Shafer Vineyards

Shafer Vineyards traces its present incarnation to 1972, when John Shafer left his career as a Chicago publishing executive and moved his family to Napa Valley to pursue winemaking. He purchased a 209-acre hillside estate in what would become the Stags Leap District, spending the mid-1970s replanting the slopes to Cabernet Sauvignon. The property itself has a much longer history, with grapegrowing and winemaking recorded on the site since the 1880s, including grape cultivation that continued through Prohibition under Italian immigrants Batista and Maria Scansi.

• John Shafer purchased the 209-acre estate in 1972; first commercial vintage made in 1978 with initial production around 1,000 cases
• Winery building completed in 1980; first two vintages were produced off-site
• Doug Shafer joined as winemaker in 1983; Elias Fernandez hired as assistant winemaker in 1984, taking over as head winemaker in 1994
• John Shafer passed away in March 2019 at age 95; winery sold to Shinsegae Property for a reported $250 million in February 2022

Shafer Vineyards played a central role in establishing the identity and reputation of the Stags Leap District. John Shafer was one of the key organizers of the petition drive that led to the Stags Leap District being officially designated an AVA on January 26, 1989, the first AVA in the United States approved primarily on the basis of soil composition. The winery's sustained critical track record, including six 100-point scores from Wine Advocate and 17 American Winery of the Year titles from Wine & Spirits, positioned it as one of the defining benchmarks of Napa Valley Cabernet.

• John Shafer was a key architect of the Stags Leap District AVA designation in 1989, organizing growers and winery owners to petition the government
• Earned six 100-point scores from Wine Advocate across multiple decades, one of the most consistent records in California
• Named American Winery of the Year by Wine & Spirits magazine 17 times
• Hillside Select was listed by Wine Spectator in a landmark 2000 cover story on California cult wines

The flagship Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced entirely from 14 small hillside vineyard blocks surrounding the winery, all within the Stags Leap District. The 54-acre Hillside Estate Vineyard is a steep, amphitheater-like structure of rocky volcanic soils that produces small, deeply colored berries of intense concentration. Beyond Hillside Select, the portfolio includes One Point Five Cabernet Sauvignon, Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay (sourced from 70 acres purchased in 1988 in Carneros), the Relentless Syrah and Petite Sirah blend, and the TD-9 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

• Hillside Select: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from 14 hillside blocks, aged 32 months in 100% new French oak; approximately 2,000 cases produced
• One Point Five Cabernet Sauvignon aged in 100% new French oak for an average of 22 months; named for the father-son partnership of John and Doug Shafer
• Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay sourced from 70-acre Carneros property acquired in 1988; does not undergo malolactic fermentation
• Relentless is a Syrah and Petite Sirah blend, typically 80% Syrah, first produced from the 1999 vintage

Shafer has practiced sustainable viticulture across its approximately 250 acres since the 1980s, under a program developed by Doug Shafer that includes native cover crops, hawk perches and barn owl boxes to attract natural rodent predators, and sheep grazing to eliminate pesticide and herbicide use. The winery was among the early adopters of solar power in Napa Valley. Winemaker Elias Fernandez, a UC Davis enology graduate who grew up in the Napa Valley, stopped sterile filtration in 1989 after consulting with Tony Soter, shifting to a philosophy of making wines by sensory assessment rather than numbers.

• Sustainable farming program initiated in the 1980s; cover crops, sheep grazing, and birds of prey used for natural pest and rodent control
• Solar arrays provide all of the winery's electricity needs; installed as one of the early Napa Valley adopters
• Filtration eliminated in 1989 following work with consulting winemaker Tony Soter; a turning point in consistent quality
• Hillside Select grapes hand-harvested into small bins to arrive at the crush pad intact; berries are approximately blueberry-sized due to scant hillside soil nutrients

The Hillside Select has accumulated one of the most consistent critical records in California wine. Wine Advocate awarded the winery six 100-point scores, with perfect scores including the 2001 and 2002 vintages in consecutive years, as well as the 2007. The 2016 vintage received triple 100-point scores from Wine Advocate, Jeb Dunnuck, and Vinous. Robert Parker wrote that no wine in the world over a 20-plus year period scored as consistently highly as the Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon.

• Six 100-point scores from Wine Advocate, including the 2001, 2002, and 2007 vintages
• 2016 Hillside Select received triple 100-point scores from Wine Advocate, Jeb Dunnuck, and Vinous
• Consistent 95-plus point range across four-plus decades; regarded as one of the world's most reliably outstanding Cabernets
• Named to Wine Spectator's landmark 2000 California cult wine cover story; current releases priced at $300 or more per bottle

Young Hillside Select releases display concentrated dark cherry, cassis, blueberry, and graphite, with firm, finely grained tannins that benefit from significant cellaring. Mid-range vintages in the 2010s show secondary complexity with tobacco, cedar, and integrated oak. Robert Parker noted that from the early 1990s onward most vintages have at least 25 to 50 years of aging potential. One Point Five and Red Shoulder Ranch are intended for earlier drinking but still reward several years of cellaring.

• Hillside Select drinking windows typically run 10 to 30 or more years from vintage; decant 1 to 2 hours before service
• One Point Five and TD-9 are more accessible at 5 to 12 years; Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay is best within 5 to 10 years
• Current Hillside Select retails at approximately $300 per bottle; allocated directly through the winery mailing list
• Store at 55 degrees Fahrenheit in horizontal position; protect from light and temperature fluctuation