. (4191 views) | | | Tasted by joet626 on 12/31/2015 & rated 90 points: Very buttery, which is not really my preferred style. Was a good match with my monkfish entrée. (3552 views) | | | Tasted by thejerk on 10/1/2015: Drank my cougarjuice on the rooftop under the bloodmoon. Poured at 55F and enjoyed with Cambazola, which was not a terrible pairing at all. This was not as overwhelmingly oaked as I expected. It actually had pretty decent balance, but yeah, definitely more unctious than I prefer. Still, this bottle was fairly forgettable and did not wow, even if the voodoo evening was far from forgettable. (3357 views) | | | Tasted by pgm on 8/15/2015 & rated 91 points: No detailed notes taken, but consistent with prior notes, and it's retaining a highly enjoyable balance. Still time left, but I prefer these younger. (2360 views) | | | Tasted by Derek Darth Taster on 5/19/2015 & rated 91 points: Pinots & Chard with The Terroirist (Extra Space): Pop and poured. Drank over 2 hours.
Appearance is clear, pale intensity, lemon colour. Legs.
Nose is clean, medium intensity, with aromas of slight nutty toasted oak, saline minerality, citrus lemon-lime. Developing.
On the palate, dry, high acidity, medium+ alcohol, medium+ body. Medium+ flavour intensity, with flavours of toasted oak, lots of saline minerality, citrus lemon, pineapple, and peaches. Medium+ finish.
Lovely minerality that became more pronounced with more air. Framed nicely with a touch of oak, good acidity, and balanced fruit.
Very good quality. Drinking well now. Drink up over the next 2-3 years. (2718 views) | | | Tasted by SMHalps on 4/3/2015 & rated 87 points: Disappointing. Lots of oak, muted fruit and some funky (petroleum?) smells and tastes. Something was just a bit off. The bottle was purchased direct from the winery and stored in a temperature controlled room. Maybe it was just past its peak drinking window? This was my last bottle of the 2009s and I enjoyed the others. (1892 views) | | | Tasted by lzelman on 1/23/2015 & rated 93 points: Very enjoyable. Tasty with a long lasting finished. Wife loved it!! (2155 views) | | | Tasted by Loren Sonkin on 12/5/2014: Liquid Farm, Janasse, Fontodi, Wind Gap, Thackrey ++; 12/5/2014-12/6/2014 (TNT): I struggle with this wine and I have had it in other vintages. No question it is well made and some would love the style. for me, it just gets wiped out by the oak. It dominates the nose and the palate and especially the finish. Certainly, I have had far oakier wines than this. If it was the only bottle, i would have drank it. But the fruit seemed so distant to me. I did not assign a score as that's not fair (for me, maybe in the 85 -87 range?), but as I had plenty of other wines to go to, I did not finish my glass. Other's at the table may have liked it more. (2608 views) | | | Tasted by artist777 on 6/21/2014 & rated 91 points: See previous note. (2872 views) | | | Tasted by artist777 on 4/20/2014 & rated 91 points: Notes of apple and honey. Palate of melons and honeysuckle, still has nice acidity and good structure. (2747 views) | | | Tasted by N.Bonaparte on 11/2/2013 & rated 90 points: Not a balanced wine at the moment with a less than average finish. Heat detected. The best part of the wine shows about a 1/3 of the way through sip. Medium bodied. Below average value. (3592 views) | | | Tasted by WineCellarTV on 8/23/2013 & rated 94 points: Golden- yellow in the glass. Vibrant and bright.
Aromas of Ripe Stone and Tropical Fruits, with Peach, Apricot, Pineapple, Melon and little Citrus.
Honey and hints of Lilac. Some spicy Soft Cheese. Mineral notes.
Rich, but precise and filigree!
Accurate, fresh Fruit flavors forward. Again, Peach, Pineapple and also little Banana.
Beautiful Herbal Spiciness and dancing Acidity and Minerality.
Finishes long, but cautious, with nice, crisp Fruit, Minerality, Acidity and little Pepperiness.
Very elegant with a fresh and comforting mouthfeel!
Great balance and proportions deliver a wine that is very intense and rich, but very filigree and precise, too. Great play of fruit, freshness and complexity.
The relatively high alcohol percentage (14,9%) is not noticeable at all.
Beautiful and, due to its fineness, a little better than the 2008. Cheers!
