Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Named after their talented viticulturalist and winemaker, Elias Fernandez, the Relentless cuvee was introduced a few years ago and is a blend of 80% Syrah and 20% Petite Sirah aged 32 months in 100% new French oak. It is a terrific wine, and the good news is that there are about 2,500 cases produced. The 2001 Relentless shows a full-bodied powerful style, an inky purple color, and a big, peppery, blackberry and raspberry-scented nose with a hint of graphite and earth.
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Wine Enthusiast
This spectacular wine is drinkable now for its softness and finesse, and should hold well for a few years. Floods the mouth with cassis, cherry, cocoa and oaky flavors wrapped in sweetly ripe tannins, and feels sturdy and balanced. Mainly Syrah, with Petite Sirah.
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Wine Spectator
Sleek, rich and intense, with a tight beam of wild berry, black cherry, pepper and spice, picking up dark chocolate and mocha notes while revealing depth and concentration. Plenty of tannins on the finish, too.
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.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.