Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon One Point Five

After recently trying the 2005 vintage, Gary Vaynerchuk tastes the 2004 Shafer One Point Five.

Hello everybody and welcome to Wine Library TV. I am your host Gary Vaynerchuk and this my friends, is the Thunder Show a.k.a the internet’s most passionate wine program and it’s a gorgeous night here in Manhattan, as you could see I’m wearing the same shirt that I take to—episode yesterday, today with so same day, a little hectic day tomorrow. So, I said you know what let me tape it tonight gorgeous night outside, I want to take advantage of that and the more importantly want to keep up the nerve foundation of what we’re taking the thunder show lately. And I want to talk about the wine that I’m very passionate about, Let me rephrase that, a wine we passion about because it really is one of America’s top California cabernet producers in the world, start with the 78 vintage by John Shafer, got dog shaper his son got involved in 1983 hence if you’re wondering why Shaper’s new cabernet because I know a lot of you know this wine is called one point five, its because, its signifying the generational play that John and Doug have experienced with this wine because it really isn’t a two generation play, its 15 because Doug got involved so early on. Another fun fact about Shafer and that let’s get into the wine we’re talking about 2004, Stags Leap District Cabernet one point five from Napa, 93 points wine spectator, about a $65.00, $70.00 bottle of Cabernet so pretty pricy but not as expensive as the high level heel side select wine that are sought after. Another fun fact about this wine is that Elias Fernandez is the winemaker of this wine and a long time ago we had a Wine Library TV video contest that team up one and we have the pleasure of going to Shafer for the day and we went to the caves with Elias very, very educated passionate winemaker, super talented. We also have the privilege of having John the patriarch coming and taste with us. What I’m passionate about with Shafer and a couple of things, what reminds me of first growth Bordeaux because it has the ability to make a lot of wine yet very high quality and I need 35,000 pieces over at Shafer. Also it’s a wine that is extremely sold after very allocated and still one of the few allocated items in this depression era or not. For high and we are that’s why I was going there but, in this recession time soft economy there’s very few wines that are allocated to the Hillsides selected, the bigger brother of this wine is still that way, even the one point five at some level is as well. This comes from some hillside fruit but it also comes from the borderline vineyard and the Ridgeback vineyard. So come to three sources and there’s also Petit Verdot and any of you hired the Court Vayniacs no that I’m a hard court fan for Petite Boudreaux, 20 months in 65% New French Oak and one of the more sought after explosive rich cabernets in the world so I’m excited about trying this and I’ve never had DO4 maybe we did actually at the winery that day. I just don’t remember once again Shafer 2004 one point five cabernet and I’m so exited so what’s going on here. The first thing you can’t deny is the gorgeous purple inky color. It’s just peach dark you barely can see through it but I think its fascinating this damage rum trying to push the boundaries of people trying to pinot grand, white pinot noir, we had the other day and --- and Petit Verdot and Chinon and you know just all the sparkling wine from Brazil. It’s; still fun to go back to an old fever from California a little USA action, a little micro tandem Barry Windom for all your fans and you know what I’m talking about and see what Kelly brings the table. 49 alcohols, 65, 70 bones on the world class stage not terribly over expensive, let’s give it a sniffy sniff. And the first thing you going to recognize is big red fruit, big and huge cassis play, enormous intensity. I get a little minty kind of play here and a little bizwaxs, a little minty bizwaxs action on the nose. I don’t know where I got that bizwax word but, it’s coming through a little, a little minty eucalyptus play, a little heightsy in its nose. Gorgeous nose, just really right cherry big red fruit, fruit balmy yet conservative, really interesting, it’s got like a muscle bound good and it doesn’t’ work at the tie this shirt so it looks like freakzoid but just plain was a nice shirt and see his guns like a kind of play. Let's give it a whirl. This is nice thing when you have the commute back in New York from New Jersey wine leap. Very silky enormous silk on the back end, all that stuff that make everybody seductive, to seduce and just entrapped by the gloriousness of Nepal Valley Cabernet shines through in this wine, very silky smooth polished finished, almost like drinking pure paint that’s purple pink and its delicious that we’re fine elegance that really bright intense fruit that you rarely see from Bordeaux that is definitely a tail, tail sign of California Sunshine. It’s really you know and Nepal cab doing its Nepal cab thing. Sometimes you don’t want to circus to be a poetry reading, you know what I mean and I think a lot of times there are some people to think poetry reading is the only experience hence, an old world Burgundy Bordeaux play. This is a gorgeously conducted circus. Not a freak show like the National and Choir, no just really polished elegance, big fruit, explosive. I mean all I really want to do right now, really all I really want to do right now is go over here and you going to like this, what I really want to do honestly is go right over here to my jets grill and you know pop open the grill and get the grill going right and just really, really make a big fat, juicy fat massively fat with a lot of salt, steak and just eat it with this wine because this wine really in my opinion is brining massive new world thunder to the table. I’m going to get one more sip. It’s relaxing. Just hang it out with my heart for Vayniacs. I appreciate the love the comments. Please keep them coming, no joke comments are like oxygen to me. Knowing people out there leaving the comments, I see the statistics so I know they’re there but just taking that extra effort to leave a comment means so much to me even the negative one, you know as long as it is not for the sake of being negative but if it’s a constructive criticism or if its just you know just to add a two cents or maybe want to know what the next show is to be about. I appreciate that. You can taste the gorgeous oak integration on this wine and its not over the top, its not no oak monster, this is California Cabernet in a very good place. Oak four a little bit you know a couple of years to age a little bit, you know the oak six is on the market now. That could be a little more tense or more tenants, a couple of years and so. It was a baby so I could drink rate seven, 12, 15 years now but, shockingly drinking tremendously. I like the black leaf or tea play on the back in and just really settle and I’m picking that up more and more in cabernets and I just a beautiful elegant bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon which I like quite a bit wine spectator ’93, I want to match it I think its not ’93 point effort and if you could find the O4 in the restaurant it’s definitely what we’re picking up because I have the O5 recently and I scored the 88 points, I’ve just noticed that because I pulled the set the cellar from my little cellar and you know cellars but I pulled that out of some wait a minute can I just taste this. I don’t want to that on the show but I have the O5 recently and get to my notes, 88 pointer. So a much higher on the O4 vintage I think this is spectacular great stuff really elegant and from somebody like me who grew up on California Cabernet and now takes it for granted I don’t want to do that. You know its kind of like freedom, you know I want to take you for granted and that definitely is the case what is really good California cabernet that he gets this a little bit much overlooked, I’m sorry just compare freedom to California Cabernet and I apologize it’s not a good job but you know where I’m going that right, your parents, your good friend, a solid job in this economy, your wife or husband, I think we as a culture tend to take things for granted and a much more micro scale. I’ve done that with California Cabernet, I’ve done that with California Cabernet, and I’m just of really enjoyable drink gravitating towards cooking a steak, great stuff night three points. Question of the day reflect for a minute. Show with me your into your porchy porch. What do you think if you have to take a second now scratch your head, sip into your wine while you’re watching this, what do you think you take the bread. That’s it be great to get a lot of answers. Hope you enjoy this show I’m massively and enjoying the wine and I wish you nothing but the best. You with a little bit of me we are changing the wine world