Tasting visits are by appointment only. We host 10 or fewer guests for a relaxed, sit-down tasting once in the morning and once in the afternoon on weekdays (closed weekends and holidays.) The tasting visit is $45 per guest. For complete information please click here to view our tasting visit section.

Shafer is open for retail sales Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1 to 4 p.m. We are closed weekends, holidays and during the lunch hour on weekdays. Wines are tasted by appointment only.

Shafer is located at 6154 Silverado Trail, on the east side of the Silverado Trail, about seven miles north of Napa and 3/4 of a mile south of the Yountville Cross Road. Distance from San Francisco to Napa is approximately 50 miles. Click here for a map.

It comes down to one of our basic beliefs about wine – that it is best enjoyed in small, convivial groups. That’s the central reason why we only offer tasting visits by appointment to a limited number of guests per day. Putting up a sign would give the false impression that we’re ready to pour tastes of wine for the thousands who travel down Silverado Trail each week.

Shafer maintains two direct mail lists: one for Hillside Select and one called our "Napa Valley list," which offers the other wines in our portfolio. Regrettably, both our Hillside Select mailing list and Napa Valley list are currently filled. Please visit: Finding Our Wines

Click here for a list of our Domestic and International distributors.

Yes, to those whose names are active on one or both of our mailing lists or who purchase wine at the winery and live in states to which such shipments are legal. That list currently includes Alaska (wet counties only), California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The direct shipping issue continues to change as more and more states pass related legislation. Up-to-date information is available at www.freethegrapes.org.

Approximate number of years from vintage date Shafer considers optimum:

Optimum drinking Length of Aging
Red Shoulder Ranch® Chardonnay Release - 5 years 6 - 8 years
Merlot Release - 8 years 8 - 12 years
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Release - 8 years 8 - 12 years
Relentless® Release - 12 years 15 - 20 years
Hillside Select® Cabernet Sauvignon Release - 15 years 25 - 30 years

Click here for the complete Hillside Select tasting notes. [http://www.shafervineyards.com/hillside/tasting_notes.html]

Wines in larger format bottles age more slowly. Remember, all of Shafer's wines are made to be immediately drinkable upon release.

Hillside Select is produced entirely from Cabernet Sauvignon fruit selected from vineyard blocks on the hillsides that surround the winery. One Point Five is sourced primarily from two Stags Leap District sites – the hillside estate vineyards and Shafer’s “Borderline Vineyard” located about two miles south of the winery. The two wines also diverge in terms of barrel regime and blend. Hillside Select ages three years in new French oak and is 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, while One Point Five ages 20 months in 65 percent new oak, half of which is French and half is American, and includes two percent Petite Verdot.

It’s meant to convey the importance of the father and son partnership that is the core of Shafer Vineyards. The family business story you hear most often is the second-generation tale, where a parent hands an established, profitable business over to a son or daughter. Things happened a little differently here. John started the winery in 1978 and released the first wine in 1981. Doug joined as winemaker just two years later. They have worked so closely together for so long. we call our story “a generation and a half.” The One Point Five name plays off of that idea. This label is meant as a tribute to our commitment to family business and also to Stags Leap District, our home of more than 30 years.

While it might seem a natural to offer One Point Five in magnums, it will be available only in 750 and 375 ml bottles. That’s because the name focuses on the importance of family partnership rather than bottle size.

We wanted to honor Elias Fernandez, our winemaker of more than 20 years, and his relentless pursuit of quality in winemaking. No detail is too small. On bottling days he personally steam cleans every fitting and every hose that comes in contact with the wine. He inspects every oak barrel and mandates ultra high-quality from all our suppliers. To maintain quality in our corks he worked meticulously with our supplier to re-invent every step a cork makes from the cork forests of Portugal to their arrival on our doorstep. Our suppliers describe Elias as “disciplined,” “focused,” “extraordinarily organized,” “pain in the neck” and “very demanding.” In other words, relentless. This wine is liquid testimonial to the skill and style of Winemaker Elias Fernandez.

The blend for Relentless is an original recipe. We didn’t look to the wines of, say the Rhone Valley, or of Australia. Relentless grew out of our growing appreciation for Syrah’s versatility – it can be produced in a wide range of styles. We also knew that Petite Sirah produced a big, rugged wine here in the Valley, because it was the grape predominantly used by many of the old Italian grapegrowers when they made wine at home for themselves. Doug Shafer and Elias Fernandez thought that bringing together the noble varietal, Syrah, and its more rustic cousin, Petite Sirah, would make a delicious blend.

The name is meant to honor our partners in the vineyard, who control the populations of moles and gophers – flying predators such as Red Shouldered Hawks, Red Tailed Hawks, American Kestrels, Golden Eagles and Barn Owls. As part of our 20-year commitment to sustainable agriculture we’ve erected hawk perches and owl nesting boxes to provide places from which these raptors can hunt the rodents who would otherwise eat young vine roots.

No. To preserve the wine’s natural acidity and true varietal character, our Chardonnay only undergoes primary fermentation in individual barrels. To achieve softness in the mouth, the wine ages on the lees.

Wild yeast, or native yeast, grows naturally in the great out of doors. The yeasts from our Red Shoulder Ranch vineyard imparts complexity to the wine.

It’s a tie. We’ve produced Hillside Select and Merlot since 1983.

Yes, our sales increased.

