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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 89.8 pts. and median of 89 pts. in 16 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by 41hijinx on 12/31/2020 & rated 88 points: Low neck fill. Cork almost soaked through but came out in one piece. Good color in glass with obvious browning. Slightly musty (not corked) bouquet. Nice fruit on palate but obviously fading. Dusty tannins in finish. Nice but a wilting flower. Some sediment. Drink up! (605 views) | | | Tasted by Ducfighter on 12/30/2017: Amazing still going strong after 21 years
Smooth - getting better after opening
Had to decant - cork died (1462 views) | | | Tasted by bobadopolis on 3/22/2017 & rated 89 points: Nice bottle. This one in particular was on a downhill slide, but do not think it was stored under optimal conditions. Still quite enjoyable. (1915 views) | | | Tasted by Grant Geyer on 9/12/2014 & rated 93 points: Beautiful merlot that continues to open up 2 hours after opening - surprised that the bottle is still good for a 1996! (3657 views) | | | Tasted by michaelkelley5@mac.com on 7/29/2012: This wine drank very well. Still had good structure even though past the recommended drinking window (5079 views) | | | Tasted by AlexHop on 6/25/2012 & rated 92 points: Wow, still holding up great and possibly better than ever. Subtle nose but the flavors are bold. Balanced, with more muted fruit, but warm classic Napa red character. Long beautiful finish. (4631 views) | | | Tasted by M5 on 3/12/2010 & rated 95 points: The experience reminded me more of an mid-80's Napa Cab.
Same characteristics....
Very happy w/ this choice...
Nose bleeded of dark, dark fruit but on the palette more balance, refinement.
Caught some creme de cassis, smoky old leather and some delicate mushroom...
Excellent value for 50/bot (4714 views) | | | Tasted by Mark on 9/25/2008 & rated 87 points: There are wines that I want to drink, and there are wines that I really should drink. This was the later. My experience with older Shafer Merlot’s has not been great, so I did not hold high expectations for this bottle. I think I gauged it about right. It’s old and tired, severely faded fruit but with a nice spicy nose. Elevated acidity and pepper in the mouth, medium body finish with some tannic element at the end. This is as good as it gets for this Shafer. (4503 views) | | | Tasted by lpk22 on 12/8/2007 & rated 88 points: Enjoyed during our annual Festivus get together. Very smooth, mellow flavors of tobacco, dark fruit. Color is turning brownish. Drink up. (3363 views) | | | Tasted by keithgg on 11/18/2007 & rated 88 points: Tightly wound with rough edges but still plenty of fruit remains. (2435 views) | | | Tasted by smotley99 on 9/29/2007 & rated 93 points: This bottle was very good...enjoyed it with Italian food. Started a little sweet, had some great fruit flavors in the miiddle and finished long and smooth. (2683 views) | | | Tasted by WineLover26 on 8/12/2007: 89 points. Still very good. (2402 views) | | | Tasted by Double-A on 9/5/2000 & rated 88 points: Slightly earthy, iodine, toast, cherry and cassis nose. Medium-full and well balanced with a long, fruity (not jammy) finish.
3.5/5 (277 views) |
| 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.MerlotMerlot is a dark blue–colored wine grape variety, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to be a diminutive of merle, the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color of the grape. Its softness and "fleshiness", combined with its earlier ripening, makes Merlot a popular grape for blending with the sterner, later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon, which tends to be higher in tannin.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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