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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 95.6 pts. and median of 96 pts. in 281 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Topper on 8/12/2023 & rated 95 points: No sign of fading but ever so slightly mellower now than before. Fine winemaking and a perfect accompaniment to steak. Worth the price. (1872 views) | | | Tasted by 2loyal on 2/15/2023 & rated 96 points: Wonderful bottle of wine and I certainly wish I had more (should have waited on my first of two bottles, as this is drinking great now, but was by no means showing any signs of decline). That said, I would not pay $400+ for this (or many other bottles). (2523 views) | | | Tasted by chablis28 on 12/22/2022 & rated 93 points: Dinner with Wayne at Kevin's. Local Twin Cities beloved Chef Don Saunders killed it for our crew at Kevin's place. 11 of us were treated to a night with Kevin's spry 91yr old dad who delighted everyone! Wayne Loves Cabernet & BDX so we had some potentially monumental reds to compliment a great night while 30 below MN temps whipped at the door. Thanks Kevin! WB,KB,VB,CV,DD,JV,BB,ML,LI,CS & SS. Lonny's wine tonight and the beast amongst the other more subtle & further aged Ca Cab's & BDXs. I last had this almost 10yrs ago. Looking back at my notes I don't think this has changed a great deal and I wonder about its ability to take on the glories of tertiary old school CA Cabs like the 91 Mondavi Reserve and the BDXs from the 80s we also had? Still, always an intriguing & flavorful iconic Ca Cab to taste. Very kind of Lonny to open this! For many palates this is closer to a 100pt wine and deservedly so. (2856 views) | | | Tasted by rocknroller on 12/22/2022 & rated 95 points: Dinner with Dad: Aged Napa, Bordeaux & Don Saunders (Rocknroller's (Kevin & Vicki's Place)): Saturated dark red/purple color. Slow -O for 90 minutes or so. Drank a glass over 90 minutes. Drank this "with" the flight of '91 Mondavi and Montelena. This is a very different animal from the '91's (and obviously 10 years younger), but an outstanding wine by most any standards. Personally, I feel while this is a bigger style of wine, it does not give up the balance, complexity and essence that I think of as old school Napa. This is actually the wine that I thought my dad would really trip for, and I was right. He was thrilled by it, and it was his WOTN. Black currant, deep berry fruit of the forest pie, eucalyptus, subtle violet. The palate has a beautiful velvet texture, tart black and purple berry fruits, savory, plum, pencil, oak spices, medium slightly grainy tannins. Ripe fruit, but very well counterbalanced and undeniably delicious. 95 to 96pts. (3031 views) | | | Tasted by fisk15 on 10/11/2022 & rated 99 points: Pretty epic, purchased on release and stored properly since. Very dark and not showing signs of it's 21 years. Drinking well, can't imagine it getting any better. (3017 views) | | | Tasted by cubswinws on 6/19/2022 & rated 98 points: From magnum. Really an incredible wine. Intoxicating nose and so many layers of flavor that just go on and on. This reminds me of the reason to buy and cellar wine for special moments like this. (2719 views) | | | Tasted by davidandrose on 5/1/2022: This bottle is passed it’s peak. There’s fruit but no structure or backbone. On our last move we had several bottles (stored in OWC) that received direct sunlight while waiting for the refrigerated trucker to pick them up from a friendly wine store,And sadly this was among them. (2269 views) | | | Tasted by Mbad77 on 2/26/2022 & rated 96 points: My first HSS so wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. This does seem a little old school Californian but it’s rather good. Really big, dense, silken power. Plenty of fruit and blackcurrant with good structure.
Plenty of time ahead of it but also very good right now. 14.9% (2295 views) | | | Tasted by DAN BAILEY on 2/25/2022: Just superb. So balanced and absolutely delicious. Benchmark cali cab. (657 views) | | | Tasted by Ibetian on 12/7/2021 & rated 97 points: Trouble with cork, but the wine was fine. Excellent combination of power and complexity. Wonderful nose of chocolate covered cherries and leapt from bottle and glass. Silky smooth. Drinking beautifully now, no need to hold longer. (2949 views) | | | Tasted by kenthecpa on 9/12/2021 & rated 97 points: Terrific wine that will continue to improve.
