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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 95.3 pts. and median of 95 pts. in 313 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by curtisfrancois on 4/13/2024 & rated 98 points: Wow. Everything I expected. Purchased from the winery on release and this was the first taste.
The wine looks ruby colored. The legs are medium. There is moderate sediment in the bottle. It smells like red currant, plum and light toast. (447 views) | | | Tasted by shaferguy91 on 2/14/2024 & rated 95 points: Decanted 1 hour. (1163 views) | | | Tasted by JuliannaDHS on 12/31/2023: Unsure if I should rate this 96 or 86. It really comes down to my preference in red wine and this is not exactly it. Mind you, there's no denying this is a high quality wine. This is the color of ink. Massive nose of ripe dark fruit, coffee, and alcohol. A huge but balanced body with dark fruit flavors, berry schnapps, oaky vanilla. Gripping finish. (1359 views) | | | Tasted by Winiac on 10/16/2023 & rated 96 points: Nimble and delicious! Drink it, it is going to loose its verve. (1933 views) | | | Tasted by Peech on 10/3/2023 & rated 96 points: from magnum - double-decanted and stoppered for about 1˝ hours, then served after an additional 2 hours of aeration. Showing beautifully with tons of mint, smoke, ripe fruits. Fragrant and woodsy on the nose. Tannins were still here but had already softened to become pretty sexy. (1713 views) | | | Tasted by Peech on 7/23/2023 & rated 94 points: from magnum - double-decanted and stoppered for an hour, served more than 2 hours after decanting. Such a typical Cali cab, with lots of vanilla, coconut butter, together with plenty of sweet cassis and black cherries. The extended aeration plus the aging have managed to soften up the palate considerably, and the wine was now silky smooth. (2005 views) | | | Tasted by mclanew on 7/1/2023 & rated 95 points: Popped and poured. Nice nose of black fruit, smoke and herbs. The palate is huge, concentrated and very ripe with layers and layers of flavor, and long finish. Impressive wine although a trad too much oak. (1878 views) | | | Tasted by wine-eau on 4/17/2023 & rated 94 points: Tasted over two nights, the first night 1-5 hrs after popping. Fairly consistent notes both times. Sweet bay leaf, black currant and blackberry, pencil shavings, dark chocolate and dried dill (first night only). A lovely bottle. Went well with pan-seared NY strip Wagyu. (2318 views) | | | Tasted by buckeye76 on 2/19/2023 & rated 96 points: Still deep color. Black cherries, blackberries, currants, licorice, tobacco, mocha with earthiness and minerality in the nose. Deep black fruit in the flavor, blackberries, black currants, blueberries, dark chocolate and spice in the flavor. A rich, concentrated wine showing great acidity and complexity. Very well balanced, full bodied, and a long lingering finish. (2398 views) | | | Tasted by ChrisR on 1/1/2023: Pretty much on par for a good vintage SHS: rich, luscious black fruit married to high-quality, spicy oak. The fruit and texture are so exquisite you forgive the lack of complexity. Surprisingly easy to drink for such a rich wine and, in the final judgment, simply delicious. (2448 views) | | | Tasted by Quinn05 on 11/9/2022 & rated 95 points: Hundred Acre wine tasting: Blind. Very big, fruit forward Napa Cab. Drinking amazingly well right now. (2671 views) | | | Tasted by randyjc on 9/11/2022 & rated 93 points: Surprisingly good given my experience with other SHS wines, most of which remind me of the flashy frat boy with a hip flask and no substance. This wine was solid - good depth, relatively good balance. High alcohol, of course, because that’s apparently de riguer for cult Napa cabs. My biggest beef? That ridiculous, absurd, outrageous, wasteful, pathetically egoist bottle. Good lord - get a conscience!! (2686 views) | | | Tasted by indiscriminate palate on 8/6/2022: Opaque purple. Dark berries, milling spices, cherry liquor on the nose. Very big and rich—too much on open but settled with air—full bodied, with tannins that melt, just enough acid to carry the weight, and only a hint of the 15% alcohol. Deep blackberry, woody notes. Perhaps I was expecting a lot, but while a great wine, this did not blow me away. (2445 views) | | | Tasted by cubswinws on 3/13/2022 & rated 94 points: Remains good though it took awhile for it to open up. Still not as vibrant as I would have expected. Still have one bottle left. (3228 views) | | | Tasted by kmforster on 3/13/2022 & rated 95 points: Stunning, but still a bit young for me. At this stage in its development the peak point for me was about 45-60 mins into the decant. We started dinner around the 60-min mark, and by the end it was starting to close back up and tannins were once again more prominent. (2691 views) | | | Tasted by AlexHop on 1/7/2022 & rated 99 points: