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FOREWORD

A Vineyard in Napa is at first blush a tale of one man’s choice to impose manifest destiny on his family. But the story of John Shafer and his family wouldn’t be nearly so interesting if that’s all it was. For practically anyone can convince his wife and kids to pick up sticks and move west. And how unusual is it, really, to tackle a midlife crisis by giving up the comfort of a secure and successful corporate career to plant new roots—indeed, vines—on an unknown hillside positioned fifty miles north of San Francisco?

But this is a far richer tale than “Midwest midlife mogul moves westward.” With the hindsight of forty years, it is clear to me that this is one of those very rare instances where one man’s initial vision has been executed so brilliantly, consistently, and fully that it demands being studied, understood, and documented. Along with his remarkable team, led chiefly by his son, Doug—one of the sharpest, gentlest, most per sis tent, and genuine human beings you will ever meet—and his colossally gifted and sensitive winemaker, Elias Fernandez, John Shafer has transformed his midlife dream into one of the greatest California wine stories ever written.

I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t feel great affection for Shafer Vineyards. And while all those fans may think they adore Shafer for its unfailingly excellent (and I’d say category-defining) Merlot, its bone-rattling Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay, its powerful Relentless Syrah, its eminently satisfying Cabernet Sauvignon, and its elegant and peerless Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon, there are perhaps some other—less understood—reasons that Shafer has so quietly and humbly attained its towering stature in the world of wine.

Indeed, there is the fate that brought John Shafer to Napa Valley’s Stags Leap District—an area little known to wine lovers when he bought his land in 1972 but now recognized as the Napa Valley source for grapes that express stunningly soft and silky elegance. That good fortune alone might have been enough to create a winning winery. But somehow Shafer stands tall even among the pack of the district’s other elite producers.

In my judgment, the glory of Shafer’s first forty years has all to do with the family’s culture and philosophy of how to do business. Up and down the Shafer organization are people of integrity who are fully consumed with pursuing the journey of excellence—always with humility and always in a way that leaves something good in its wake for each of the winery’s stakeholders.

First and foremost, the Shafer team acts like a loving family toward one another, exuding respect and trust between grape growers, winemakers, and those who work in administration. I imagine it must be a lot of fun to come to work at Shafer Vineyards. That has to have created the crucial foundation upon which these folks are able to distinguish themselves in every other way. Comfortable and confident at home, the Shafer team never misses one opportunity to go the extra mile for their customers—taking a caring and active interest in the lives and fortunes of those with whom they do business. You don’t just love the wine. You fall in love with the people behind the wine!

In these pages you’ll read a lot about how the Shafer wines came to be—and it is a fascinating tale. John is always generous in according credit to the people who have grown his grapes and made the wines, but in his usual modest way, he rarely takes the credit he deserves for creating a winery with a conscience—one that deeply cares for people, understands its responsibility as a steward of the environment, and plays a distinguished leadership role in caring for its community with generosity and grace—two terms that appropriately describe every wine I’ve ever savored bearing the Shafer label.

Forty years is a long and significant amount of time to hang in there for any business (my industry is notorious for gobbling up and spitting out new restaurants in short increments—like months). But somehow I suspect the Shafer story is just beginning. Doing something so well in a way that makes so many people feel so good takes a far sighted and principled discipline. But for John Shafer, his family, and his team, that path is the only natural way to do business. And that is why Shafer has created an institution that, like its wines, will endure and endure.

Danny Meyer

New York City, 2011