From an in-neck bottle, this was quite consistent with previous notes. Slightly overripe but just on the good side of that. Incredible denisty and structure, this is just so fun to drink
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Richter Pre-Gaming Night (w/ some new world icons): Amazing wine, much better than a bottle a few months ago. Loads of complexity, super elegant, perfectly balanced. If the nose would have been as good as the palate, this could have been a 100pts wine. So it is 97+ pts.
TN: Fine, dark fruited, somkey, fresh herbal and minerality driven nose. Some faint earthy and tobacco notes too. On the palate…. Wow. Intense, deep aromatics with fine fresh pure strawberry, darker cassis notes, herbs and minerality, malty notes, some coffee notes. So soft and round, so elegant, yet full of tension. Perfect balance. Long and superb finish.
Decanting: 1-2 hours should be sufficient.
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Prelude to the annual Magnum Rarities Tasting in Zurich. The first vintage for this wine from Shafer. Reported harvested pretty overripe. 45 years later this shows very distinct green aromatics of menthol, mint and eucalyptus which provide for a fresh and well defined frame. A mostly red currant fruit with a precise mineral layer that adds linearity. The palate is juicy, fresh, harmonious and still boasts impressive breadth.
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Just an amazing bottle of this wine. Mint, eucalyptus, dark fruit, super dark plums, liquid butter, this is incredibly dense, rich, very long and stunningly opulent. MAGIC!
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30x California 1978: So many wines from this great Californian vintage at the age of 45 certainly qualifies as a “once in a lifetime” event. A few observations: 1) The quality was very high (almost all my ratings above 90pts). And only four faulty wines (2x corked, 2x over the hill/flawed, sadly those two were the Ridge Monte Bello and the Phelps Insignia). 2) The wines are ready to drink, the tannins have melted but the tension and freshness remain high - across the board. 3) There is still lots of fruit left and I was surprised how most wines didn’t show lots of tertiary aromas (find me the Bdx 1982 without tertiary aromas!). IMO, more than a handful of the wines could continue to improve for a few years. 4) Style wise, these are obviously quite different from today’s Napa wines with much less ripeness and more mineral accents. But hardly any wine we had would be mistaken for a Bordeaux in a blind tasting (unlike 80s/90s Dominus). 5) Best reds: Inglenook Limited Cask, Beaulieu GDL Reserve, Stags Leap Cask 23 4.5l (all 96pts), Heitz Bella Oaks, Simi Reserve, Stag’s Leap Cask 23 0.75l (all 95pts). The best wine overall, however, was the magical Late Harvest Riesling from Phelps (98pts).
TN: Bucket list wine for me… unfortunately, it wasn‘t that exciting. The structure was impeccable but there was just not enough depth to truly excite. Dark fruited, smoke, rocks, some tobacco on the inviting but medium expressive nose. On the palate this is soft and round, without much weight but it doesn‘t feel that complex or well defined. There is ultra fine dark and dark red berries, along some seductive chocolate notes.
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1978 California Cabernet Horizontal: Incredibly dense and powerful with a good tannin structure left. I think this would have needed more air than we allowed it, but it showed a great promise. Hope to enjoy it again with more time (and less people per bottle)
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California 1978 (Zunfthaus zur Waag, Zurich): Grand tasting of 1978 California wines, mostly from Napa. Main takeaways: i/ surprisingly high quality on average for wines that were not intended for such long-term aging with plenty of primary fruit left, ii/ but within the detail nonetheless a broad range with the worst few suffering from clear signs of fatigue while the best showed hardly age, iii/ top wines were Phelps Cab Sauv (97), Firestone Cab Sauv (95), and Beaulieu George de Latour Private Reserve (95). Full list sorted by score included in the tasting story.
Tasting note: And intense and extracted wine with ripe dark berry fruit, elements of menthol adding a medicinal touch, black chocolate and whiffs of spice. The palate impressed with amazing tension, great acidity and soft tannin. Really solid and could have been even better with a more refined nose.
