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All tasting notes
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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 90.6 pts. and median of 90 pts. in 26 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Counselor Chris on 10/5/2021: Drank beautifully, seemed to have hit it at right at its peak. Not as complex as the very best wines, but the fruit, purity and balance were fantastic. (697 views) | | | Tasted by mike l. on 7/13/2019 & rated 93 points: drank pre dodger game at dustins and it was exceptionally good. lovely fruit still in its window. excellent. (1275 views) | | | Tasted by Vinoevelo on 1/4/2015: Wine seemed very bland and one-dimensional. Hoping it was an off bottle. NR. (3712 views) | | | Tasted by WineCellarTV on 4/5/2013 & rated 97 points: Very deep dark-red with slightly lighter, brown edges.
Beautiful rich colors!
Intense aromas of ripe Dark Berries and Dark Chocolate. Dried Tomatoes paired with other secondary characteristics as Leather and Tar.
Some Sweetness and Vanilla.
What a nose! Powerful and complex.
Rich flavours of ripe Cassis and Black Cherries.
Traces of Cedar, Earth and some herbs. Plenty of depth and a long soft finish with Dark Fruits and some Pepper spiciness!
Great complexity perfectly packed!
Yes, I am a fan of Shafer wines, but this one was a real surprise!
If somebody had told me I was drinking Hillside Select, I probably would have believed him.
An impressive wine!
Big and bold, but beautifully aged with perfect structure, proportions and complexity.
For more details check out my Blog: cellartv.wordpress.com (4401 views) | | | Tasted by Gabe on 11/18/2012 & rated 90 points: Consistent with my previous note and others as well. Time to drink up. (4646 views) | | | Tasted by jmottern on 8/14/2012 & rated 91 points: Good nose and complex fruit. this wine is at its peak now (4171 views) | | | Tasted by jmottern on 6/2/2012 & rated 90 points: Limited nose but complex fruit. The wine is declining so if you have this vintage then drink it now. (3740 views) | | | Tasted by TEKinsider on 4/3/2011 & rated 93 points: Tasted at Cellarmasters with the Saturday crowd. This was a big hit around the table! Beautiful bouquet of incense and spice with a hint of dust. Nice structure, medium bodied and well balanced wine that should drink well for years to come. (3616 views) | | | Tasted by cabdrinker on 2/13/2011: The best of the 3 bottles I purchased. Fruit was balanced, remained in control throughout the entire evening. A little sweetness on the finish. (3375 views) | | | Tasted by cabdrinker on 1/2/2011: Much more vegetal this time around. (3393 views) | | | Tasted by cabdrinker on 11/6/2010 & rated 88 points: Good bottle of wine but showing it's age. Nice perfume on the nose along with cherry, leather, anise and a whiff of bell pepper. Same carries over onto the palate, but the mouth feel was a little thin but a lot of acidity at the beginning. The vegetal notes blew off about hour 1 and the body gained a little strength as it opened up. Pleasant finish but a bit short. (3453 views) | | | Tasted by joishcru on 10/28/2010 & rated 82 points: First pour was not very impressed. Double decanted and it did take some time to open up. Overall taste and smell were pleasant very 90s napa valley like - i.e. oaky with little red fruit on the back, medium bodied and tannins. (2357 views) | | | Tasted by psmith on 10/15/2010: 1997 Stag's Leap Retrospective (Northbrook, IL): Ripe. Mature, with soft, well-resolved red fruits. Very nice. My 1, group 2. (2578 views) | | | Tasted by Gabe on 3/22/2010 & rated 90 points: Purchased from Shafer's Library at the Winery. This is definitely on the downside but still enjoyable, very nuanced fruit left but very balanced overall. A touch of heat on the finish in the back of the mouth
at times. Drink Up. (4018 views) | | | Tasted by garetjax_kison on 8/27/2009 & rated 90 points: Decanted 30 minutes. Wine had a little funk on the nose upon opening but blew off during the decanting. Medium weight wine with smooth tannins. Some residual fruit flavors. An enjoyable wine worth the wait to drink. (1619 views) | | | Tasted by zimmy07 on 2/14/2009 & rated 90 points: This bottle was a bit tired, not showing any real fruit. The taste and balance were very good though. Dark cherries, licorice, and some clay/earth texture and aromas. (2279 views) | | | Tasted by Nanda on 5/31/2008 & rated 92 points: Great perfume on the full, open nose. Very floral with spice-filled red fruits. Medium bodied palate is silky with very fine, soft tannins and mature plush currant fruits. Acidity provides lift and persistence across the mid-palate into a flavorful, fresh finish. Really singing and fully mature. Quite nice. (1775 views) | | | Tasted by Ricky99 on 3/19/2007 & rated 91 points: Tasty, not the greatest but as expected a enjoyable bottle of wine ready to drink now. (2793 views) | | | Tasted by thomaskeil on 7/9/2006 & rated 90 points: Similar experience to previous bottle in March. Velvety soft mouthfeel with some nice complexity on nose and finish. (3125 views) | | | Tasted by thomaskeil on 3/20/2006 & rated 90 points: Quite red, somewhat dark, but getting light on the rim. Nose opened up nicely after about 45 minutes in the decanter -- it was more cherry-like than cassis and quite animalistic (meaty/leathery) with some spice and chocolate in the background. Its body was a little on the light side and the tannins were vitually gone. Nevertheless, it had a pleasant medium long finish with some intriguing complexity. I plan to drink up what remains pretty soon. (3300 views) | | | Tasted by PaulH on 6/1/2004 & rated 92 points: The color was a deep red with a bit of lightening at the edge. The nose was full and open with pepper and raspberry fruit. Medium body with chocolate and blackcurrents. Resolved tannins and a lingering commodious finish. A delightful mouthfull. No need to wait on these any longer, I don't think they are going to get any better. (3748 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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