Anniversary dinner at the Surf club. $100 CorkageFee and well worth it! (2777 views) | | | Tasted by cubswinws on 7/24/2021 & rated 94 points: Just so drinkable. Really soft and supple with good fruit and long finish. I don’t think this will get any better and would drink up. (2397 views) | | | Tasted by jpwines on 3/7/2021 & rated 95 points: still big and powerful (3052 views) | | | Tasted by rlove on 12/24/2020 & rated 93 points: Can't really improve on Jeff Leve's "elegant sledgehammer" – well said. Intensely concentrated blue & black fruit, glossy and polished, yet as so often with Shafer's Hillside, while this is a big wine, it isn't disjoint. Soft and supple texture with firm, ripe tannins. At peak now but should hold for a decade. Drink through 2030. (3373 views) | | | Tasted by The Vines That Bind on 12/10/2020 & rated 90 points: [Magnum] Youthful, opulent, high toned, high alcohol. Four hour decent and actually moderately approachable thereafter. Absolutely not my thing but not awful. (3171 views) | | | Tasted by 9400KG on 11/26/2020: Na (2480 views) | | | Tasted by pigdaddy on 11/4/2020 & rated 94 points: decanted 90 min, consumed over 3 hours; often a difficult decant as these remain deeply colored forever & the bottle is opaque, but more worthwhile as a good Tbs of sludge decanted off. Blech.
consistently deeply-colored, an unlikely dark garnet red for 19 yrs.; sometimes words fail to convey the exotic expansive nature of the nose on this as it's hyper-specific, opulent, exotically perfumed w/serious oak, more complex after 2 hrs.; full-bodied & throaty, silky glycerin mouthfeel; stands out against a fatty flavorful meal, the ripeness is in check, length is fine, in plateau for a decade, based on this one.
might enjoy 6 Napa cabs / year these days, but when they are well-made & righteous, like this one, a genuine pleasure.
prime ribeye, roquefort butter; garlicky escarole; confit fat-roasted gold bintje potatoes w/maldon salt & thyme (2589 views) | | | Tasted by Burgundy Al on 10/10/2020: The Last Dance Magnum Dinner (The Krengels - Bannockburn IL): Magnum. Very ripe, dense and powerful with so much black fruit, yet enough structure nicely in proportion. I enjoyed this quite a bit, and people who like this opulent style enjoyed it even more. (3382 views) | | | Tasted by rocknroller on 9/24/2020 & rated 95 points: Virtual Tasting: Open Something You've Been Saving (Home): Very dark red/purple color. PNP at 4pm and poured into jars for transport. Poured into glass at 7:30 pm. and drank a glass plus over 3 hours. I thought this was drinking great, very complex, and expressive. Perfumed, cassis, plum, pencil, earth, orange peel, spice. The palate shows scorched earth, blackberry, cassis, tart, mountain fruit, soft plush tannins, full bodied yet featherweight, graphite, minerals, astringent, a little meaty; concentrated but not heavy. Outstanding. This peaked around 90 minutes in and tailed off a bit after that. Originally my #2, but changed to #3 ultimately. At peak, 95pts. (2421 views) | | | Tasted by galewskj on 9/24/2020 & rated 91 points: This is the occasion to open up that red or white you were waiting for an occasion to open (Zoom): 8 years ago I had this with a 5 hour decant, and I felt it was too oaky. Here we are today, the wine is not oaky anymore, but it sure is big, dark and brooding. Savory and meaty, dark, dense, concentrated (extracted?), very heavy with red and blue fruit. This was the 4th wine in the lineup, I'd already finished my steak, and I think this wine would have drank a lot better with some beef. The other 4 tasters enjoyed this more than me. (2036 views) | | | Tasted by I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine on 9/24/2020 & rated 95 points: Zoom Tasting: Bring It On!: Bring It On! Zoom Tasting.
The following wines were featured in this showdown, and all performed admirably:
2008 La Grand Dame (Starter)
2016 SQN Deux Grenouilles (Starter)
1991 Spottswood Cabernet
2000 Pichon Lalande
1995 Ch. Margaux
2001 Shafer Hillside
2009 Smith Madrone Cook Flats Res.
Wine Prep: Margaux decanted at 3 pm, Smith Madrone opened and splashed at 3 pm. All other wines PnP at 4:pm into jars for transport, and transferred to wine glasses for consumption beginning at 6:30 pm.
