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August 20, 2007
Three Views of the 2000 Shafer Relentless
The older this wine gets, the more I like it, but the lower I rate it. I can't explain that, but if you have any of this, I suggest opening a bottle with a good dry-aged steak. You'll like it.
- 2000 Shafer Relentless - USA, California, Napa Valley (8/20/2007)
Decanted for four hours, the wine exhibited a deep but not completely opaque dark red brick color. Nose is mild, with clean floral and vanilla aromas. Palate initially shows good acidity, a medium body and flavors of berries and bittersweet chocolate. Finish is marked by structural tannins, sweet fruit and balanced oak, and lasts for 30 seconds or more. This will last a long time and probably improve further, but is excellent now with sufficient decanting. A very, very nice wine. (91 pts.) - 2000 Shafer Relentless - USA, California, Napa Valley (9/27/2005)
Offline for Alex and Adam at Zuppa (San Francisco, California USA): Rich, fruity, big nose. Palate shows bittersweet chocolate and a medium-full body. Long tannic finish. Quite good wine, but far from ready. (92 pts.) - 2000 Shafer Relentless - USA, California, Napa Valley (3/13/2005)
Shafer Hillside Select Dinner (Manresa Restaurant, Los Gatos, California USA): BIG nose of berries with an undercurrent of spice and earth. Better than the '99 in almost every way. Elias Fernandez said this was primarily due to learning about the vineyard and another year of age on the vines. Palate shows ripe fruit, white pepper and spice, superb extract, medium-full body, good acidity and a tremendously long firmly tannic finish. AT LEAST two years till next bottle. This wine is treated exactly the same as the Hillside Select Cabernet with 32 months in 100% new oak (93 pts.)
Posted by Paul at August 20, 2007 11:54 PM | Wine Tasting