SHAFER Shiraz 'Relentless' - Stag's Leap District 2021 Bottle

Description

The 2021 Relentless from Shafer Vineyards has received outstanding acclaim, including 97 points from Decanter and 95 points from Vinous. This wine honours the legacy of long-time winemaker Elias Fernandez, showcasing a blend of 97% Syrah and 3% Petite Sirah. Its powerful aromas of Kirsch, dark fruits, and toasted cedarwood invite you in, leading to a palate rich with flavours of black cherry, blackberry, and white pepper. Wine Enthusiast notes its robust structure, while the mouthfeel is silky and polished. The wine is aged in 100% new French oak for 28 months, imparting depth and complexity. With an impressive finish of crushed cocoa nibs and acidity, this Relentless is expected to mature beautifully from 2026 to 2040.

*****

This wine honours long-time Shafer Winemaker Elias Fernandez and his relentless pursuit of quality. Sourced from ridgetop vineyards adjacent to the southern border of Stags Leap District. Ridgetop and foothills sites along the Vaca Mountains just south of Stags Leap District the grapes for

Relentless are a proprietary blend of 97% Syrah, 3% Petite Sirah. 28 months in 100% new 60-gallon French oak barrels (Allier & Tronçais).

“This is a stylish Relentless offering vivid, lush aromas and flavors of meatiness over a juicy core of black plum, dark chocolate, white pepper, blackberry, and savory spice. The mouthfeel is full and liquid-velvet with a tension and finesse that is a 2021 hallmark. The finish lingers on and on. This is a terrific candidate for many years in the cellar.” — Elias Fernandez, Winemaker

The 2021 Growing Season: The long, sunny 2021 summer created a beautiful growing season for our Syrah. The fruit developed deep color and clean, bold, and elegant aromas and flavors.

VINOUS 94-97 points
Drinking window: 2025 - 2036
The 2021 Relentless is fabulous. In fact, the 2021 is the most refined edition of Relentless I can remember tasting. Vibrant and delineated, with terrific fruit purity, the 2021 shows impeccable balance. The flavors are still quite primary, but greater complexity will come with time. Impressive. - Antonio Galloni, December 2023

DECANTER 95 points
Tasted by: Jonathan Cristaldi
(at Novato, California, 12 Mar 2025)
Drinking Window: 2025 - 2035
In this vintage, winemaker Elias Fernandez celebrates his 40th year crafting wine at Shafer. The 2021 Relentless is a blend of 97% Syrah and 3% Petite Sirah, sourced from ridgetop and foothill sites along the Vaca Mountains, just south of the Stags Leap District AVA. Aged for 20 months in 100% new Allier and Tronçais French oak, the wine is remarkably restrained in 2021, showing elegant cherry and spiced plum fruit alongside sandalwood and rose petal nuances. This full-bodied Syrah leads with pronounced mineral tension, revealing cool wet slate and forest berry fruit. The tannins are sleek, polished, and well-integrated, framing a juicy, balanced finish. Despite its 15.8% alcohol, the wine maintains excellent poise and grip, with no noticeable heat.

VINOUS 95 points
The 2021 Relentless is a potent, brooding wine. Dark cherry, plum, licorice, cloves, game, scorched earth and black pepper explode onto the palate. Swaths of tannin wrap it all together. This intense, structured Syrah-based blend clearly needs a few years in bottle to be at its best. It's pretty impressive, even in the early going. The 2021 spent six more months in barrel than originally projected because of the delayed 2023 harvest. My impression today is that the extra time in wood robbed the wine of some freshness. - Antonio Galloni

THE WINE ADVOCATE 93 points
Reviewed by: Joe Czerwinski
Drink Date: 2026 - 2040
The 2021 Relentless is a blend of 97% Syrah and just 3% Petite Sirah, all aged 28 months in 100% new French oak. Like the rest of the Shafer red wines, it has effortlessly absorbed the oak treatment, delivering blackberries and blueberries on the nose. Full-bodied, sturdy and tannic, it finishes long and dusty. Give it another couple of years to smooth out and then drink it over the next 15 years.

Now that the dust has largely settled following the 2022 sale of Shafer Vineyards to Shinsegae Property, a Korean firm, readers should be reassured that wine quality remains high. I visited with Managing Director Matthew Sharp and Winemaker Elias Fernandez during my August 2024 trip to Napa and came away impressed with the current and forthcoming vintages.

Sharp has a background in wine sales—he was the winery's commercial director from 2016–2022—and has overseen the acquisition of additional vineyards since his promotion to General Manager and now Managing Director. Controlling fruit sourcing is obviously a focus, and Shafer Vineyards now owns approximately 250 acres of vines. The largest parcel remains the original property, purchased by John Shafer in 1972, but there are 90 acres in Carneros (source of the Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay) and the more recently acquired Wildfoote Ranch (Stags Leap District, 2022) and Altimeter Vineyard (Atlas Peak, 2023).

Fernandez joined Shafer Vineyards in 1984 and was named winemaker in 1994, giving him a string of 40 vintages at the property. He's the long-term institutional memory, seemingly able to remember details of past growing seasons with remarkable acuity. Other winemakers in the Stags Leap District community speak of him and his willingness to offer counsel with reverence. On this visit, we tasted the 1994 and 2004 Hillside Selects, plus the current release 2021 and barrel samples of the 2022 and 2023. To this taster, those earlier vintages are at peak; the newer stuff seems capable of achieving similar 30-year lifespans.
Published: Oct 17, 2024

WINE ENTHUSIAST 92 points
This full-bodied syrah captures robust structure and brooding tones from a splash of Petite Sirah. Integrated oak spices and layers of flavor wash the palate with persistent tannins and a very long finish. — Elaine Chukan Brown