Handford Wines

Shafer Vineyards traces its beginnings to 1972 when John Shafer left a 23-year career in the publishing industry and, with his family, moved to the Napa Valley to pursue a second career in wine. After purchasing a 210-acre estate in Napa Valley's Stags Leap District, the Shafer family faced the arduous task of replanting the existing vineyards, which dated to the 1920s, and terracing the steep and rocky hillsides, eventually expanding vineyard acreage to its current 50 acres. Evolving from grape growers to vintners, the Shafers crushed their first Cabernet grapes in 1978 and began construction on their winery a year later. The first Shafer Cabernet became a benchmark, winning the acclaimed San Francisco Vintners Club taste-off upon release and, over a decade later taking first place in an international blind tasting held in Germany, where it outranked such wines as Chateau Margaux, Chateau Latour and Chateau Palmer. Doug Shafer became winemaker in 1983 after graduating from the University of California at Davis with a degree in enology and viticulture. A year later Elias Fernandez joined the winery as assistant winemaker. Together Doug and Elias have worked closely to forge the Shafer style of quality, consistency and elegance.

The Wine

Forget what they said about the Merlot grape in the Sideways movie. The Shafer example is one of the most drinkable wines in the Napa and one of our best selling Californian wines. Priced at a similar level to right bank Bordeaux Cru Classe wines, this one delivers a lot more punch, glass after glass. A blend of 75% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Cabernet Franc, the lighter-styled, elegant 2004 Merlot reveals notes of berry fruit, herbs, coffee beans, and chocolate. Drink it over the next 2-6 years.

Single Bottle: £35.00

In a case of 12: £33.25