This is a wine that encapsulates the strengths that make Shafer one of Napa’s great wineries: the skill and intuition of winemaker Elias Fernandez, and the entrepreneurial spirit of the Shafer family. A couple harvests ago, Elias came to the table with a proposal. He wanted to make a wine with the best fruit from a small collection of the winery’s vineyard sites just south of Stags Leap District. Elias didn’t want to be bound by variety or percentages. He wanted excellence. Needless to say, it was a very good thing that John and Doug Shafer accepted that proposal.

The name references John Shafer’s early days as a Napa pioneer who, in the space of a few months in 1973, went from riding morning commuter trains in Chicago to teaching himself to drive an ancient tractor (a TD-9) left behind in his vineyard property’s drive shed.

Elias selected fruit from Shafer’s hillside vineyards in Stags Leap District and Yountville, as well as from a vineyard in the foothills of the Vaca Mountains just south of Stags Leap. TD-9 is an opportunity to take the best fruit from these vineyards each year to create the most compelling wine the vintage can offer.

The glass is filled with vivid aromas and flavours of summer berries, black tea, rose petal, lavender, and black cherry. All this juicy radiance is knit together with ripe Napa Valley tannins, offering abundant enjoyment today while promising even more beauty with time in your cellar.

“An incredible value, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon TD-9 includes slightly more Merlot and is 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 11% Malbec and the rest Petit Verdot. Round, sexy, full-bodied, and opulent, it has terrific aromatics of red and black currants, tobacco, chocolate, and lead pencil shavings. Drink this hedonistic yet balanced, elegant beauty over the coming 10-12 years.” 94 points, Jeb Dunnuck, May 2022

“Aromas of blackberries with old spice, dark cherries and cloves, following through to a medium to full body with a sold core of ripe fruit and a creamy and stony underlying character. Juicy and rich, yet not overbearing. Cabernet sauvignon, merlot, malbec and petit verdot. Drinkable now, but better in 2025.” 93 points, James Suckling, February 2022

“The 2019 Red Blend TD-9 is a blend of 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 11% Malbec and 5% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, alluring notes of mocha, tapenade and truffles jump from the glass, backed up by a core of cassis and stewed plums. Full-bodied, juicy and plush in the mouth, it has a lively line and a wonderfully pure, fruity finish.”
91 points, Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Advocate, November 2021