2009 Red Shoulder Ranch® Chardonnay
Release date: March 1, 2011
Suggested California retail: $48
“…one of the best non-malolactic, barrel-fermented Chardonnays in California …”
– Robert M. Parker, Jr., The Wine Advocate
On 68 acres near the northern tip of San Francisco Bay, Shafer harvests fruit for this classic single vineyard wine.
The Red Shoulder Ranch vineyard in the Carneros region offers a long, consistently cool growing season, which is ideal for retaining acidity in Chardonnay fruit. To focus on varietal flavors, Shafer uses only wild yeast for fermentation and does not put the wine through malolactic fermentation.
“The Red-shouldered hawks and other birds of prey do such an outstanding job, we named the vineyard in their honor,” says Doug Shafer.
Winemaker’s Notes
"The 2009 offers lush, luxurious aromas and flavors of melon, honeysuckle, apricot, pineapple and flint all held together with bright acidity, good structure and elegant balance," says Shafer Winemaker Elias Fernandez.
"… those who enjoy more European-styled Chardonnays will adore it. This mid-weight white exhibits notes of lemon butter, tropical fruits and poached pears in a fresh, lively, crisp style."
– Robert M. Parker, Jr., The Wine Advocate
2009 Red Shoulder
Ranch Chardonnay Fact Sheet |
Shafer Brochure Finding Our Wines Robert M. Parker Jr.’s The Wine Advocate, December 2010 |
2009 Red Shoulder Ranch® Chardonnay – Reviews
"… those who enjoy more European-styled Chardonnays will adore it. This mid-weight white exhibits notes of lemon butter, tropical fruits and poached pears in a fresh, lively, crisp style."
— Robert M. Parker, Jr., The Wine Advocate
"A complex, lush wine with rich notes of pear and melon, and a hint of apple, herbs and spice. Full-bodied. A rich, heavy hitter."
— Peg Melnik, Santa Rosa Press Democrat
" … nicely integrated oak aromas, complex, shifting flavors of spice, pineapples, peaches and melons, fullbodied, creamy and smooth, opulent, long finish, a beautiful wine."
— Fred Tasker, Miami Herald
" … Shafer produces textbook Californian chardonnay from its Red Shoulder Ranch in Carneros. Low yields and distinctive flavours shape Shafer Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay, Los Carneros 2009 (£35, www.thormanhunt.co.uk) into a dazzling glass of the golden stuff. It's utterly seductive (15% abv), with lush layers of melon, pineapple and apricot, exotic aromas, great acidity, structure and length."
— Sam Wylie-Harris, The Shuttle (U.K.)
2009 Red Shoulder Ranch® Chardonnay Downloads
Shafer Brochure
2011 Current Releases
Red Shoulder Ranch® Story
2009 Red Shoulder
Ranch Chardonnay Fact Sheet
Robert M. Parker Jr.’s The Wine Advocate, December 2010
2007 Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay
Press Release, March 2008
Elegant Chardonnay
In the early 1990s Shafer discovered a bounty of rich, exotic fruit aromas and flavors in its Red Shoulder Ranch, a rolling vineyard within sight of San Francisco Bay.
