External search
Google (images)
Wine Advocate
Wine Spectator
Burghound
Wine-Searcher
Vintages
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
Show more
From this producer
Show all wines
All tasting notes
|
| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 92 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 144 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by JonathanP on 4/28/2024 & rated 91 points: Double decanted and drunk over two nights. Plenty of jammy black fruit with liquorice, juniper, earth, graphite, leather, and some peppery spices. Clocking in at 14.9%, the high alcohol is very noticeable on the nose, palate, and sides of the glass. While it doesn’t stick out too much, it is warming and not my style. A big wine on the palate. It’s glycerol sweetness is punchy and while velvety, the tannins are still a little powdery. Not my cup to tea, but for those who like bigger new world reds, this is pretty good and ready to go with a good decant. (60 views) | | | Tasted by davidandrose on 8/31/2021 & rated 92 points: Coravan’d 3 glasses the first night, uncorking the remaining 2/3 of the bottle 3 nights later. There’s good fruit to this with a dry, flavorful finish dominated by syrupy graphite, w dark fruit that could one day develop into port but isn’t quite there yet. While this wine delivers a lot of flavor, the finish is disappointingly brief.
As it warms up and breathes in syrah stems, the wine picks up more weight and the finish lengthens, but there’s a negative trade off with a bit more alcohol as well.
Was hoping to to enjoy this even more, I’m pleased w it’s condition after 2 cross country moves (1344 views) | | | Tasted by dslaven on 1/17/2020 & rated 93 points: Amazing. Cassis and black pepper (1838 views) | | | Tasted by Margaux Bro on 8/5/2019 & rated 94 points: Still a ton of life left here. This is a big banger, definitely extracted and high alcohol. French oak abounds, and its very new world in nature. This is something you'd want to drink with a ribeye. I'd say this still has 10-15 years of life left. (2095 views) | | | Tasted by Decanting Queen on 6/18/2019: Way way way too young. I can’t understand the notes saying this is past its prime??!! I wish I had waited. Beautiful aromas and intense ripe fruits. But no tertiary flavors at all. Plenty of acid and tannin to go longer. Best on day 3. (3537 views) | | | Tasted by buckeye76 on 2/1/2019 & rated 93 points: Performing very well right now. Blackberries, blueberries, plums, licorice, and spice, with hints of minerals and floral in the nose. Flavor very much like the nose, along with black cherries and hints of chocolate. Full bodied wine with a medium to long finish. (2237 views) | | | Tasted by srh on 5/25/2018: Friday Tasting Group; Syrahs/Shirazes (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA): 80% Syrah & 20% P.S.; 14.9% ABV
N: RIPE berries with some earth? Intensity lurking?
P: LM body; Nice, almost swtish frt met by some puckerish astringency which transitions into a LONG, very, VERY slightly tangy finish with a BITTERswtness to the remaining tannins. Might still improve through '19? Then POSS making its 20th? My EXC-,poss EXC. 92.4 pts [he uses a panel & averages the scores] from kenswineguide.com, 92 WE @ $65, 91 & 92 (2 diff reviewers) from Wine Review Online, 90 Tanzer, and 87 WS. (2070 views) | | | Tasted by Go4it70 on 12/29/2017 & rated 87 points: past it's prime. Decanted 2 hours but taste never improved (1454 views) | | | Tasted by WinoRick on 11/1/2017 & rated 92 points: Any tannin or astringency has melted away and the petite syrah has integrated beautifully to make a dark and delicious blend. The fruit masks the alcohol and begs for another sip. The broad shoulders here tells of a long life ahead. (1683 views) | | | Tasted by Winokdub on 7/30/2017 & rated 94 points: Pours very dark and has the mouthfeel of a 5 year old wine not 13. Probably will be better in 3-5 years and I would guess has the structure to still age another 10 years +- (1700 views) | | | Tasted by Delaney on 5/14/2017 & rated 96 points: Fantastic. Good for another five years. (1709 views) | | | Tasted by mkubow on 6/20/2016: Past its prime. (2573 