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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 91.4 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 84 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Craig Shipley on 3/27/2022 & rated 82 points: Oaky even with age. Nice nose. Smooth, not buttery. (856 views) | | | Tasted by West Coast Wine on 10/17/2020 & rated 91 points: Slight golden in color showing some age but not much. Very expressive on the nose, overripe lemon/peel, lemon curd, caramel, vanilla, oak is still prevalent and some hints of fruit - ripe peach/tangerine. Acid is starting to drop off and alcohol is still somewhat high but expected for 14.9%. Big wine, full body, somewhat oakier than I remember and not as bright but that is likely the age showing. Good place right now and would easily go another 5 years if you enjoy age on your Chardonnay. Not a mineral driven wine but also not an oak bomb or buttery Chardonnay either. (1582 views) | | | Tasted by Winiac on 6/28/2019 & rated 87 points: Adequate acidity. Buttery and big, hot and overoaked. (1995 views) | | | Tasted by Burgundy Al on 6/8/2019: Lisa's Big Birthday with Very Good Wine (Riverwoods, IL): Tasted double blind. So evidently New World Chardonnay. So very oaky, but nicely rich at the same time. Over the top for me, so not my style. (2722 views) | | | Tasted by rocknroller on 5/12/2019 & rated 92 points: Light gold plus color. Drank a glass plus over 45 minutes. Poured this with our first morels of the season, which ironically we did two years ago on Mother's day too.. This was marked by citrus, tart, lemon, citrus zest, steely mineral, no sense of oak or vanilla now at all. Very good. (2300 views) | | | Tasted by markcic on 12/9/2018 & rated 91 points: We pnp'd at dinner. White fruit on the nose. The palate was peaches, pears, plucots and just enough oak to keep it in balance. Drank with a platter of sushi. (2221 views) | | | Tasted by rocknroller on 11/22/2018 & rated 93 points: Thanksgiving Dinner Wines (Rocknroller's (Kevin & Vicki's Place)): Light medium gold color. Drank 1+ glass over 45 minutes. This was in the sweet spot this afternoon. Very good complexity, peach, pear panna cotta, pastry cream and lemon zest. The palate is fresh and lively, medium plus body, lemon, deep, pastry, Meyer lemon, crisp with tasteful oak. (2044 views) | | | Tasted by lzelman on 10/28/2018 & rated 94 points: Fantastic Chardonnay. Lots of fruit, crisp flavor. Long aftertaste. Really enjoyable. (1376 views) | | | Tasted by wmccone54 on 10/12/2018 & rated 93 points: This wine is showing no noticeable signs of fading. Still a pale lemon color, lots of fruit and mineral complexity, wonderful balance, aromatic and mature fruit flavor intensity, and a long lengthy finish. I’ve enjoyed vintages of this going back to 2006 and it’s almost always consistent and doesn’t disappoint. In good cellar conditions, this should last another 18-24 months. Fantastic pairing with garlic, lemon butter shrimp with capers and pasta. (1310 views) | | | Tasted by mat600 on 9/30/2018 & rated 92 points: Un vin blanc américain avec beaucoup de richesse et de barrique. Peu subtil mais très complet, il apporte des notes beurrées et caramélisées. 92 sur 100. (1549 views) | | | Tasted by wineguy75 on 9/25/2018 & rated 94 points: Needs 15 min in the glass. Great peach fruit, balanced, complex for a Cali Chard. Peaking right now. Very high QPR wine. (1089 views) | | | Tasted by Andrew Hunter on 12/10/2017 & rated 92 points: Delicious Chard in the Safer style even after 5 years. I enjoy finding these older surprises in the back of the cellar. (2014 views) | | | Tasted by WineGuyFL on 10/30/2017 & rated 92 points: Last bottle. All have been consistently good (a crisp chardonnay), but this one is getting long in the tooth for a chardonnay. So, am glad I have finished my bottles. (1859 views) | | | Tasted by smphelps on 9/24/2017 & rated 91 points: Last bottle, 3 1/2 years after last note. A touch hazy, light pineapple yellow. Buttery white peach pineapple aromas. Weighty, but not overly so, long with hints of vanilla. Inclined to drink, not hold. (2113 views) | | | Tasted by wmccone54 on 6/3/2017 & rated 92 points: After a less than stellar showing in 2011, Shafer seems to have bounced back with this gem. A very good showing on this day, displaying balance, complexity, and elegance, albeit with a price!