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Minerality, tobacco leaf, ash, blackberry, plum, smoke, caramel, earth, spice box and coffee notes created a complex bouquet. Rich, intense, concentrated and packed with layers of sweet, ripe, juicy fruit, this delicious wine ended with a finish of close to 50 seconds! I wish I owned a bottle of the majestic elixir. Rumor has it, part of the reason for the wines success was in picking extremely ripe fruit, by accident. The fruit was harvested later than the Shafer's wanted, because they had trouble finding enough pickers for their debut wine.
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Bought on release and well stored until now. Jeweled ruby and not old looking. Beautiful cassis, herbal notes and perfume. Still very fruit driven. An intoxicating lung filling nose. Wonderful texture and flesh with great focus and depth. Still a fruit driven wine with more cassis and stony fruits with some leather and herbs adding complexity. At peak and flat out delicious.
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Tasted on 4/7/07. Magnificent wine, right at its peak! Nose of liquid roses, saddle leather, and sweet oak. On the palate, the sweet fruit belied its age. Very alive and fresh, with fully integrated tannins, soft and lush, complex and thrilling. This wine will certainly not improve, but has showed no sign of starting to decline. Makes me believe a tired bottle five years ago was just a bad bottle, and not a sign of this wine in decline. What older California Cabs are all about....
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Shafer Hillside Select Vertical (Zealous - Chicago, IL): Dark ruby hue. Seductive and inviting aromas of earth, smoke, leather and red currants. Velvety smooth palate has pure fruit and totally resolved tannins. Long and integrated with cigar and tobacco leaf filling the finish. Sexy. Served blind --- guesses ranged from 89 Haut Brion to Harlan. I was pegging this as late 80s cal cab in an old world style. Quite impressive for a 29 year old. 4+14+17+9=94
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2004 WS Wine Experience: Shafer HSS Vertical (Hyatt Regency, Chicago): There are not many bottles of this wine left, and this seminar put a major dent in the Shafers’ personal cellar. Although throwing lots of sediment, the wine still had a bright ruby red color, with only slight bricking on the rims. Clean berry aromas, with tobacco leaf notes. Considerable fruit and tannins still present, underscored by an ethereal suppleness. The cherry/berry fruit boldly illustrates the regional character of SLD. This could easily go another 5 years, or more. John said: “The conventional wisdom at the time was that ageable wine had to be so tannic, it was almost undrinkable. But the ’78 Shafer was so approachable that many people speculated that Merlot was added, and many wine critics thought the wine would not age.” Those critics were definitely wrong. My favorite of the tasting.
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WS CWE 04 - Shafer Hillside Vertical (Marquis Marriott): First year of Hillside (before they called it that). Ruby red color with only the slightest hint of garnet. Rich black fruit and dark black cherry aroma. Wonderful rich black fruit and cassis. Drinking much younger than it is. A great experience. 11/04
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10 Cabernets Tasted at Primas with John Shafer. Appeared with brown edges around the a red center for color in the glass, rich, chocolate fruit with a hint of veggies on the nose, well balanced but soft, medium body of fruit in the mouth, soft, medium tannins with a pleasant, long finish. my #7 and Group #1.
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2/9/2024 - G_H wrote: 97 Points
From an in-neck bottle, this was quite consistent with previous notes. Slightly overripe but just on the good side of that. Incredible denisty and structure, this is just so fun to drink
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1/20/2024 - G_H wrote: 98 Points
Explosive aromatics, malt, coca-cola, incredibly intense yet oh so elegant! A masterpiece!
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5/19/2023 - Cailles wrote: 97 Points
Richter Pre-Gaming Night (w/ some new world icons): Amazing wine, much better than a bottle a few months ago. Loads of complexity, super elegant, perfectly balanced. If the nose would have been as good as the palate, this could have been a 100pts wine. So it is 97+ pts.
