Shafer Vineyards Stag's Leap District, Napa Valley

Shafer Vineyards traces its beginnings to 1972, when Chicago publishing executive John Shafer and his family moved to the Napa Valley, purchasing a 210 acre wine estate in the Stag's Leap District. The first years as fledgling grape growers were arduous, as John and son Doug terraced the steep and rocky hillsides and replanted decades-old vineyards. Evolving from grape growers to vintners, the Shafers crushed their first Cabernet in 1978, and began construction on a winery the following year. Today, utilizing sustainable agriculture, the Shafers own and farm 200 acres of vineyard, sources for the winery's Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot and Syrah. John is now chairman of the winery, Doug is president and the winemaker is the talented Elias Fernandez. The Quarterly Review of Wines refers to it as one the country's best, Decanter raves, and Robert parker states, "One of Napa's most prominent and respected wineries, Shafer is a poster boy for remarkable and consistent quality across the board. All of this is the work of the brilliant father and son team of John and Doug Shafer as well as their long-term winemaker and vineyard manager, Elias Fernandez. With over 200-plus acres of estate holdings, and 55 surrounding their winery in Stags Leap, this is a winery that never seems to disappoint."

Merlot 2006 Napa Valley "...The family-owned Shafer Vineyards is widely regarded as one of Napa's best Merlot producers." Ben Giliberti, Wine & Spirits To deliver a wine loaded with color, extract and concentration, Shafer vineyard crews pass through the vine rows a number of times as harvest approaches cutting away less-ripe and under-developed fruit. This allows the vitality of the vine to focus on the remaining top-quality fruit. With added hang time, sugars and flavours increase markedly. The 2006 vintage brought long, sunny dry days and cool to chilly evenings to the southern Napa Valley. Temperatures rose slowly and evenly throughout the season, producing classic conditions for the development of rich, ripe Merlot.

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All wines are available by the unmixed case to Licensees and Private Consumers, subject to availability.

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