See more Details at cellartv.wordpress.com (3556 views) | | | Tasted by mlawren1 on 8/22/2013 & rated 93 points: Great wine. Pineapple and pear with a crisp core. Great with food. (3285 views) | | | Tasted by DecoEd on 8/6/2013 flawed bottle: Flawed (2915 views) | | | Tasted by BayAreaWildcat on 7/20/2013 & rated 91 points: Oak is coming on pretty strong, nice fruit but the oak & malo/butter is pretty strong - more so than I remember it 12 months ago. nice balance, but more CA than I like them. (2589 views) | | | Tasted by Kevdog on 6/23/2013 & rated 89 points: less oak and more minerals than most cali chards, nice with west indies salad (1622 views) | | | Tasted by nonexpert on 5/12/2013 & rated 93 points: Full-bodied and rich mouthfeel. Oak, vanilla, strawberry and butterscotch notes. Second of 2 bottles. Perhaps did not feel quite as spectacular as when I had the first bottle a few months back, but it is a lovely wine. (2277 views) | | | Tasted by Phredd on 2/17/2013 & rated 94 points: My last bottle of this vintage, and the best one yet. Opened for a belated Valentine's Day, this was a nice medium gold in the glass, not too dark, but plenty of substance. The nose was filled with apple, pear, hints of spice and a touch of vanilla. The palate was devastatingly smooth, with more of that apple and pear, plus just enough citrus to give it some cut. The oak was present but in perfect balance - there was enough to lend a nice, rounded character to the flavors without providing distracting woodiness or overt toast. Supple and elegant, I was expecting to get some heat from a Chardonnay that sports a 14.9% ABV on the label (as I have in the past), but was pleasantly surprised to find this to be completely integrated. Instead, there was a nice mineral character underlying the wine. We had opened a different, less expensive bottle of Cali chard to go into our fondue, so I took a sip of that just to compare. This wine was just light years better. This was probably the best bottle of California Chardonnay I have ever had. I'm not sure if the bottle I opened last May (from the same source) just needed a little more time, or was just a slightly off bottle, or what. Tonight's wine absolutely rocked! (2677 views) | | | Tasted by Tarrant on 2/14/2013 & rated 92 points: Awesome Valentine Chard, fabulous with the scallops we had, this was huge but very well balanced - Gold, full bodied with a nose of peach, apple, pear, butterscotch, caramel and vanilla, well structured, massive but integrated, a touch of heat but silky smooth on the palate with terrific length, awesome! (92 Points). (2432 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, New Releases from Napa Valley (Dec 2011)
(Shafer Vineyards Chardonnay Red Shoulder Ranch Carneros) Subscribe to see review text. | By John Szabo, MS
WineAlign (11/29/2011)
(Shafer Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay, Carneros, Napa Valley white) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, May/June 2011, IWC Issue #156
(Shafer Vineyards Chardonnay Red Shoulder Ranch Carneros Napa Valley) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous and WineAlign. (manage subscription channels) |
| Shafer Producer website
John Shafer and his family founded Shafer Vineyards, located in the Stags Leap District of the Napa Valley, in 1979. From the Shafers' first wine, a 1978 Cabernet Sauvignon,
their wines have won much acclaim. Today, the Shafers farm 200 acres of vineyard in the Stags Leap District, Carneros and Oak Knoll regions. Their flagship wine, Hillside Select,
is produced from selected blocks of the family's hillside vineyards and is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. They also produce Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay, Merlot, One Point Five
(Cabernet Sauvignon) and Relentless (a Syrah/Petite Sirah blend), which was named #1 wine of the year by Wine Spectator's "Top 100" of 2012.Chardonnay The Chardonnay GrapeUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Napa / SonomaSONOMA: The Yorkville Highlands AVA, approved in 1998, is located in the southwestern corner of Mendocino County, between Sonoma County's Alexander Valley to the South and Mendocino County!s Anderson Valley to the North. The region is 25 miles long, roughly in the shape of rectangle and bisected by Highway 128 which runs the length of the AVA. The region!s terrain is hilly and forested, with elevations ranging from 1,078 to 2,442 feet above sea level.
The distinguishing features of the Yorkville Highlands AVA are rocky soils with a high gravel content and the climate, which is cooler than Alexander Valley but warmer than Anderson Valley, and significantly cooler at night than the surrounding areas.CarnerosStraddles the southern ends of Napa & Sonoma Counties. |
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