TN: Fine, dark fruited, somkey, fresh herbal and minerality driven nose. Some faint earthy and tobacco notes too. On the palate…. Wow. Intense, deep aromatics with fine fresh pure strawberry, darker cassis notes, herbs and minerality, malty notes, some coffee notes. So soft and round, so elegant, yet full of tension. Perfect balance. Long and superb finish.
Decanting: 1-2 hours should be sufficient.
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5/5/2023 - sirpat00 wrote: 95 Points
Prelude to the annual Magnum Rarities Tasting in Zurich. The first vintage for this wine from Shafer. Reported harvested pretty overripe. 45 years later this shows very distinct green aromatics of menthol, mint and eucalyptus which provide for a fresh and well defined frame. A mostly red currant fruit with a precise mineral layer that adds linearity. The palate is juicy, fresh, harmonious and still boasts impressive breadth.
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5/5/2023 - G_H wrote: 99 Points
Just an amazing bottle of this wine. Mint, eucalyptus, dark fruit, super dark plums, liquid butter, this is incredibly dense, rich, very long and stunningly opulent. MAGIC!
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2/5/2023 - Cailles wrote: 93 Points
30x California 1978: So many wines from this great Californian vintage at the age of 45 certainly qualifies as a “once in a lifetime” event. A few observations: 1) The quality was very high (almost all my ratings above 90pts). And only four faulty wines (2x corked, 2x over the hill/flawed, sadly those two were the Ridge Monte Bello and the Phelps Insignia). 2) The wines are ready to drink, the tannins have melted but the tension and freshness remain high - across the board. 3) There is still lots of fruit left and I was surprised how most wines didn’t show lots of tertiary aromas (find me the Bdx 1982 without tertiary aromas!). IMO, more than a handful of the wines could continue to improve for a few years. 4) Style wise, these are obviously quite different from today’s Napa wines with much less ripeness and more mineral accents. But hardly any wine we had would be mistaken for a Bordeaux in a blind tasting (unlike 80s/90s Dominus). 5) Best reds: Inglenook Limited Cask, Beaulieu GDL Reserve, Stags Leap Cask 23 4.5l (all 96pts), Heitz Bella Oaks, Simi Reserve, Stag’s Leap Cask 23 0.75l (all 95pts). The best wine overall, however, was the magical Late Harvest Riesling from Phelps (98pts).
TN: Bucket list wine for me… unfortunately, it wasn‘t that exciting. The structure was impeccable but there was just not enough depth to truly excite. Dark fruited, smoke, rocks, some tobacco on the inviting but medium expressive nose. On the palate this is soft and round, without much weight but it doesn‘t feel that complex or well defined. There is ultra fine dark and dark red berries, along some seductive chocolate notes.
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1/28/2023 - G_H wrote: 97 Points
1978 California Cabernet Horizontal: Incredibly dense and powerful with a good tannin structure left. I think this would have needed more air than we allowed it, but it showed a great promise. Hope to enjoy it again with more time (and less people per bottle)
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1/28/2023 - sirpat00 wrote: 93 Points
California 1978 (Zunfthaus zur Waag, Zurich): Grand tasting of 1978 California wines, mostly from Napa. Main takeaways: i/ surprisingly high quality on average for wines that were not intended for such long-term aging with plenty of primary fruit left, ii/ but within the detail nonetheless a broad range with the worst few suffering from clear signs of fatigue while the best showed hardly age, iii/ top wines were Phelps Cab Sauv (97), Firestone Cab Sauv (95), and Beaulieu George de Latour Private Reserve (95). Full list sorted by score included in the tasting story.
Tasting note:
And intense and extracted wine with ripe dark berry fruit, elements of menthol adding a medicinal touch, black chocolate and whiffs of spice. The palate impressed with amazing tension, great acidity and soft tannin. Really solid and could have been even better with a more refined nose.
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4/6/2017 - Burgundy Al wrote: 90 Points
Acker Merrall Pre-Auction Tasting (Le Cirque - New York NY): Tasting, brief note. Good richness and concentration, but less nuance or charm vs some others at this age. Still, very enjoyable.
