Wine Maker Notes:

***89 POINTS Wine Enthusiast

Shafer’s ’05 is drier, crisper and more minerally than its predecessors from warmer vintages. You might even call it leaner. But it still shows the elegant balance that always characterizes the wine, with brilliant acidity.

***88 POINTS Wine Spectator

Fresh, floral aromatics offer citrus and yellow apple scents. Sleek and balanced, this finishes with a hazelnut note. Drink now through 2010. Tasted twice, with consistent notes. 6,000 cases made.

***91 POINTS Wine Advocate

The non-malolactic, full-scale Chardonnay, the 2005 Red Shoulder Ranch (around 5,300 cases) reveals beautiful acidity and slightly less wood. (A good percentage of the wine is now aged in steel barrels and then blended back with that percentage which is barrel-fermented and aged in wood.) Medium to full-bodied with notes of honeysuckle and tropical fruit, the wine is crisp, fresh, pure, and best drunk over the next several years.