Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
There's so much peppermint and spice on the nose as well as walnuts, cedar and eucalyptus, and even crab apples. Lime zest, lots of ash and burnt oranges, too. The freshness here really takes your breath away and there's pinpoint accuracy of blue and black fruit. Full body, vibrant acidity, very well integrated tannins and a mineral-driven finish. Hard to resist now but better in 2019.
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Vinous
The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon One Point Five is glorious. What a wine. Deep, powerful and resonant in the glass, it possesses notable textural richness. Spice, leather, tobacco and a generous kiss of French oak all meld together. More importantly, the 2014 has aged well, and that is remarkable for what at the time was conceived as an entry-level offering for Shafer. The One Point Five is delicate yet also wonderfully complex.
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Wine Enthusiast
This powerful, savory bottling named for the two generations behind the family winery opens with toasted barrel and meat aromas before expanding on the nose and palate with additional black pepper and soy components. The fruit is distinctly spicy—a mix of blackberry, clove and cinnamon.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon One Point Five shows beautiful purity, not the weight, profound depth and structure of the 2013, but it is still medium to full-bodied, elegant, graceful and a classic example of the Stags Leap appellation. Drink it over the next 15+ years.
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Wine Spectator
Austere and aromatic, with grippy tannins and a trim band of dark berry, cedar, black licorice and loamy earth flavors. This slowly works into a more harmonious groove on the finish. Best from 2019 through 2028.
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.