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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 90.5 pts. and median of 91 pts. in 102 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by RTP on 1/9/2024 & rated 90 points: Opened over the afternoon for evening dinner. We all drank it down. This was a wine that you swear you bought yesterday. Lost a little on the nose upon opening but the mouth feel and berry, mint, graphite, tobacco and old raisin flavors. Long lingering and flavorful and great with NYS steaks. Also of such good quality we drank it down almost immediately upon opening. (293 views) | | | Tasted by ronbeau on 1/26/2023 & rated 92 points: really nice mature Cab. a little wooden trunk aroma on first opening, then smooth and fairly rich with secondary flavors of leather and earth. The 99's in general are turning out to be really nice. We had this in a line up that included Montelena estate and staglin. all were great experiences with the Staglin being the best by a small margin (661 views) | | | Tasted by cephomer on 12/12/2021 & rated 90 points: Drank this weekend in Copake. Notes are consistent. Nose is earthy and woody, with some bricking. There's still black fruit here, tho more pruny than previously. There's mushrooms, forest floor, and some spice. Thinning at the back end a bit, and the finish is a bit short. Nonetheless, enjoyable mature, well-aged Cali Cab, and certainly was worth what I paid oh-so-long-ago (1375 views) | | | Tasted by cephomer on 11/6/2020 & rated 91 points: PNP in Copake. Nite 1: I've had this wine b4, this wine being the final of a 6-pack purchased long ago. Generous aromas of earthy mushrooms hit me on pouring this wine. There's some slight bricking at the edges. Surprisingly more dark fruit than I recall or expected, balanced by spice and notes of eucalyptus. The finish is long but a bit sour and tart. Mushrooms, earth, tobacco and forest floor dominate now.
Nite 2: Much improvement in the wine in the past 20 hrs. Nose still on the plus side with no fade. More black fruit apparent and rounder, much more pleasant mouth feel than yesterday. Wine more balanced between fruit and mushrooms/tobacco notes. Still a bit sour on the finish. Tannins mostly resolved. Very nicely preserved, tasty mature Cali Cab. (1955 views) | | | Tasted by djs on 10/29/2020 & rated 91 points: Don't know that this bottle has gained much in the way of complexity but it has held up very well. (1803 views) | | | Tasted by Counselor Chris on 5/17/2020 & rated 93 points: Graceful wine in the late part of its prime drinking window. Smooth purple berry fruit, menthol and eucalyptus, nicely integrated oak, gentle tannins, nothing boozy or heavy. 1999 remains such an underrated California cab vintage, and Shafer made a really good one here. (1912 views) | | | Tasted by EMark on 9/10/2019: Very beautiful, purple in the glass. Typical CS nose of dark fruit. Indeed dark fruit on the tip of the tongue--blackberry, currant, prune--but, also nice minerality. It's been years since I've seen anybody call out pencil lead in their tasting notes, but if this were 2005, that that's the way it would have been described. Tannin and acid have been, very much, reconciled, However, to anybody who has this in their cellar, do not panic. I think this one will remain at its high level for quite some time. (1958 views) | | | Tasted by jaymof on 10/28/2017 & rated 91 points: Decanted for an hour. Strong aromas of smoke and menthol with some fruit mixed in. Drinking well now. Not overly complex but delicious. Still has some years left. (3430 views) | | | Tasted by Periko on 6/2/2017 & rated 93 points: BYOB Lunch get together (Sergi de Meià - Barcelona): Double decanted for 2 hours. Still a deep color that shows some evolution. From memory: intense aromas of black fruit, smoke and menthol/medicine. Powerful wine on palate, with quite volume but not overwhelming. Plenty of everything here and this seems to start to unwind a bit and can be drank with a some air but it's nowhere near to being ready. (3724 views) | | | Tasted by cephomer on 12/25/2016 & rated 89 points: Drank last nite at Bruce's. Had this wine a year ago and my notes are consistent. Pungent nose of black fruit, along with some tobacco. Light to medium bodied, still plenty of black fruit, along with some cigar smoke and spice. Still holding its own (4011 views) | | | Tasted by Winestache on 3/26/2016 & rated 88 points: Decanted two hours yet still improved substantially in the glass. Well balanced fruit and soft tannins made this a wonderful celebratory wine. While clearly has peaked