views) | | | Tasted by kmforster on 7/19/2015 & rated 92 points: Delicious, but suffered by comparison to the '75 Heitz Martha's Vineyard we had just prior. My wife says this wine has a cocaine note on the nose. I have no idea! Liked it but hard to judge against that backdrop. (3503 views) | | | Tasted by daniel.jay on 5/2/2015 flawed bottle: Notable only for being the most corked example I've ever come across. (3379 views) | | | Tasted by Doc90 on 3/15/2015 & rated 93 points: Very romantic nose of s'mores, red raspberry, Italian cream soda, as well as hints of jasmine and a soft women's perfume. Dense freshly picked raspberries up front, raspberry palate with jasmine undertones. Cinnamon graham cracker falls in and carries a lengthy finish. This is soft, sensual, and unravels at a slow motion pace. Silky texture and very feminine; Keira Knightley in a silk dress. Elegant and beautiful. (3327 views) | | | Tasted by rpenn77 on 12/27/2014 & rated 93 points: Dark rich fruit, long finish. (3523 views) | | | Tasted by rpenn77 on 12/26/2014 & rated 93 points: Rich, dark fruit. Long finish. (2846 views) | | | Tasted by daniel.jay on 10/5/2014 & rated 94 points: 30 min decant, had w/ ribs. Rich and powerful but easy drinking - big winner. Closer style-wise to napa cab than central coast syrah. (2646 views) | | | Tasted by fredman on 4/20/2014 & rated 92 points: Really a knockout bottle tonight. Dark plum, cola, and spice all in harmony. Sweet tannin. Drink or hold for a few more years. (3145 views) | | | Tasted by ebert on 2/15/2014 & rated 89 points: Deep flavors after decanting but tannic finish was disappointing. (3191 views) | | | Tasted by Paul Lin on 2/13/2014 & rated 90 points: By no means a shy wine. Boasts rich and concentrated notes of roasted figs, black plum, and chocolate molten lava cake. A good deal of oak is present here, which may not please some, but I enjoyed the indulgent confectionary quality of this wine. On the palate, it shows a density of flavor that carries through to the finish, and just the right amount of acidity to cut through the richness. While drinking quite well now, this wine still has many years ahead of it. 90-91 points. (3045 views) | | | Tasted by fredman on 12/7/2013 & rated 90 points: One hour decant. Dark, brooding fruits, some spice, a hint of black licorice. I see no reason not to enjoy this now. (3622 views) | | | Tasted by sayward on 11/6/2013 & rated 92 points: A nice nose of syrah upon opening. I thought this would need more of a decant, but we were drinking several bottles and didn't have one to spare until 20 mins before consuming. Despite this the wine was in a good spot. Rum raisin on the nose with some ripe fruit. I would not say that this wine needs a lot more time in the cellar. Enjoy now. (3359 views) | | | Tasted by Counselor Chris on 10/16/2013 & rated 93 points: I think the key with Relentless is to give it close to a decade from the vintage date for the wine's dense core to open up and reveal itself. The 2004 is just getting to a good place, lots of beautiful florals, graphite and pure berry fruit. I think it will continue to improve over the next several years. (2713 views) | | | Tasted by grapist on 6/2/2013 & rated 93 points: Dark and opaque. Rich floral nose of dark fruit and cedar. Full-bodied taste of blackberries and a hint of blueberry. 2 hours in decanter softened the tannins and let the balance and softness of the wine shine. (3415 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, May/June 2007, IWC Issue #132
(Shafer Vineyards Relentless Napa Valley) Subscribe to see review text. | By Richard Jennings
RJonWine.com (1/30/2009)
(Shafer Relentless) Dark red violet color; ripe plum, berry, black cherry and blueberry syrup nose; ripe berry, plum, chocolate, caramel and blueberry syrup palate, tight yet; medium finish 91+ pts. 91 points |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous and RJonWine.com. (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.Syrah BlendThe 2018 is 40% Merlot and 60% Syrah.USAAmerican 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 Valley Napa Valley Wineries and Wine (Napa Valley Vintners)Napa ValleySt. Helena |
|
