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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 92.9 pts. and median of 93 pts. in 133 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by grapefuldave on 12/31/2023 & rated 93 points: Excellent cabernet, it's softened nicely over the last 23 years. Quite balanced, not such an unctuous bottle as its younger counterparts. (394 views) | | | Tasted by wabi47 on 11/24/2023 & rated 90 points: solid but disappointing in proportion to the heft of the bottle; drink up (445 views) | | | Tasted by Bandreas on 11/26/2021: Opened for the 2021 Thanksgiving Dinner and tasted alongside the 1997 Penfolds RWT Shiraz...
This one came in second best by unanimous consent..
Deep dark red, almost black in the center. On the nose cedar, tar, tannins.
On the palate there was some sweet fruit and chocolaty impressions. Overall the wine lacked complexity, charm, depth and length and seemed to be past its prime.
It tried hard to impress but - for me - did not succeed.
This confirmed again my perception that Napa Cabernets will not shine much beyond 15 year of age.
Shame on me for keeping it too long! (2128 views) | | | Tasted by fcxj on 10/9/2021 & rated 92 points: Quaffable. (2143 views) | | | Tasted by DickMull on 9/15/2021 & rated 93 points: Had a very "blue fruit" nose, with a touch of woodiness. Quite full bodied, it had round blackish fruit on the front of the palate that accompanied the slightly drying tannins all the way through the finish. Background notes of minerals and earth were present as well. Very smooth, but probably past its prime. Drink up. (2006 views) | | | Tasted by dmodguy on 4/8/2021 & rated 92 points: I bought mine on release. A case. Last bottle tonight with short ribs. It may not be as good as it was but it’s darn good. If I had another I’d drink it next year. If I knew a year or two ago what I know now I’d have drank it then. (2216 views) | | | Tasted by Rschmidtlsu on 2/13/2021: Good (2188 views) | | | Tasted by pkouchu on 1/28/2021 & rated 91 points: plum, espresso, black cherries, anise, black currant and earth
secondary fruit, more earthy now. doesn't have enough acidity to hold up much longer IMO (1437 views) | | | Tasted by LiteItOnFire on 7/3/2020 & rated 89 points: PnP then decanted over couple of hours. Off bottle or just a bit tired as the bitterness shone through a bit too much not allowing the dark fruits to come through. If this bottle is representative than these are waning. (2882 views) | | | Tasted by WineWright on 1/3/2020 & rated 95 points: This was fabulous. Nose of blueberry. Soft but beautiful fruit with surprisingly mellowed oak. So smooth. Loved this 20 year old! (2430 views) | | | Tasted by Burgundy Al on 2/9/2019 & rated 91 points: Another Saturday at Chevalier...Mostly Blind Cabernet (Chevalier Fine Wines - Chicago IL): I served this double blind in Cabernet from around the world tasting. Nothing shy here. Ripe black fruit with sweet spice, but clearly enough structure to retain its balance. Very good length. (3538 views) | | | Tasted by shaferguy91 on 1/29/2019 & rated 92 points: Decanted 1 hour. (2591 views) | | | Tasted by DBSingleton on 12/31/2018: This wine was 18 years old when we opened it and it was possibly the best wine we had over the New Years holiday. We did not decant. (2600 views) | | | Tasted by AlexHop on 12/13/2018 & rated 94 points: Gorgeous. Lush and showy. (2307 views) | | | Tasted by DBSingleton on 8/15/2018 & rated 95 points: Decanted for about an hour then back in the bottle. Opened again it about three hours later in a restaurant. Delightful. Could possibly last another year but I probably would drink now (Aug 2018) . Might have been better a couple of years ago. (2310 views) | | | Tasted by levinml on 4/7/2018 & rated 92 points: Good texture, just flavor is not what you want from a big ticket wine. Held together nicely and improved with time in the glass/decanter, but just not what you want. (2277 views) | | | Tasted by SMHalps on 11/14/2017 & rated 95 points: Decanted at a Shafer wine dinner at a NYC Steakhouse. Not my favorite vintage of the Hillside Select, but this bottle was singing. Still some fruit left, a heady nose and a long finish. We didn't taste them blind, but even if we had, this would have been WOTN. (2835 views) | | | Tasted by SMHalps on 9/2/2017 & rated 94 points: Time has been kind to this vintage. Decanted for at least 2 hours before we started dinner. It went beautifully with food, and it has a medium-long finish. A great nose, its got good structure, and it is full bodied. I'm not sure if it is fully mature, or how much life it has ahead of it, but this