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2006 Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay
Vintage Offers a Bounty of Complex Flavor
Shafer’s hilly Red Shoulder Ranch vineyard in Napa Valley’s Carneros district does one thing well – year
after year it produces Chardonnay grapes full of lush, exotic flavors.
After the vineyard does its finest, the Shafer team focuses on creating a wine with delicious, varietal purity. Fermentation
takes place within individual oak and stainless steel barrels using the wild yeasts found in the vineyard itself.
Since the wine undergoes no malolactic fermentation it retains a lively, natural acidity. The fruit is sustainably
farmed and, in fact, the vineyard is named for the Red-shouldered Hawks and other birds of prey that play an important
role in our natural cultivation practices.
In a region known for long, cool growing seasons, 2006 was longer and cooler than most. The summer allowed us to leave
the fruit on the vine until it achieved an exquisite balance of acidity and deep ripeness.
“This is a wine that offers layers of flamboyant flavors on an initial taste while more delicate layers emerge
as the wine develops in the glass – aromas and flavors of honeysuckle, Fuji apple, apricot, and exotic flavors
of the tropics. The underlying acidity is integrated with warm, toasty oak, and the whole package is tied up with a
long, mouth-pleasing finish,” says Shafer Winemaker Elias Fernandez.
INFO
Vineyard Location
Shafer’s Red Shoulder Ranch in Carneros
Varietal Composition
100% Chardonnay
Brix at Harvest
24.0° – 25.0°
Fermentation
Whole-cluster pressed and fermented with wild yeast in individual barrels; 0% malolactic fermentation.
Cooperage
14 months in 65% new oak: 80% French (Allier, Vosge); 20% American oak (Missouri); 15% one-year old oak (French)
and 20% stainless steel barrels
Alcohol
14.9%
Case production
6500
Suggested retail
$47
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