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Tasting notes
Moving to the reds, the 2017 TD-9 Proprietary Red Blend is mostly Merlot yet includes 22% Malbec and a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep purple-hued with sweet aromas of jammy blackberries, spiced cherries, herbes de Provence, and dried flowers, it is a wonderfully textured, medium to full-bodied, balanced red with sweet tannins and a great finish. It’s going to evolve nicely for 10-12 years.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2017 TD-9 is pretty, floral and nicely lifted, with more of an aromatic touch than the first vintages. On the palate, the wine is a bit light, though, and lacks the customary richness readers have come to expect from Shafer. This mid-weight, classy red has a lot to offer, but there is no getting around the wine's hollow mid-palate. The wine just feels empty.
The 2017 Red Blend TD-9 is blended of 62% Merlot, 22% Malbec and 16% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep garnet-purple colored, it opens with bombastic baked cherries, plum preserves and fruitcake scents with hints of underbrush, garrigue, baking spices and rose hip tea. Full-bodied, the palate is packed with spicy blue and black fruit preserves framed with a chewy texture and finishing earthy.
The 2017 TD-9 is juicy, expressive and pliant, with soft edges that seem to push the fruit forward. Succulent and racy in style, the 2017 should drink well right out of the gate. Stylistically, the 2017 is a bit more lush and overt than the 2016 tasted alongside it. The blend is 63% Merlot, 22% Malbec and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon.
About the producer
The site of Shafer has been around since 1880, and grapes continued to be grown here, even during prohibition. It is said that some wine was made here during that time. In 1972, John Shafer bought the property in the Stag’s Leap district, he immediately began planting the Cabernet on the hillside.