Opened, tasted, and poured into a chilling carafe to ensure any vestige of oak blows off and to allow the wine to settle. Pale lemon color with a slightly green tinge, medium plus body. Opens with aromas of white floral notes, spicy apple, honeysuckle, and very noticeable chalky minerality. Layered with an ever changing palate: spiced apple, juicy stone fruit, ripe pear, tangy citrus, vanilla, butter, all wrapped around a mineral and solidly acidic core. Lots going on, culminating in a long, long finish. If you love California Chardonnay, this is great at 4-1/2 years. (2747 views) | | | Tasted by rocknroller on 5/14/2017 & rated 92 points: Light gold color. PNP, drank 1+ glass over an hour. This was showing great today, paired about perfectly with sauteed Morel mushrooms. I'm coming to the conclusion that I really like this wine younger than older. That sweet spot seems to be about 4-5 years for me. This is a more buttery style though well balanced by the brightness of fresh pear and lemon, apple, and tangy acid. There's some vanilla, but this is not all that oaky, silky texture, full body, very tasty. 92+pts. (3010 views) | | | Tasted by Brown11 on 2/12/2017 & rated 94 points: Directly after opening raspberry-like Ahoi fizzy (Brause). Luckily it flies away after a few minutes. It impresses strong yellow with green reflections. A buttery, typical Chardonnay nose is on the best side. On the palate it is buttery-creamy, with vanilla in perfectly integrated wood, also brioche and tobacco. Overall, a great drinking pleasure, which shows Napa at the best. (2657 views) | | | Tasted by mclanew on 1/24/2017 & rated 91 points: Lovely if straightforward well crafted California chardonnay. Peach, citrus, and minerals. Medium bodied with some interesting expressive notes. Nice nose and medium finish. (2501 views) | | | Tasted by markcic on 10/29/2016 & rated 91 points: A nice easy drinking chardonnay with peaches, pears, plucots and mild oak on the palate. We drank 2 bottles at my Halloween dinner paired with the seared scallops in a tarragon sauce. (2722 views) | | | Tasted by Nolch on 9/18/2016 & rated 95 points: A blend. Not pure chard, but the notes are more complex this way and it is balanced. (2493 views) | | | Tasted by Nolch on 9/18/2016 & rated 93 points: Very complex and balanced. Would drink now to perhaps 2018. (2365 views) | | | Tasted by RockinCabs on 9/4/2016 & rated 89 points: Nose: Apple, sweet pear and floral notes. Big of malo noted with a buttery note. Palate: At first this is great but it grows a bit too unctuous and monolithic for me. Restrained at first but then sappy pineapple oak and lemon curd creep in. Finish: floral with oak/butter notes. (2137 views) | | | Tasted by John McCabe on 8/20/2016 & rated 93 points: Rich, buttery but not over-the-top. (2103 views) | | | Tasted by jkvedar on 6/19/2016 & rated 90 points: Summer wine paired with grilled swordfish. Flowers, vanilla, peach and pear on the nose. Good acidity on the palate. Tropical fruits. Pleasant finish. (2097 views) | | | Tasted by BigKeith on 4/3/2016 & rated 91 points: Nice Chard, buttery, mild oak, w/excellent nose. (2335 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: 2012 and 2013 (Dec 2014) (10/1/2014)
(Shafer Vineyards Chardonnay Red Shoulder Ranch Napa Valley, Carneros) Subscribe to see review text. | By Sara d'Amato
WineAlign (9/26/2014)
(Shafer Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay, Carneros, Napa Valley white) Subscribe to see review text. | By David Lawrason
WineAlign (9/19/2014)
(Shafer Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay, Carneros, Napa Valley white) Subscribe to see review text. | By John Szabo, MS
WineAlign (9/18/2014)
(Shafer Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay, Carneros, Napa Valley white) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, May/June 2014, IWC Issue #174
(Shafer Vineyards Chardonnay Red Shoulder Ranch Carneros Napa Valley) Subscribe to see review text. | By Linda Murphy
Decanter
(Shafer, Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay, Napa Valley, Los Carneros, California, USA, White) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous and WineAlign and Decanter. (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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