Winemaker Notes
From the landmark 2023 vintage, One Point Five is an exceptional expression of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon at its peak. Layers of blackberry, raspberry, and black licorice unfold alongside notes of bay leaf, sage, cinnamon, clove, and dark chocolate. Complex, expressive, and lush, this wine captures the purity of vintage and varietal character, all wrapped in a structure of ripe tannins that offer evolving, profound beauty for decades.
Blend: 96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Petite Verdot, 1% Merlot, 1% Malbec
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Cassis, spring flowers, graphite, and subtle scorched earth notes, as well as some classic Pauillac-like lead pencil notes, all define the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon One Point Five, a medium to full-bodied, pure, layered, silky barrel sample.
Barrel Sample: 94-96 -
James Suckling
Generous and perfumed with aromas of blackberry confit, violets, licorice, cigar box and graphite. The palate is full-bodied with a densely packed mouthfeel and refined, polished tannins. A well-made and classy wine with plenty to offer.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Shafer's 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon One Point Five might be an even better value than the winery's TD-9, despite coming in at a slightly higher price point. It's matured in new French oak for 18 months and boasts slightly cedary, toasty oak notes that frame the wine's black cherry and cassis fruit. It's full-bodied, big and bold—firmly in the Shafer style, despite the cool vintage. While not a Stags Leap District AVA wine, it offers a glimpse of that region's svelte, silky texture, being plush on the palate, long and elegant on the finish. Barrel sample: 92-94
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Vinous
The 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon One Point Five is stellar. Deep, pliant and resonant in the glass, the One Point Five has so much to offer. Dark plum, blackberry, menthol and espresso all build effortlessly in the glass. It’s a gorgeous bridge into the flagship Hillside Select.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
Legend has it that quick and nimble stags would escape the indigenous hunters of southern Napa Valley through the landmark palisades that sit just northeast of the current city of Napa. As a result, the area was given the name, Stags Leap. While its grape-growing history dates back to the mid-1800s, winemaking didn’t really take off until the mid-1970s after a small but pivotal blind tasting called the Judgement of Paris.
When a 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon won first place against its high-profile Bordeaux contenders, like Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Chateau Haut-Brion, international attention to the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley escalated rapidly.
The vineyards in this one-of-a-kind wine growing region receive hot afternoon air reflecting off of its eastern palisade formation. In combination with the cool evening breezes from the San Pablo Bay just south, this becomes an optimal environment for grape growing. While many varieties could thrive here, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot dominate with virtually no others, save for a spot or two of Syrah.
Stags Leap soils—eroded volcanic and old river sediments—encourage well established root systems and result in complex, terroir-driven wines. Stags Leap District reds have a distinct sour cherry and black berry character with baking spice and dried earth aromas, and supple tannins.