These wines, straight from the Shafers' own cellars, were tased in Miami in early March 2003. They were served, in the way of so many New World tastings, from old to young – the principle being a) that the ultra-ripe young wines would obliterate the older ones if served before them and b) that in general production techniques improve considerably over the years so one tends to ascend qualitatively during the course of the tasting.
John Shafer made the wines 1978-1983, his son Doug 1984-1994 and their talented winemaker Elias Fernandez from 1995 onwards. The first person to grow Cabernet...