bottle, last night, tasted as if it could go a few more years, at least. (3217 views) | | | Tasted by rgawlowski on 5/5/2017 & rated 94 points: Beautiful, perfect balance, fruit, a bit smiley, long finish, great nose. (3972 views) | | | Tasted by JBVino on 7/31/2016: Enjoyed. This wine was more reserved than warmer vintages and it gave it class. Shined w food as a partner having nice structure and acidity with ample stuffing. (4881 views) | | | Tasted by SMHalps on 7/28/2016 & rated 94 points: My second bottle of this and my thoughts on it hasn't changed. It was served as part of a NYC Steakhouse Shafer wine night with 10 people. It was decanted and served last, so it was able to sit for over an hour before we poured it. It still tasted a bit young, even at this age. It was eons better than the 2011 HSS that we had before it. (4506 views) | | | Tasted by brucegolfer on 5/29/2016 & rated 92 points: Excellent cabernet. Drank with steak. Full-bodied, good structure and balance. (4514 views) | | | Tasted by cab blends on 5/22/2015 & rated 94 points: Cruising the Oceans; 5/17/2015-5/24/2015: Decanted for 2 hours but could have more. Vegetal with green pepper on the nose.
Dark chocolate and rich body with a hint of heat. A finish of berries in the long finish (6395 views) | | | Tasted by GA on 5/14/2015 & rated 94 points: 5/15 Huge wine with years of cellar life from an unacclaimed vintage. 94 pts. (5193 views) | | | Tasted by SMHalps on 2/25/2015 & rated 94 points: Parker in Dec 2014 gave this a 94 rating, and I would agree. I had it at a steakhouse dinner along with another 2000 Napa Cab, Ridge's Monte Bello. We decanted it for about 20 minutes, and then drank away. Still very lively, loads of big black fruit and some tannic backbone. Long finish, and suitable for drinking with our without the steak. (4553 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, Vertical Tasting of Shafer’s Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select (Jul 2016) (7/1/2016)
(Shafer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select Napa Valley) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, May/June 2003, IWC Issue #108
(Shafer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select Stags Leap District) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, May/June 2002, IWC Issue #102
(Shafer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select Stags Leap District) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous. (manage subscription channels) |
| Shafer Producer website
John Shafer and his family founded Shafer Vineyards, located in the Stags Leap District of the Napa Valley, in 1979. From the Shafers' first wine, a 1978 Cabernet Sauvignon,
their wines have won much acclaim. Today, the Shafers farm 200 acres of vineyard in the Stags Leap District, Carneros and Oak Knoll regions. Their flagship wine, Hillside Select,
is produced from selected blocks of the family's hillside vineyards and is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. They also produce Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay, Merlot, One Point Five
(Cabernet Sauvignon) and Relentless (a Syrah/Petite Sirah blend), which was named #1 wine of the year by Wine Spectator's "Top 100" of 2012.Cabernet SauvignonCabernet Sauvignon is probably the most famous red wine grape variety on Earth. It is rivaled in this regard only by its Bordeaux stablemate Merlot, and its opposite number in Burgundy, Pinot Noir. From its origins in Bordeaux, Cabernet has successfully spread to almost every winegrowing country in the world. It is now the key grape variety in many first-rate New World wine regions, most notably Napa Valley, Coonawarra and Maipo Valley. Wherever they come from, Cabernet Sauvignon wines always seem to demonstrate a handful of common character traits: deep color, good tannin structure, moderate acidity and aromas of blackcurrant, tomato leaf, dark spices and cedarwood.
Used as frequently in blends as in varietal wines, Cabernet Sauvignon has a large number of common blending partners. Apart from the obvious Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the most prevalent of these are Malbec, Petit Verdot and Carmenere (the ingredients of a classic Bordeaux Blend), Shiraz (in Australia's favorite blend) and in Spain and South America, a Cabernet – Tempranillo blend is now commonplace. Even the bold Tannat-based wines of Madiran are now generally softened with Cabernet SauvignonUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Napa Valley Napa Valley Wineries and Wine (Napa Valley Vintners)Stags Leap District Stags Leap District |
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