Winemaker Notes
One Point Five is Shafer's signature Cabernet Sauvignon, reflecting the timeless elegance of top Napa Valley vineyards. This wine honors the founding partnership of John and Doug Shafer, who said they'd worked together so long theirs wasn't a second-generation story but a generation and a half.
The long, sunny 2021 summer created idyllic growing season. The fruit developed rich color with clean, elegant, and pure aromas and flavors.
The 2021 One Point Five is distinguished by lush, intense aromas and flavors of black cherry, crème de cassis, black plum right from the tree, lavender, and savory herbs. This classic Cabernet Sauvignon displays equal measures of richness and balance while the wine's seamlessly integrated tannins offer the kind of structure that promises decades of beauty to come.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
More Cabernet-dominated, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon One Point Five checks in as 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Petit Verdot, 2% Merlot, and a splash of Malbec. It has incredible purity in its cassis, graphite, lead pencil, and camphor on the nose and a concentrated, medium to full-bodied, layered style on the palate that stays tighter and more compact than the TD-9.
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Wine Enthusiast
This sophisticated and concentrated wine wraps lovely dark plums, blueberries and cocoa flavors in velvety tannins that are well integrated and soothing, while still setting the wine up for a potentially long life. Subtle baking spices, espresso and cedar accents enhance the impressive fruit flavors.
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James Suckling
Beautiful black and blue fruit on offer here with notes of violets, sea shell, iodine and graphite. Full-bodied, broad-shouldered and structured with super-fine and dense yet almost weightless tannins that push the depth of the wine, leading to a smooth, caressing finish.
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Wine Spectator
Frankly ripe, with a deep, alluring well of acai berry, blackberry and boysenberry puree flavors that glide through on the polished structure. Pretty flashes of spices, sweet bay and violet skitter through for contrast. The finish is polished, generous and fruit-filled. Drink now through 2038. Tasted twice, with consistent notes.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
An excellent wine, still arguably a decent value in the context of Napa Valley Cab, Shafer's 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon One Point Five features attractive aromas of ripe cherries, cedar and vanilla, plus hints of mocha and loam. Full-bodied, ripe and velvety, it offers more concentration, tannins and length than the winery's TD-9. The question consumers will have to answer is whether it is worth the step up in price.
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.