and perhaps even a little past, there is still much life left. (4904 views) | | | Tasted by cephomer on 12/25/2015 & rated 89 points: Drank with xmas meal. Violet/ruby in color. Nose of black and red fruit, along with some tobacco. Light to medium bodied, still some black fruit (though seemed a bit green, surprisingly) but this wine's more on a tertiary level now with cigar box, tar, spice and smoke. Still a bit hot, and the wine's a bit on the thin side. Likely past its prime by a bit, but still enjoyable enough (4896 views) | | | Tasted by bengti on 7/28/2015 & rated 95 points: Ginsberg and Chan Singapore Steak Supreme (Wooloomooloo Steak House): Lovely mature fruity drinking with a light, singing quality and a very pleasant finish. Hints of herbs, cut grass and leather. Tannins resolving nicely. (2253 views) | | | Tasted by buckeye76 on 9/28/2014 & rated 92 points: BLACK CHERRIES AND LICORICE IN THE NOSE. BLACK CHERRIES AND BLACKBERRIES IN THE FLAVOR. MEDIUM TO LONG FINISH. (2337 views) | | | Tasted by affordableCollector on 5/29/2014 & rated 88 points: dirty red, in color. cherry, blackberry, spice, earth, green stems, smoke, mocha, metallic, on the nose. medium acid, on the finish. (4371 views) | | | Tasted by europat55 on 5/29/2014 & rated 90 points: 1999 Cabernet Retrospective, Part 4 (Tasted Blind) (Tom's house in Palo Alto, California): Oaky, smooth nose (B++). Smooth palate with a good concentration (B++).
My #2, Group's #3 (62 pts). Tasted blind. (5030 views) | | | Tasted by capacious on 2/28/2014 & rated 87 points: Perhaps because we had the 1999 haut Bailly first this was a bit of a disappointment. Lacked focus. Did not fulfill expectations built on its heritage. We gave this a two hour double decant. Its not by any means over the hill but the structure was flabby. I have thought we drank our better 1999 napa too young- the Montelena estate comes to mind as one that is blockbuster now. But this one I think I should have poured last year or even earlier. Drink up! Its ok but not great (4926 views) | | | Tasted by chitownmb on 1/17/2014 & rated 90 points: Dark red with some aging showing on the edges. Mild tannins, deep cherry and blackberry, tar and smoke, cocoa on the back pallate at the finish, enjoyable but lacking a bit of finesse (4014 views) | | | Tasted by cephomer on 6/5/2013 & rated 91 points: Drank at a Ned tasting with Caymus 1999, which I preferred somewhat over this. Lovely medium to pale red color, showing some age at the edges. Very aromatic nose showing tertiary scents--tobacco, cigar box, tar. Ripe red fruits, nice round mouthfeel, a bit on the sweet side and perhaps a bit hot. A very pleasant, soft, fairly highly extracted cab that showed better than I expected. (4748 views) | | | Tasted by S2 on 4/1/2012 & rated 90 points: Dark in color with no signs of bricking on the edges. This drinks younger than its age. Dark fruits with some plum and leather components. Tannins are nicely integrated and this is a smooth drink. Drink within the next year or two. (5188 views) | | | Tasted by astudebaker on 2/23/2012 & rated 92 points: What I love about aged Napa Cabernets: secondary notes of leather and cigar box to go along with enough fruit to keep everything in harmony. Subtle hint of vanilla. Tannins resolved; drank very easily. I believe this wine is in it's drinking prime. What keeps this wine from being better is the lack of weight and mouth feel (voluptuous) a truly great wine has. (4396 views) | | | Tasted by jmottern on 1/8/2012 & rated 97 points: Damn, I was hoping i had more of this wine. This has to be one of the best cabernets I have ever tasted. (4314 views) | | | Tasted by ctjared on 10/15/2011: Absolutely fantastic. Drinking tremendously well. Certainly at the high end of the range of scores given recently. (4526 views) | | | Tasted by coremill on 9/1/2011 & rated 87 points: Older Napa Cabs at Vin, Vino, Wine: Not really a fan of this. The dense black fruit is sweet and jammy but this is dominated by oak, even 12 years out. The main flavors are vanilla and caramel and there's still some oak tannin left to integrate, and I wonder if it ever really will. With air the alcohol starts to make an appearance on the back end. For the price you can do a lot better than this in Napa. (4367 views) | | | Tasted by ldorf on 7/25/2011 & rated 92 points: Definitely ready and has aged very nicely. Soft feel, but still complex and rich. (3548 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| 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)Napa ValleySt. Helena |
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