2005 One Point Five® Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon
Release date: March 1, 2008 Suggested California retail: $70
“[Shafer produces] Cabernet that defines the Stags Leap District.” – Wine & Spirits magazine
Shafer Vineyards is pleased to announce the release of 2005 One Point Five Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine that signals a return to the winery’s roots.
“A Stags Leap District Cabernet was our first wine back in 1978,” says Doug Shafer, president, Shafer Vineyards. “This is our home. This is the place we know best and the fruit we’ve been cultivating for more than 30 years.”
The Shafer family purchased their Napa Valley hillside estate in 1972, a property that had been the site of wine grape cultivation since the 1880s. John Shafer planted Cabernet Sauvignon on the property in the early and mid-1970s and from those vines made his first wine in 1978.
Shafer released the first wine (100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon) in 1981 and Doug Shafer joined his father at the winery, as winemaker, just two years later.
“Dad and I learned the wine business together,’ says Doug. “At some point we coined the phrase ‘a generation-and-a-half’ to describe our partnership because it wasn’t the classic second-generation story where a parent hands off an established, profitable family business to a son or daughter. We were both here in the fingers-crossed days when no one was sure the winery would be a success.”
The One Point Five label takes its name from the generation-and-a-half idea.
One Point Five is sourced primarily from two Stags Leap District vineyards – Shafer’s hillside estate and the Borderline vineyard located two miles south of the winery, a 25-acre site purchased by the winery in 1999.
Of the 2005 One Point Five, Shafer winemaker Elias Fernandez says, “Aromas of black, chewy fruit, cedar, chocolate, and dried herbs, followed by rich, juicy flavors of blackberry, dark chocolate, and tobacco, with a nice long finish. The tannins are ripe and supple.”
2005 One Point Five Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon is released with a suggested California retail price of $70.
“The 2005 One Point Five is a meatier, more structured wine [than 2004] but slightly deeper, with broad black currant fruit flavors intermixed with some spice box, crushed rock, and spring flowers. It is characteristic of Stags Leap in its elegance and finesse. The wine has good acidity and freshness, but is long and seamless.”” -- Robert M. Parker, Jr., The Wine Advocate
Related Links
2005 One Point Five® – Reviews
“The 2005 One Point Five is a meatier, more structured wine [than 2004] but slightly deeper,
with broad black currant fruit flavors intermixed with some spice box, crushed rock, and spring flowers.
It is characteristic of Stags Leap in its elegance and finesse. The wine has good acidity and freshness,
but is long and seamless.”
– Robert M. Parker, Jr., The Wine Advocate
“Rich, deep and complex, with a complex mix of fleshy currant, dried berry, anise, sage and mineral,
framed by light cedary oak. Gains depth and complexity on the finish. Elegant and stylish.”
– James Laube, Wine Spectator
“Good deep bright ruby. Complex aromas and flavors of cassis, leather, earth, game, tobacco
and sexy smoky oak, with a minty nuance emerging with air. Creamy-sweet and expansive
in the mouth, with an almost exotic character to the intense fruit. As lush as it is, it maintains firm
shape. Finishes with substantial broad, dusty tannins and impressive lingering sweetness.”
– Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar
“Deep plum, cherry and cassis aromas show hints of lavender, black olive and oak spice. Quite
ripe and plump on the palate, there is enough brisk acidity to keep it tasting fresh, and
the tannins are round now, yet substantial enough for short-term cellaring.”
– Linda Murphy, WineReviewOnline.com
“… nicely extracted and showing highlights of loam and woodsy spice in its ample aromas,
this rounded and fairly full-bodied effort is all about the ripe cherries on the palate … plenty
of firming Cabernet Sauvignon tannins on the back end …”
– Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine
“Yum. Yum. Yum! … This cab rocks – with rich, juicy, mouth-filling black fruits, silky tannins, hints of violet chocolate and spice, and remarkable length. Supple and drinkable now, it still has the structure and depth to age beautifully … it’s gorgeous!”
– Robert Whitley, syndicated columnist
2005 One Point Five® – Downloads
Shafer Brochure
One Point Five — A Generation-and-a Half Story
2008 Current
Releases
2005 One Point Five Stags Leap
District
2005 One Point Five Press Release,
March 2008
Robert M. Parker Jr.’s The Wine Advocate, December 2007
One Point Five® – Our Generation-and-a-Half Video
In our premier online video, John and Doug Shafer tell why the term "second generation" didn't describe their long partnership and why they had to coin their own phrase, "a generation-and-a-half" from which One Point Five gets its name.
Getting back to Our Roots In Stags Leap District
John and Doug Shafer describe the early challenges of finding enough Cabernet Sauvignon
fruit in the tiny Stags Leap District. Their solution? To purchase a new Stags Leap District
vineyard in 1999, which, along with the Hillside Estate Vineyard, became the predominant
source for the new One Point Five.
