Shafer TD 9 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2023

$90.00

Shafer Vineyards named TD-9 after John Shafer's first tractor, the International Harvester he drove while planting the estate's Stags Leap District hillsides in 1973. The 2023 blends 75% Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot from Stags Leap, Yountville and a Vaca Mountains foothill site, then ages 18 months in new French oak. Winemaker Elias Fernandez built it lush now with room to grow. It drinks like serious Napa Cabernet without the three-figure price tag of the flagship bottling. Pour it for a dinner that calls for real weight.

Blackberry, black plum and baking spice layered with tobacco, toast and savory herbs. Silky, fine-grained tannins carry a lush, energetic mid-palate into a long, structured finish built for cellaring.

Classic matches for Cabernet Sauvignon: Ribeye off the grill, lamb chops, aged cheddar, a rainy night and a good movie.

TD-9 draws from Shafer's Stags Leap District estate, a Yountville site and a Vaca Mountains foothill vineyard just south of Stags Leap. The name honors the International Harvester TD-9 tractor John Shafer bought with the property in 1973 and drove himself while planting the first vines.