Winemaker Notes
Shafer’s single-vineyard Carneros-grown Chardonnay is produced from small-clustered clones of grapes selected for their low yields and distinctive flavors. Fermentation takes place within individual oak and stainless steel barrels using native yeasts. The wine matures on the lees for 14 months and since it undergoes no malolactic fermentation this Chardonnay retains a lively natural acidity. The vineyard is named for its Red-shouldered Hawks and other birds of prey, who play an important role in Shafer’s sustainable farming practices.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Chardonnay is a rich, voluptuous effort (despite not going through malolactic fermentation) that’s loaded with notions of white peach, white flowers, and brioche. With balancing acidity and terrific purity, it’s a quintessential Napa Valley Chardonnay that’s ideal for drinking over the coming 4-5 years.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a perennially impressive wine, floral in a heady perfume of white roses. Fresh and fleshy, the expansive palate offers concentrated flavors of kiwi and pineapple. The wine was largely fermented in oak, then aged just over a year in French oak (75% new). It holds the oak well, ending bright in juicy acidity.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: I have to be first to admit that I take some things for granted. I have tasted the Shafer wines since their first vintage in 1978 and have always had a great fondness for all of their wines. This Chardonnay has been consistently one of the finest from the Napa Valley. TASTING NOTES: The 2016 Shafer Red Shoulder® Chardonnay speaks volumes with its ripe core fruit and lively minerality. The wine's layered palate and chalky aftertaste should match well with grilled oysters in a light wine reduction cream sauce. (Tasted: March 19, 2018, San Francisco, CA)
Shafer Vineyards has produced classic Napa Valley wines for more than 40 years.
Shafer’s wines, including its signature Cabernet Sauvignon, Hillside Select, are found in collectors’ cellars and on wine lists in top luxury hotels and restaurants throughout the world.
The vineyard and cellar teams, led by winemaker Elias Fernandez, cultivate more than 200 acres of Shafer-owned vineyards, sources for the winery's celebrated Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay, TD-9, One Point Five, Relentless, and Hillside Select.
The winery has a decades-long commitment to sustainability. Beginning in the 1980s Shafer embraced farming techniques that eliminate insecticides and herbicides, and carefully conserve water resources. In 2004 Shafer became the first winery in the U.S. to go 100% solar.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
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.