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 Vintage1995 Label 51 of 269 
(NOTE: Label borrowed from 2001 vintage.)
TypeRed
ProducerShafer (web)
VarietyCabernet Sauvignon
DesignationHillside Select
Vineyardn/a
CountryUSA
RegionCalifornia
SubRegionNapa Valley
AppellationStags Leap District

Drinking Windows and Values
Drinking window: Drink between 2005 and 2027 (based on 35 user opinions)
Wine Market Journal quarterly auction price: See Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select on the Wine Market Journal.

Community Tasting History

Community Tasting Notes (average 95.1 pts. and median of 95 pts. in 121 notes) - hiding notes with no text

 Tasted by aquacongas on 3/3/2024 & rated 98 points: Blind, side by side with Lafite 1995
Terrific, fresh, elegant, pencil, cassis. Reminds more to a Bordeaux. I guessed 1994 but probably that would be fruitier. 98-99 (398 views)
 Tasted by englishman's claret on 12/3/2023 & rated 94 points: Sweetish black fruit but, like the 1997, this just barely avoids crossing the line. Pencilly, fanning out with coal. Ripe yet controlled. Just. (1179 views)
 Tasted by dpolzien on 9/22/2023 & rated 93 points: This should satisfy fans of aged Napa and BDX alike. Gave it a few hours in the decanter to start, and was initially showing mostly cigar box and iron notes with plenty of soft tannins. Subtle dark fruit started showing up after another hour or so, at which pairing with an SRF wagyu NY Strip was simply sublime. Fruit faded a bit on day 2, so would recommend finishing on day 1. Probably no rush to finish, as this has the structure to keep going for some time. (730 views)
 Tasted by WineWright on 8/25/2023 & rated 96 points: A Fabulous experience, with no signs of slowing down any time soon...will hold my last bottle until its 30th anniversary at least! Posted an updated photo. (745 views)
 Tasted by mxpbuy on 7/1/2023 & rated 93 points: This bottle, after some hours of air, seemed on the downward slope of its peak period. Initially, it scored higher for me. I've found individual bottles of this vintage seem to have materially different rates of aging, which creates the box of chocolates situation. After a few hours the blackberries and black cherries started to give way to plumy/prune notes, but it was still a fine bottle and worthy of drinking over the course of a few hours for a number of reasons. This vintage created a dense wine that seems to denote the stylistic turning point in its making from earlier vintages. (829 views)
 Tasted by ssouth on 5/21/2023 & rated 95 points: 1995 Shafer Hillside Select Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon. Alc 14.1%
100% CS
Bought at Harris Teeter at release $110
Cellared at 55F since then
Decanted 45 min for sediment and cork fragments
Still dark purple with min clearing at the edges
Inviting nose of earth and graphite and a little oak
Palate is still quite lively with good fruit
structure. Nice savory notes develop in the mouth. Tannins have resolved Well Balanced
It has a long smooth finish
A superb mature Napa/SLD Cab (876 views)
 Tasted by SadEdjo on 12/31/2021 & rated 94 points: At first I thought it was slightly corked but it opened up to a plush redolent cassis cedar long finish belaying its age. (2066 views)
 Tasted by SMHalps on 12/24/2021 & rated 96 points: Part of a 1990s Cabernet tasting at a NYC steakhouse. Opened, but not decanted for 45 minutes before pouring. Then it sat in the glass for another ten minutes before drinking. We had this alongside a 1996 Ridge Monte Bello, and which one your preferred really depends on your taste in 20+ year old wines. For me this still tasted youthful with plenty of upfront fruit and some touches of oak still noticeable. A very long finish, and it is full bodied. An amazing wine. (1676 views)
 Tasted by WojoWineCave on 5/30/2021 & rated 96 points: Wow, for 26 years old who says Napa cabs don’t age well?? This wine still had a youthful feel, especially next to wines that were 10-12 years younger. WOTN and alongside some wagyu ribeye was incredible. (2184 views)
 Tasted by Francophile1 on 3/27/2021 & rated 93 points: Great Wine With Great Friends (Cherokee Town & Country Club): Course #6 and yet again another great pairing.... Roasted Heart of Ribeye. Of course, this wine was unlike all of the others given that it was the only new world wine in the official line-up. It was black as pitch and still so youthful and fruit forward. While it was a shock to my palate, I was impressed by the secondary notes in the glass, especially since it was so endowed with rich Cabernet Sauv. fruit. Not my preferred style of wine, but I certainly respect it for what it is and I enjoyed it. (2300 views)
 Tasted by G_H on 7/30/2020 & rated 97 points: Cassis, licorice, coke hard candy, eucalyptus, beef stock, ripe black cherries, velvety tannins, absolutely stunning wine!! (2924 views)
 Tasted by rlove on 12/25/2019 & rated 94 points: Soft blue fruit, cassis, and cedar with a floral assist. Big wine in a manageable package. Quintessential Shafer Hillside Select. Silky and sexy. Drink now through 2030. (from magnum) (2543 views)
