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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 94.2 pts. and median of 94 pts. in 155 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Peech on 3/1/2024 & rated 94 points: served about 2 hours after decanting. There was more green capsicum on the nose than I had expected, but otherwise the nose was very smoky. There was still some ripe fruit here but no longer front-and-center, while black peppercorns were now more obvious. The wine was showing pretty elegantly after about 2½ hours in the decanter, about the same time that my last bottle reached its peak. (304 views) | | | Tasted by AllRed on 9/15/2023 & rated 94 points: Friday Night Uptown Brown Bagger (R&D's): Deep color, showing much younger than it actually is. Opens with aromas of cedar, black currant, dusty earth and plum. Again, nicely balanced and integrated. Flavors of black fruit dominate the palate, with subtle earth, leather and tobacco qualities mixed in. Finishes with good length. WOTF for a couple of tasters.
This had been quickly double decanted about 2.5 hours before the flight was poured and remained under cork until just before service. An hour in the decanter certainly would not have hurt, hindsight being 20/20. Sadly, our only bottle, as there's at least a few years left at a very high level, if this was a representative bottle. (1045 views) | | | Tasted by jlgnml on 6/30/2023 & rated 90 points: I have had this btl since release. All CT scores looked great. No this btl. I am selling the other soon. (923 views) | | | Tasted by Peech on 1/27/2023 & rated 95 points: drank 1½ hours after decanting. Pretty open and fragrant, smoky, with some green pepper, grilled meats, graphite, and also sweet fruit. Soft tannins. Really nice after 2 hours in the decanter, with a little savory minerals, and very complex now. Really opened up after 2½ hours in the decanter and much more oaky. (1284 views) | | | Tasted by Empirate on 12/16/2022 flawed bottle: Corked (1101 views) | | | Tasted by Frank Schneider on 9/25/2022 & rated 97 points: A pure joy to drink !!! Wonderful cali red !! No hurry (1579 views) | | | Tasted by zimmy07 on 3/13/2022 & rated 95 points: Classic old school Napa. Really in a nice place. Currant,plums and perfectly integrated oak. I doubt this is going to get any better, no where need going downhill, still has 10 years left I guess, but fully evoled and showing very well. what a treat to drink this (1981 views) | | | Tasted by Cabernet4me2 on 10/15/2021 & rated 96 points: This was such a treat!! As many have experessed, the cork did have a problem and broke on opening, but with a 25 year old bottle, not unexpected.
On initial pour from decant, had a bit of age apparent on both the first taste as well as on the nose, but that blew off after about 30 minute in decanter.
The wine was still a nice purple hue, and started out with flavors of red fruit, black cherry and tart raspberry, with a small amount mint / eucalyptus, black olive, and almost a cedar-like woodsy finish. After about an hour, this really opened up and the red fruit tamed down and black fruit with maybe some stewed plums began to take over and dominate with a subtle oak integration with a bit of vanilla and maybe even a molasses.
Wish this could had lasted longer, as the last sip was the best yet.
Was only bottle, wish I had a couple more to try, but dont think holding longer will benefit, but surely has a number of years left of excellent drinking. Fabulous bottle! (2448 views) | | | Tasted by Frank Schneider on 10/10/2021 & rated 98 points: So fresh, good acid backbone, minty and herbal, not so fruity but rather earthy, long finish. Wonderful wine after a 3 h decant. Lovely (2098 views) | | | Tasted by aquacongas on 7/26/2021 & rated 95 points: blind
Eukalyptus, black currant, reaching his peak. Ripe tannins and a refreshing acidity. 95 (2492 views) | | | Tasted by Benoit Hardy on 6/18/2021 & rated 93 points: Intense nose on black fruits and leather.
The palate is dense, the juice literally invades the palate with spice and a woody touch. It's very "New World" with a luxurious breeding but everything is well melted, in place, textured with a nice balance. We must nevertheless appreciate the warm style, practically viscous and a little muscular with a finish that heats up a little at 14.3 ° without it falling into heaviness with a very good length.
