Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Bright freshness rules the day in this delicious vintage of Elias Fernandez’s side project with Doug Shafer. Green apple, Meyer lemon and lime flavors provide pleasure, with a tense vibrancy and focused acidity filling the palate.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: I get quite skeptical when I see a New World Albariño, but when two cool guys—Doug Shafer and Elias Fernandez—collaborate on this grape variety, I have to pause and take notice. TASTING NOTES: The 2017 Eighty Four Albariño brings richness and tension onto the palate. The wine's beautiful aromatics—flowers, roses, and, violets—combine with apples and chalk as well as a lovely succulence on the palate make it an excellent pairing candidate with cheung fun and uni. (Tasted: March 19, 2018, San Francisco, CA
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Tasting Panel
A fresh and smooth effort from friends Elias Fernandez and Doug Shafer, who have been collaborating since 1984. Bright and firm; aromatic and racy with a long, balanced finish.
Bright and aromatic with distinctive floral and fruity characteristics, Albariño has enjoyed a surge in popularity and an increase in plantings over the last couple of decades. Thick skins allow it to withstand the humid conditions of its homeland, Rías Baixas, Spain, free of malady, and produce a weighty but fresh white. Somm Secret—Albariño claims dual citizenship in Spain and Portugal. Under the name Alvarinho, it thrives in Portugal’s northwestern Vinho Verde region, which predictably, borders part of Spain’s Rías Baixas.
Known for elegant wines that combine power and finesse, Carneros is set in the rolling hills that straddle the southernmost parts of both Sonoma and Napa counties. The cooling winds from the abutting San Pablo Bay, combined with lots of midday California sunshine, create an ideal environment for producing wines with a perfect balance of crisp acidity and well-ripened fruit.
This cooler pocket of California lends itself to growing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah. Carneros is an important source of sparkling wines made in the style of Champagne as well.