Blend: 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, 7% Malbec, 7% Petit Verdot
95 Points Jeb Dunnuck
The 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Td-9 is based on 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, 7% Malbec, and 7% Petit Verdot and aged 18 months in 100% new French oak. Cassis, redcurrants, leafy tobacco, and spicy wood define the aromatics, and it's medium to full-bodied, with a pure, layered mouthfeel and beautiful tannins. It shines for its purity and balance and shows outstanding length on the finish. This will keep for 20 years with ease. Drink 2025-2045.
95 Points James Suckling
A classic Napa Valley cabernet that shows vivid flavors of red and black cherries on a big, broad texture and full body. Fine-grained tannins add structure and shape on the palate, as brilliant raspberry and cranberry flavors meet bold and deep blackberry and blueberry notes. Drink now or hold.
Winemaker Notes
The 2023 displays beautiful complexity with layers of blackberry, black plum, and spice, accented by layers of tobacco, toast, and savory herbs. Both lush and energetic, this mouthfilling Cabernet Sauvignon is ripe, round, and perfectly balanced. Silky tannins provide structure and grace, promising even greater elegance and depth with time in your cellar.
In 1973 at nearly 50 years of age, John Shafer walked away from corporate America and moved his family to a new home in Napa Valley. He’d never grown grapevines or made wine in his life. His only agricultural experience had been raising flowers in the front yard of the family home in Chicago. With the purchase of the family’s Napa vineyard, John inherited his first tractor, a 1950s-era TD-9 International Harvester. We named this wine after that TD-9, which he taught himself to drive and maintain, as a symbol of the spirit of risk-taking and adventure that still inspires everything we do at Shafer today.