Excellent (2058 views) | | | Tasted by jonnyoro on 5/17/2021 & rated 97 points: Previous bottle was certainly over the hill- both purchased at the same time, identically stored. Both corks crumbled when opened… but this bottle was magical. Fantastic black and blue fruit, great viscosity on the mid palate, and very integrated sweet tannins with a super long finish… more reminiscent of a primary bottle we drank in 2005 rather than the disappointing bottle from last year. Wowza. (1731 views) | | | Tasted by DBenke on 6/21/2020 & rated 93 points: Drank very nice. Still firm tannins and good fruit. 5 years of good drinking. (2243 views) | | | Tasted by JHSP on 6/7/2020 & rated 92 points: Elegant - but way too young. Strong nose of black fruits and some leather - geat mouthfeel and super long finish - but as mentioned 10 yrs to young (2027 views) | | | Tasted by WineWright on 2/21/2020 & rated 97 points: My third bottle of this vintage over the past 5 years and this is the best yet. Incredibly youthful acidity with power and complete finesse. Just fabulous. (2318 views) | | | Tasted by beezer6 on 12/11/2019 & rated 93 points: Taste at Steak 48 from Keith Jaffee.
Fairly mature textbook high end Napa Cabernet. Nose of aged leather, dried plums and light herbs, touches of savory stewed currants.
Palate is well integrated. Finish a bit short but very nice example of aged HSS. (2419 views) | | | Tasted by WineWright on 11/1/2019 & rated 94 points: The oak, fruit, and aromas have mellowed beautifully. They’re all there and the wine is still singing, but It’s twilight for this vintage, in my view. I don’t see how it could improve much so I would drink over the next 1-3 years. (2445 views) | | | Tasted by mattiasjansson on 10/22/2019 flawed bottle: Shafer Hillside Select in Boston - Take II (Boston): Corked (2158 views) | | | Tasted by brigcampbell on 9/8/2019: Pop n pour. Drank alongside a '11 Monte Bello and the flavors were very similar, cassis and blue fruit. Very nice with a slightly more toasted oak / resin note here. (2155 views) | | | Tasted by Peech on 8/19/2019 & rated 91 points: decanted 2 hours prior to serving. a bit more ripe on the nose, with black olives (1033 views) | | | Tasted by AFulk on 6/1/2019 & rated 94 points: Decanted for sediment and consumed over the course of about 2 hours. Not much in the way of tannins, but still big, plush, and enjoyable with lots of black fruits on the nose and palate including black berries, black cherries, and raspberries. Not very complex and few secondary nuances, but very enjoyable for its richness. Holding up well, but hasn't really evolved. (1986 views) | | | Tasted by curtr on 5/31/2019 & rated 92 points: Fully resolved and not showing as well as expected. A bottle that is nearing the end of drinking plateau. (1846 views) | | | Tasted by lesz on 3/14/2019 & rated 94 points: A wow wine. Cork crumbled so initially concerned but just great. I would not expect this to get any better (1919 views) | | | Tasted by passion4wine on 10/20/2018 & rated 96 points: An extremely evocative showing for the 96 Hillside. Youthful, elegant, and in perfect balance with soft and supple tannins, big black cherry, hints of molasses, black currant and spice on the hose and showing dark berry fruit, mocha, and hint of caramel on the palate. Tasted in Athens, Greece at the Vintage Wine Bar & Bistro—nobody guessed this wine was 22 years old. Even more, I had carried this wine for three months on my motorcycle in aluminum panniers throughout Greed and The Balkans—the wine was treated rough. Sadly, many times reaching temperatures of 100 degrees or more. Yes, the wine had cooked a bit. There was seepage from the cork, which also fell apart upon opening. We decanted and the wine unfolded over an hour. So imagine the resilience. That even with that history of heat exposure and plenty of shock to the bottle, this wine stood up and screamed—"I can take it, and I can delivery" — one of the reasons Shafe Hillside could be my favorite Napa Cab of all time. (2331 views) | | | Tasted by ESTEELE90 on 9/1/2018: At tasting. Brief note. This kind of got lost amongst the other wines on the table. Fairly straightforward and modern with polished black fruits and forward vanillin oakiness. This showed no signs of evolution and I'm not sure I see this going anywhere as there was no determinable secondary notes emerging. I'd like to give this wine a second go but I was fairly unimpressed with my first HSS. (2693 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 1999, IWC Issue #84
(Shafer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select Stags Leap District) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, May/June 1998, IWC Issue #78
(Shafer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select Stags Leap District) Subscribe to see review text. | By Richard Jennings
RJonWine.com (2/28/2003)
(Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select) Blackberry, chocolate nose; well-knit, concentrated, cassis, blackberry, chocolate palate with a hint of pepper, good structure; long finish 96 points |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous and RJonWine.com. (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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