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6/29/2016 - MattLA Likes this wine: 97 Points
Perfectly aged Napa Cab. Very long finish. Extremely enjoyable. Buy a bottle if you can find it.
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8/26/2013 - Burgundy Al wrote: 92 Points
Birthday Celebration (Del Frisco - Chicago IL): Brief note. Elegant black fruit with some intriguing cigarbox elements. Slightly subtle, very balanced, moderate length and power.
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12/21/2012 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
Minerality, tobacco leaf, ash, blackberry, plum, smoke, caramel, earth, spice box and coffee notes created a complex bouquet. Rich, intense, concentrated and packed with layers of sweet, ripe, juicy fruit, this delicious wine ended with a finish of close to 50 seconds! I wish I owned a bottle of the majestic elixir. Rumor has it, part of the reason for the wines success was in picking extremely ripe fruit, by accident. The fruit was harvested later than the Shafer's wanted, because they had trouble finding enough pickers for their debut wine.
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2/28/2010 - cct wrote: 94 Points
Bought on release and well stored until now. Jeweled ruby and not old looking. Beautiful cassis, herbal notes and perfume. Still very fruit driven. An intoxicating lung filling nose. Wonderful texture and flesh with great focus and depth. Still a fruit driven wine with more cassis and stony fruits with some leather and herbs adding complexity. At peak and flat out delicious.
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4/18/2007 - Winebroker2007 wrote: 96 Points
Tasted on 4/7/07. Magnificent wine, right at its peak! Nose of liquid roses, saddle leather, and sweet oak. On the palate, the sweet fruit belied its age. Very alive and fresh, with fully integrated tannins, soft and lush, complex and thrilling. This wine will certainly not improve, but has showed no sign of starting to decline. Makes me believe a tired bottle five years ago was just a bad bottle, and not a sign of this wine in decline. What older California Cabs are all about....
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1/11/2007 - Nanda wrote: 94 Points
Shafer Hillside Select Vertical (Zealous - Chicago, IL): Dark ruby hue. Seductive and inviting aromas of earth, smoke, leather and red currants. Velvety smooth palate has pure fruit and totally resolved tannins. Long and integrated with cigar and tobacco leaf filling the finish. Sexy. Served blind --- guesses ranged from 89 Haut Brion to Harlan. I was pegging this as late 80s cal cab in an old world style. Quite impressive for a 29 year old. 4+14+17+9=94
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11/5/2004 - otisabdul wrote: 96 Points
2004 WS Wine Experience: Shafer HSS Vertical (Hyatt Regency, Chicago): There are not many bottles of this wine left, and this seminar put a major dent in the Shafers’ personal cellar. Although throwing lots of sediment, the wine still had a bright ruby red color, with only slight bricking on the rims. Clean berry aromas, with tobacco leaf notes. Considerable fruit and tannins still present, underscored by an ethereal suppleness. The cherry/berry fruit boldly illustrates the regional character of SLD. This could easily go another 5 years, or more. John said: “The conventional wisdom at the time was that ageable wine had to be so tannic, it was almost undrinkable. But the ’78 Shafer was so approachable that many people speculated that Merlot was added, and many wine critics thought the wine would not age.” Those critics were definitely wrong. My favorite of the tasting.
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11/1/2004 - winefool wrote: 92 Points
WS CWE 04 - Shafer Hillside Vertical (Marquis Marriott): First year of Hillside (before they called it that). Ruby red color with only the slightest hint of garnet. Rich black fruit and dark black cherry aroma. Wonderful rich black fruit and cassis. Drinking much younger than it is. A great experience. 11/04
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10/6/1990 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 81 Points
10 Cabernets Tasted at Primas with John Shafer. Appeared with brown edges around the a red center for color in the glass, rich, chocolate fruit with a hint of veggies on the nose, well balanced but soft, medium body of fruit in the mouth, soft, medium tannins with a pleasant, long finish. my #7 and Group #1.
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