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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 92.4 pts. and median of 93 pts. in 66 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by JVanceSD on 12/24/2023 & rated 92 points: Has at Cafe Zinc in Midland. Very nice. (518 views) | | | Tasted by DrBad on 8/15/2023 & rated 93 points: Drank over several nights this is still a big, strong Syrah. Blackberry and violet, leather, dark meat. (1171 views) | | | Tasted by JP75Wine on 3/21/2023 & rated 91 points: This wine is heavy on the oak notes - strong vanilla and cedar profile. Came off as a bit hot, but under all that were lovely notes of blueberry, violets, olive and smoked meats. Has pleasantly rounded tannins and a nice finish. (1324 views) | | | Tasted by 2 Utes on 2/17/2023 & rated 93 points: Had this in Galveston at Rudy & Paco’s. Great restaurant, wine list, etc. Nice wine. Has 3 years to its sweet spot. (1256 views) | | | Tasted by redbrix on 8/19/2022 & rated 91 points: Deep purple black color. Nice nose of cherry, tobacco and chocolate nibs. Round and soft with cherry and oak and a subtle tart finish. (2006 views) | | | Tasted by duanerb on 7/15/2022 & rated 90 points: Little evolution
Mod aromatics: Olive tapenade, graphite, blueberry, star anise, and alc.
M+B, M-A, SMT, M+Alc, palate matches nose but distinct blood pudding note. Velvet on palate with a lingering+ finish
I am on the fence on this. Decanted 1/2 bottle for 2 hours and drink rest from bottle to compare. The wine is laden with oak and has some good notes w/ alc shows through, not up to par with other vintages. Thus, I will leave the other bottles to rest, but I do not have high hopes. (1641 views) | | | Tasted by AlphaMikeFoxtrot on 5/31/2022 & rated 89 points: Drank with a client in Riverside, CA
Big ripe fruits but just shy of being "jammy". Blackberry pie, dark plum, olives, vanilla, leather, coffee beans. Full bodied with soft lingering tannins. Very much a wine for the American palate but just elegant enough that I like it. Drink now; will not benefit from further aging. (1580 views) | | | Tasted by cdp1276 on 3/25/2022 & rated 94 points: Open time 1 hr - jammy and fruit forward with medium / medium high acidity. Good structure with notes of black and blue fruit, some light pencil lead and dry slate (1518 views) | | | Tasted by Deryck on 1/30/2022 & rated 93 points: Killer wine! Opened and let breathe for 2 1/2 hours. Paired well with grilled rib-eye steaks. (1695 views) | | | Tasted by sfbikeguy on 1/20/2022 & rated 90 points: Agree with other notes. Still young and tight. I'm commenting as I drink a glass on Day 2. It's difficult to justify buying and holding more than 3 years at this price. Seems like this needs another 2-3 years for the wine to evolve to the experience I was looking for. (1434 views) | | | Tasted by DrBad on 1/20/2022 & rated 95 points: Excellent as always. Took about an hour to open up and then just amazing dark fruits and great complexity. Hard to find a better California Syrah. (1700 views) | | | Tasted by Coachron13 on 11/19/2021 & rated 90 points: This is still very young and tight. Needed a few hours of air to start opening up. Give it a few hours of decant or several more years of aging. (1579 views) | | | Tasted by Rond on 8/6/2021 & rated 90 points: Deep dark, purple in color. Aromas of spice and smokey char. Pronounced tannins and a long finish. A bit hot for my palate (15.8 ABV, and it tasted like it). This is a big wine. I had only one bottle of this. If I had another, I would be sure to decant. As it was, it didn't give up much. (1839 views) | | | Tasted by denniswdern@gmail.com on 8/1/2021 & rated 94 points: Delicious. Rich. Smooth, refined tannins. (1580 views) | | | Tasted by Kenny_Powers on 3/22/2021 & rated 89 points: DECANT (2229 views) | | | Tasted by ralaspech on 1/29/2021 & rated 91 points: Nearly black in an upright decanter. Opaque. Brooding at the start--deep and dark. With time, tasted more fruit. Plenty of savory notes. Modest acidity with soft tannins. I think a little more acidity would have brought this together into better focus. (2244 views) | | | Tasted by Zweder on 12/30/2020 & rated 93 points: Gang of 4 in Covid19 times; USA (@ RW): A lot af dark berries and vanilla from the oak in the bouquet. On the palate cherries and red berries, Good acidity and mild tannin. The wine will improve with 4 – 6+ years of ageing. 93+ (2511 views) | | | Tasted by yasha on 10/9/2020 & rated 94 points: Love this wine (2280 views) | | | Tasted by mvande21 on 9/4/2020 & rated 95 points: Aromatic. Blackberry and black fruits, plum and spice. Rich and powerful with great structure. Full bodied, mouth filling, balanced, velvety smoothness, rounded tannins. Long finish. Excellent! (2306 views) | | | Tasted by Cuellar's Cellar on 9/3/2020 & rated 92 points: Killer Syrah. has many years too!!! Cheers (1843 views) | | | Tasted by yasha on 7/15/2020 & rated 94 points: love this wine. (1994 views) | | | Tasted by wmccone54 on 5/24/2020 & rated 93 points: Always a very alluring and appealing wine, smooth and polished; unfortunately, the high winery prices and shipping costs dictate that many of us have to look for this at retail prices which make the QPR also unattractive. This particular iteration is a medium purple color, almost opaque. Full body texture. Developing. Pronounced aromatic and flavorful primary purple florals, blackberry, blueberry, black cherry, smokey raspberry, followed by secondary vanilla creme, and chocolate with faint bacon fat, and chewy black mulch in the background.. structure is unobtrusive but lingering below the surface. Great balance, strong intensity, long length, and evolving complexity. Enjoyed with smoked beef ribs; can be enjoyed now, but it should cellar for another 5-7 years. Great wine, but there are many CA and WA Syrahs that are equal or better at much less $. (2083 views) | | | Tasted by camroc830 on 1/1/2020 flawed bottle: Cork was pushed and it was tangy, thin, not too complex. Overall, a disappointment for the price. Wine dot com has since replaced this bottle. Gonna try again. (2798 views) | | | Tasted by Martnmac on 12/26/2019 & rated 93 points: Christmas present wine. Very good as always. Really stood out with our dinner surprising well Loved (2298 views) | | | Tasted by Francophile1 on 8/25/2019 & rated 90 points: An atypical expression of the Syrah varietal. This tasted more like a jammy Cabernet than a Rhône varietal. Additionally, the vanilla on the finish was unlike anything I have tasted in a Syrah. This is definitely a crowd pleaser for the new world palate. (3557 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Jeb Dunnuck
JebDunnuck.com, North Coast Part 1: Napa Valley's Incredible 2016s (1/31/2019)
(Shafer Relentless Red) Login and sign up and see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, Napa Valley’s Extraordinary 2016 Cabernets (Dec 2018) (12/1/2018)
(Shafer Vineyards Relentless Napa Valley Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Ronan Sayburn MS
Decanter, Collectible California tasting 2018 (9/20/2018)
(Shafer, Relentless, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District, California, USA, Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, Brilliance in Napa Valley: 2016 & 2015 Cabernets (Jan 2018) (1/18/2018)
(Shafer Vineyards Relentless Napa Valley Red) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of JebDunnuck.com and Vinous 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.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 |
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