 Tasted by Kevnzworld on 9/19/2019 & rated 95 points: :30 minute decant, @Craft
Still fresh and ripe but a touch muted. Complex, herbaceous with some nice secondary flavors. It still has some oaky tannins
Currants and boysenberry on the palate with a little menthol spiciness on the finish. (2584 views)
 Tasted by G_H on 5/4/2019 & rated 96 points: Such a stunning wine, still youthful with lots of tannins but OK to start drinking now (2600 views)
 Tasted by Burgnick on 3/18/2019: Small pour. Very sexy on the palate with softened purple fruit with some caramel note. Balanced on the fruit with resolved tannins. Love the silkiness of the wine. 94+ (2674 views)
 Tasted by AlexHop on 2/22/2019 & rated 98 points: Still solid tannins. Nose shows a little age spices and complex herbs. Opened up nicely and was perfect with a big steak. Long long complex finish. (2096 views)
 Tasted by Kevnzworld on 12/26/2018 & rated 96 points: 2 hour decant, with a few tastes along the way.
Still a little hot and tannic at 2 1/2 hours tannic, but :
It has ripe darker fruit, Allspice oregano and lead pencil minerality with sweet oak.
It’s full of that forest floor umami ...
The long lasting finish is spicy with a hint of cinnamon
At 3 hours it’s fully open and ready for business , but a touch thin
This is a great wine that’s fading. I have one more bottle left. Drink now (1700 views)
 Tasted by mye on 9/24/2018: Tasted double blind, decanted 2 hours. Huge nose of sweet plum, dark cherries. Well balanced at first (after 2 hours). Called right bank Pomerol. Nope..
With more time, it became more 'new world Napa'. the oakiness showed through. Pretty tasty though! (1971 views)
 Tasted by Zweder on 9/30/2017 & rated 97 points: Very expressive bouquet with a lot of sweet spices and chocolate. On the palate a beautifully soft wine with good acidity and round tannin with still a lovely bite. Will still be a great pleasure over at least the next 5+ years. (3380 views)
 Tasted by SMHalps on 8/4/2017 & rated 96 points: Brought to a restaurant, where we decanted it and let it sit for 45 minutes before we drank it. The cork was pristine. I was amazed to see how much life it has left. Its in a great place right now, as the fruit and tannins are nicely balanced. Beautiful nose, and a long long finish. Hard to judge the color as the restaurant was very dimly lit. (3674 views)
 Tasted by canan on 3/25/2017 & rated 96 points: BYO - US wines (Bistro Boheme): Light and elegant fruit and overall a lovely and well-aged wine. Loved it!
The structure is a little harsh and the aftertaste a little to short. (1543 views)
 Tasted by Hammar on 2/10/2017 & rated 96 points: Outstanding, smooth, well integrated, subtle flavors of dark fruit. Excellent. (4744 views)
 Tasted by Bob Sacamano on 2/9/2017 & rated 97 points: 2017 GFGWTC Red Wine Red Meat Dinner (Ruth's Chris Minneapolis): Decanted 5+ hours before service. Menthol, leather and honey on the nose. Palate packed with intense sweet red fruits, vigorous acidity, and some oaky spice. The fruit on this is just so vibrant and so pure, and the finish is mind-bendingly long. (4879 views)
 Tasted by steinersing on 2/5/2017 & rated 95 points: elegant Nappa wine here, great tension, good balance. Like this. (4545 views)
 Tasted by thomaskeil on 12/19/2016 flawed bottle: moderately corked (3163 views)
 Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine...

Professional 'Channels'
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, Horizontal Tasting of Napa Valley’s 1995 Cabernets (Jun 2016) (6/1/2016)
(Shafer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select Napa Valley) Subscribe to see review text.
By John Kapon
Vintage Tastings, Cali Cabs Then and Somewhat Now plus Top 100 Weekend Teaser (4/10/2005)
(Shafer .Hillside Select) Login and sign up and see review text.
By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (6/2/2003)
(Shafer, Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Red) 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 (9/17/2011)
(Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select) Very dark red violet color; corked nose; corked, tart plum palate; medium finish
By Richard Jennings
RJonWine.com (3/11/2010)
(Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select) Opaque red violet color; plush cassis, black fruit, menthol nose; youthful, berry, ripe cassis, black fruit, menthol palate; long finish 93+ pts.  93 points
By Richard Jennings
RJonWine.com (8/29/2008)
(Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select) Herbal, bay leaf and tart plum nose; nice, poised, plum and black fruit palate; medium-plus finish  94 points
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Decanter and Vinous and Vintage Tastings and JancisRobinson.com and RJonWine.com. (manage subscription channels)

CellarTracker Wiki Articles (login to edit | view all articles)

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 Sauvignon

Cabernet 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 Sauvignon

USA

American 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.

California

2021 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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