Voting: 2000 Pichon Lalande was unanimous WOTN, 1995 Margaux was #2, and 2001 Shafer was #3. My voting was in line with the group.
2001 Shafer Hillside: This wine was firing on all cylinders tonight (at least for me). Some thought it may still get better (those who prefer more tertiary flavors), but for my palate (good balance between fruit and tertiary), I am pretty sure it was peaking. While definitely not a 100 point wine, it sure deserves a high score. This wine has everything going, a great cab nose, full of earthiness, mushroom, spice and dark fruit, and a palate that keeps up with the nose. tannins well integrated and enough acidity to allow the fruit to show well. Definitely one of the best cabernets I have had. My score is likely conservative because my palate was leaning toward the Bordeaux wines tonight. Easy 95 for me. (2459 views) | | | Tasted by davidandrose on 9/11/2020 & rated 94 points: Pop and pour; these notes are after 75 minutes of air, but not decanted.
Cork was pristine; while moist, no evidence of seepage. Heady nose of dark fruit, saddle leather and cigar, with crushed stone in the background. Structure is fading, leading to a shorter than optimal finish, but this is still a solid wine. Will pop my remainingBottle within 18 months. (1789 views) | | | Tasted by Cailles on 9/11/2020 & rated 96 points: Sadly, this bottle was corked but as my friend sirpat007 wrote, we nevertheless finished the bottle. There is so much substance, so much stuffing, so much intensity, that the clear cork taint on the nose was hardly noticeable on the palate. My rating reflects everything that is there and ignores the TCA on the nose (and yet with a great bouquet it could have been even higher). This wine shines with its intensity, complexity (although the fruit is still too dominating) and precision. While it’s good to drink today, with the first tertiary aromas peeking through, this wine will not reach its peak for another 20+ years.
TN: Totally corked nose, getting more intense with time in the glass. Underneath on the nose and then very intensely on the palate there is a pitch black fruit core, so much blackberries, cassis, violets, the typical mintiness, wet forst floor, herbs. Super intense and very precise. Not yet the perfect balance as the fruit is still so dominant pushing all the aromas a bit to the background. Superbly fresh with a wall of very round tannins.
Decanting: Decanted for 6+ hours which is more than needed. Right after opening it was too young and wild. Much better in the evening with dinner. (2575 views) | | | Tasted by LordOfGlencoe on 8/16/2020: Nase: Kork. Nach viel Schwenken: petrolisch/minzig
Mund: rotblaue frucht, sanft, dicke tanine. (1334 views) | | | Tasted by sirpat00 on 8/16/2020 flawed bottle: Tasted blind. 6-7h decant. Slight cork stain unfortunatley that got worse over time. Trying to glimpse through this, I found dark, brambleberry and cassis jam fruit and menthol was clearly discernible. Otherwise an incredible beast on the palate and would have guessed >10yrs younger. Lots of muscular structure, but with well integrated tannin, perfect acidity and a well defined fruit. You can easily store this away for another 10-15 years. The palate was so, for lack of a better word, palatable that our group of 4 actually finished the entire bottle despite being very clearly corked! (2016 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, The 2001 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: Stepping Back in Time (Apr 2023) (4/1/2023)
(Shafer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select Napa Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, Vintage Retrospective: The 2001 Napa Valley Cabernets (Jun 2020) (6/1/2020)
(Shafer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select Napa Valley 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 John Kapon
Vintage Tastings, Hong Kong Diaries 2009, BYO (5/29/2009)
(Shafer Hillside Select) Login and sign up and see review text. | By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (5/25/2006)
(Shafer, Hillside Select Napa Valley Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, January/February 2006, IWC Issue #124
(Shafer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select Stags Leap District) 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 Richard Jennings
RJonWine.com (2/21/2012)
(Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select) Nearly opaque purple red violet color; appealing, youthful, berry, black currant, plum nose; tasty, ripe plum, berry, black currant palate; medium-plus finish 93+ points 93 points |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous and Vintage Tastings and JancisRobinson.com 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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