Stunning. Dark fruit and violets. Subtle and complex spices. Super long finish. (3124 views) | | | Tasted by Burgundy Al on 12/17/2021: Holiday Champagne Gala (Park Ridge Country Club): Small late night taste, brief note. Much like the 2004 from earlier, but slightly more balance, so slightly more drinkable. (3761 views) | | | Tasted by EM_MB on 12/3/2021 & rated 92 points: Quick double decant then back in bottle for 7 hours. No heat as alcohol fully integrated and yet still tastes fairly young with plenty of fruit. This is a massive wine that needs food vs one to drink on its own. Well crafted although a bit too much oak. Will still last for years so drink or hold. (2631 views) | | | Tasted by galewskj on 10/22/2021 & rated 94 points: A stacked cabernet lineup (James and Carrie's house): Exactly what you expect, a big dense delicious Napa cab. (2660 views) | | | Tasted by I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine on 10/22/2021 & rated 94 points: Outstanding Old World Napa Cabs: Decanted for 2 hours - This was a another 2005 that was drinking quite well, but probably the youngest of the night. This wine undoubtably has years left in it and will likely continue to improve, IMO. But, it is drinking quite well now! This wine showed a nice balance between fruit and tertiary flavors, with a nose that showed plenty of black fruit, tar and earth. The palate showed gorgeous layers of rich, dark fruit, some burnt wood and some earthiness. In a good place for my palate, but no hurry to drink this. If you like fruit forward wines, I would drink this (and the Spottswoode) sooner than later, if your palate favors a lot of tertiary notes, I would cellar both wines a few more years. Easy 94 for me today, and I think the biggest upside of all the wines we drank. (3176 views) | | | Tasted by rocknroller on 10/22/2021 & rated 93 points: Old OG Napa Cabs (James & Carrie's, Northern Burbs, Mpls): Very dark red/purple color. Decanted for about an hour. Drank a glass over 2 hours plus. Scorched earth, tar, dense and layered, full bodied, cassis and blackberry, long but loses a little composure on the finish. 93+pts. (2515 views) | | | Tasted by jsmorris707 on 10/16/2021 & rated 98 points: Similar to prior notes after a 3 hour double decant; outstanding, drink or hold (2272 views) | | | Tasted by KenK on 10/5/2021 & rated 97 points: Beautifully rich and decantant with wonderful dense ripe red fruits in a creamy smooth textured way. Big yummy factor going on here and in a great place. Just a touch of warmth peaks through from the 14.9% alcohol. In a prime spot if you like wines with fruit forward delicious flavors. (2368 views) | | | Tasted by BBinSC on 9/28/2021 & rated 95 points: A Night for Charlie
Wine 5
Once one of my favorite wines in the world, the Hillside remains incredibly dense, packed full of black fruit, and lingering cedar/woody notes. Paired with the Angelus, the Shafer contrasted the Old World earthy/silky St. Emilion with its power and oak. Where the Angelus had many layers, the Hillside came across as striking one note. It's a hell of a note, to be sure, but falls a little below the Angelus side by side.
QPR 6.5 (of 10)
Aging 2030 at least (2314 views) | | | Tasted by Peech on 9/24/2021 & rated 94 points: from magnum. decanted 1 hour prior to serving. Smelled awesome while decanting. Lots of sweet fruit on the nose, really fragrant with lots of cedar, lots of forest pine. Full-bodied with velvety tannins. Ripe and just shy of being jammy. Tannins got stronger 1˝ hours in. (1900 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By William Kelley
Decanter, Shafer Hillside Select Vertical (6/30/2017)
(Shafer, Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District, California, USA, Red) Subscribe to see review text. | 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, Vintage Retrospective: 2005 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (May 2016) (5/1/2016)
(Shafer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select Napa) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, May/June 2007, IWC Issue #132
(Shafer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select Stags Leap District) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Decanter and 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 2012.2005 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside SelectThe 2005 Hillside Select is dark and voluptuous with rich density, balancing elegant, extracted fruit and youthful power. These are the signature aromas and flavors of our hillside vineyards – loads of blackberry, black cherry, cassis, dark chocolate, and black spice integrated seamlessly with vanilla and oak, all drawn together by silky-textured, ripe tannins. This is a vintage that I'd compare to 1994 and 1997.
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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