2016 Shafer Vineyards Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay Carneros 750 ml

Every last person gathered around the massive dinner table at Shafer Vineyards seemed to be having a spectacular time, so we didn’t feel bad for monopolizing Shafer winemaker Elias Fernandez. If anything, we felt extremely lucky he was camped out beside us, pouring the 2016 Shafer Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay and talking to us like we were the only ones in the room.

As we swirled the golden-hued Chardonnay in our glasses and took in the rich aromas of pineapple, honeycrisp apple, vanilla bean, and toast, we thought of the nonstop critical praise for Shafer’s only white wine: Now in its third decade of production, Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay has been top-flight from its very first vintage, when it made a splash by debuting at #5 on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 list. Since then, the wine has made itself a home in the Top 100, gracing the list three more times and establishing itself as one of the marquee Chardonnays of Napa Valley. As Wine Enthusiast put it: “This is a perennially impressive wine.”

And there is consensus among the critics: Jeb Dunnuck added to Wine Enthusiast’s praise, calling out Shafer’s “terrific purity” in his 94-point review. The luminous Chardonnay displays a magical combination of robust flavor and delicate balance, with its tropical fruit, butterscotch, vanilla bean, and toast all in perfect harmony with a lively lemony energy and refreshing finish. This is a must-have for California Chardonnay enthusiasts, and we’re thrilled to bring you our first allocation ever of this standout white.

As we talked with Elias, he told us about how Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay evolved from Shafer’s earlier Chardonnays, which were grown in the Stags Leap District—a place that Shafer eventually decided was wrong for the wine. In 1988, they found a 68-acre vineyard at the southern tip of Napa Valley, in the bayside sub-AVA of Carneros. They purchased the land, named it Red Shoulder Ranch for the hawks that circled above and kept the rodents in check, and dedicated years of work developing and planting the parcel.

They harvested their first fruit in 1994—the same year Elias took over as winemaker, and the one that yielded their first Top 100 honor. Since that seismic beginning, the quality hasn’t changed. The style has. Whereas the first vintages were aged in both American and French oak, Shafer eventually switched to 100% French oak. 

Now Elias and his crew age the Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay in 75% French oak and 25% stainless steel. They also stick with native yeasts to express the vineyard site, and do not subject the wine to malolactic conversion. The result is a Chardonnay of perfect balance: verve and energy from the cool vineyard site and stainless steel aging, creamy richness from the French oak and 15 months on the lees.

This is an icon of California white wine, and one we’re thrilled to be able to share with you.