Because of continued strong interest in our wines both lists (including the Hillside Select waiting list) are still currently closed. We apologize for this. The decision to close the lists came down to an issue of fairness. We can’t let our Hillside Select waiting list grow so long that it takes multiple years to finally land a spot on the mailing list. In the case of the Napa Valley list, we have to be certain we’ll have enough wine to accommodate all the orders.

The Napa Valley Mailing List offers: Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay, Merlot, Relentless, and One Point Five. We will make a decision regarding reopening this list January 1, 2009.  We will make a decision regarding reopening the Hillside Select waiting list on January 1, 2010.

Absolutely – we appreciate your support very much. As someone who’s currently active on our mail list, when you visit Shafer the tasting visit fee is waived for you and one guest. The current fee is $45 per person. Please remember that “currently active” means that within the past 12 months you have ordered at least one bottle of wine from one of our mailing list offerings. When arranging a visit here, please be sure to let our hospitality staff know that you’re active on our mail list.

Yes. We don't send a notice out for a will call order. Please know that the wine is available for pick-up after it’s release date. If the wine remains here on premises for more than 30 days after the release date we will contact you in order to make shipping arrangements.

Blame Mother Nature. Our whole calendar is dictated by the seasons and that includes our release dates. Our September 1 release falls just prior to harvest. After harvest our cellar crew is dedicated to putting the new wines “to bed” in their barrels. December and early January are vacation times for the cellar team, after which we come back and gear up for the next release on March 1. Then the focus is fully on the next vintage growing in the vineyard.

Wines that are ordered in autumn (Relentless, Merlot and Hillside Select) are shipped during the cool month of November to protect your wine from heat in transit. Wines that are ordered in spring (Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay and One Point Five Cabernet Sauvignon) are shipped soon after your order.

To remain active on the “Napa Valley list” you’ll need to purchase at least one bottle from our mail list program per year. However, we advise that you order your wine within two weeks of the release date; after that time the wine is often unavailable here at the winery.

That’s no problem. We can take your order over the phone at the time we release the wine.

Your card is charged when we log your order into our system. 

The two lists are separate. Your level of participation with one list has no effect on the other.

Elias Fernandez, Shafer winemaker, says the 2004 Hillside Select is showing opulent aromas and rich flavors of cassis, blackberry, black cherry, sweet oak, and mocha-like fruit and supple tannins, similar to the 1999 vintage, which offers good promise for age-ability.

It varies from vintage to vintage. As the name suggests, we produce the wine from selected blocks of vines from our hillside vineyards. The production level has been as low as 1,800 cases, but is typically about 2,400 cases.

Yes. As in years past, on August 29, 2008, we will make a small allocation of the newly released Hillside Select available for those who visit our tasting room (limit two bottles per adult buyer). If you plan to visit the winery for this purpose, it’s advisable to stop by within the first week of the release date as this on-site allocation tends to sell through rapidly.

Much of our home vineyard site is simply too steep and lacks enough soil. The winery itself sits at the bottom of an amphitheater-like structure of hillsides and rocky palisades. We have to keep in mind issues of erosion and worker safety.

We’ve been fortunate to receive many great wine scores. However we believe that wine reviewers devote a lot of time and talent to weaving together mouthwatering sensory descriptions. We’d hate to see numbers take precedence over delicious descriptors such as roasted hazel nuts, pencil, citrus oils, saddle leather, oak, tobacco, and licorice. For us, that’s what wine is all about.

You’ll find the southern border of the District about six miles north of the town of Napa on Silverado Trail. If you keep going north you’ll leave the District about four minutes later at Yountville Crossroad. It’s only 1,300 acres planted mostly to Cabernet Sauvignon. There is no town here. Just grapes, wild turkeys, rattle snakes and a few homes and wineries here and there. It’s changed little since the Shafer family moved here in 1973.

Those are tartrates, a natural component of grape juice and wine. Over time small amounts can crystallize on the bottom of the cork. The crystals are not only harmless but are the basis for cream of tartar, commonly used in baking.

Yes. At no point in production do they come in contact with any animal products.

We believe they do. Cultivating grapes using sustainable farming has lead to an increase in the macronutrients in the newly crushed juice, such as nitrogen and amino acides. This creates cleaner fermentations and purer varietal flavors in the wine.

Several new projects are in the works. First, we’re in the late stages of constructing a second array of solar panels to produce power for our irrigation system and water reuse and recycling ponds. Second, we’re working on a new, lighter bottle for Hillside Select, which we hope to have in place for the 2006 vintage. Lighter bottles translate into less fuel burned to transport them and less greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Third, we are researching and testing new eco-friendly materials to pack wines in for shipment.

John Shafer’s dog Tucker is Mr. Popularity and that’s the way he likes it. We have to re-order Tucker’s business cards more often than anyone else’s at the winery. At the moment though, he’s conflicted about his status as top dog since the introduction of his new cousin, Tanner (a young Golden Retriever, who belongs to Doug Shafer). We’re still getting Tanner used to the joys and responsibilities of being a winery dog, so he’s not here every day and we’re still not sure how the dogs’ friendship will evolve. For the time being, Tucker doesn’t overtly snub Tanner, so much as pretend he doesn’t exist.

If you would like a replacement bottle we ask that you please send the bottle back with the majority of wine still inside. (If you send an empty bottle we have no way of evaluating the condition of the wine.) Once received, we will evaluate the wine and learn what we can of its condition. Over the years, based on bottles sent to us by customers, we have learned a great deal about steps we can take to avoid this problem altogether. If the wine is corked we will be happy to replace it.