2018 Shafer Vineyards Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay 25th Anniversary Carneros 750 ml

Shafer’s Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay was on an iconic path from the start: It debuted at #5 on Wine Spectator’s Top 100, where it has since become a common sight. As Wine Enthusiast put it: “This is a perennially impressive wine.”

Red Shoulder Ranch may always be impressive—but few vintages have been more breathtaking than 2018, the 25th bottling of this legendary wine and without a doubt one of the greatest of all time. Aromatic and rich yet elegant and refined, it was grown in one of the most flawless vintages in the last two decades, and it shows in every sip.

“The 2018 Chardonnay Red Shoulder Ranch is gorgeous,” wrote Vinous. Wine Enthusiast crowned it with a 95-point score, which makes the 2018 not only one of the top two Shafer Chardonnays they’ve ever tasted—and they’ve had them all, back to 1998—but one of the top five Napa Valley Chardonnays of the vintage. And Jeb Dunnuck piled on with a 95-point score of his own, calling the wine "beautifully done."

This is a Chardonnay we look forward to every year, regardless of vintage and score. But a landmark release like this 25th-anniversary bottling, plus the spectacular vintage, plus the stellar press—that makes this edition of Shafer’s flagship Chardonnay a must-have for all white-wine lovers.

This gold- and silver-streaked wine will thrill Chardonnay fans from the first pour. Beautiful aromas of fleshy white peach, lemon chiffon, mandarin peel, and Pink Lady apple lead to a palate that is rich yet elegant and refined. With background flavors of ginger, grapefruit blossom, buttercream, sliced pineapple, and lychee, it’s lightly tropical in its tones, with striking breadth and structure. 

When we had dinner at the estate with Shafer winemaker Elias Fernandez, he told us about the evolution of the Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay. Shafer’s earliest Chardonnays were grown in the Stags Leap District—a place that Shafer eventually decided wasn't ideal for the wine. In 1988, they found a 68-acre vineyard at the southern tip of Napa Valley, in the bayside sub-AVA of Carneros. They purchased the land, named it Red Shoulder Ranch for the hawks that circled above (and kept rodents in check), and dedicated years of work developing and planting the parcel.

They harvested their first grapes in 1994—the same year Elias took over as winemaker and the one that yielded their first Top 100 honor. Since that seismic debut, the quality hasn’t changed. The style, however, has. Whereas the first vintages were aged in both American and French oak, Shafer eventually switched to 100% French oak. 

Today, Elias and his crew age the Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay in 75% French oak and 25% stainless steel. They also stick with native yeasts to express the vineyard site and do not subject the wine to malolactic conversion. The result is a Chardonnay of perfect balance: verve and energy from the cool vineyard site and stainless steel aging, with creamy richness from the French oak and 15 months on the lees.

This is an icon of California white wine, one we’re thrilled to be able to share with you.