Rounded smoky notes with light, silky, well achieved tannins and a very lasting aftertaste indeed. Undoubtedly a great Cabernet, alongside with the extroverted Montebello and the classic 707 from Penfolds…
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The last of these and I am not sorry. Each one has been a disappointment - one of the worst QPRs I’ve bought in over 30 years. Untamed alcohol heat and a bombastic personality. It also had the misfortune of sharing the table with a 2002 Mouton Rothschild which was a gracefully mature and classic Pauilliac. I understand there are people who truly enjoy those gigantic Napa wines but I am not one. And don’t get me started on the wastefulness of the bottles.
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Wow, still growing strong fruit very present. Little tannins. Nose floral. Wow wine at a dinner party. All this needed was 20 minutes decanted. One of the OGs for Napa Cabs.
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Wow what a beautiful wine. Over 16 years old and still drinking so young. Beautiful clear purple in colour. Notes of cassis, licorice, and dark chocolate. Med Body, nice acidity, smooth lush tannins, and long finish. An absolutely beautiful wine.
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Basil, mint; cassis-blackberry; rich, creamy, full bodied; quite nice, but weirdly came in last place with the group. To me it was solid and solidly in the middle of the line up of great Napa Cabs. Blind tasting is always enlightening, and group preferences are interesting. DD Napa Cabs blind at Michaels
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Powerful, intense, concentrated, lush, mouth-coating, and palate-staining, the wine is full, deep, and dark, with a boatload of black fruits, licorice, vanilla bean, smoke, chocolate, and blackberry liqueur. High in alcohol, you feel the heat, but there is so much fruit, you might forget to notice all the heat. Drink from 2022-2040.
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2 hour decant. Color is a deep purple/plum. Nose is a rich black fruit and milk chocolate, a hint of spice. Palate is big, in-your-face, blast of blackberry, black cherry, followed by aspects of herbs, eucalyptus, cedar, something like coconut oil. Full-bodied, long, slightly-hot finish, still fairly tannic. Actually quite nicely balanced and integrated, after the initial blast. Complex and delicious.
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Gave it a good 3 hour decant and it did not live up to the hype that has surrounded this premium offering. The tannins just never resolved themselves and while the wine was good. It wasn't "hillside' good. I've often felt that the One Point Five is smoother and this only went as far as to prove that point.
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This is decent with dark flavors and nice mouth feel. Not the hot mess it was 9 years ago nor the flat, closed wine when I last had it 2 or 3 years ago. It is enjoyable, and pleasurable but not as engaging as it should be at its price. Good wine, bad QPR.
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Awesome. Just awesome. Right in a sweet spot for drinking that should last another decade+. Some smoky, earthy qualities that went great with barbecued meat.
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Brilliant purple blue color. Big saturated wine but with good acidity. A bit too much alcohol to call it perfectly balanced. Saturated blueberry and blackberry flavors with earthy notes on the finish. Tannins are beautifully delineated. This will last another 20 years. Just wish the alcohol was less prominent.
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This is a monster wine, I opened it around 11AM placed it in the fridge and decanted from 1-2PM and drove to Boca Raton to have it at dinner from 6-8PM.
It’s likely that I under decant this wine, it’s still a bit tannic, lots of dark fruits and solid acidity/tannin which will give this wine its best days in the years to come…
The highest rating that I have given to a California wine in recent memory. Decanted for 3 hours and consumed over the following 2 hours. Utterly delicious! While not my normal style of wine, this has all the right pieces in all the right places. It is in complete balance... fruit, earth, terroir, and deliciousness! Silky smooth and extremely long finish.
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Decanted for a few hours before serving. Vanilla, dark currant, menthol and wood spice. Round, lush and ripe with excellent balance. Great depth and length on the palate. I am sure it will show better in day 2.
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Dark red almost black; very intense concentrated blackcurrant, vanilla scent; fruity concentrated with light tannins, long aftertaste with some tobacco; nose better than taste, which somehow lacks concentration - a bit mellow
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Not enough time in the decanter, but after 40 minutes there’s a hint of raisin, black licorice/cherry on the nose.
This would definitely benefit from more decant time, as we’ve seen this open up considerably in the short window. Still quite dry front to mid pallet, but there’s a lot of rich fruit growing in prominence.
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Decanted and consumed over 2 nights. Heady nose of black currant, wood spice and gravel. Maybe a little hot, the alcohol sticks out. Seamless palate, silky smooth texture, deep blackberry flavors and a slightly bitter finish that adds lift. Beautiful example of a modern Cabernet in a ripe rich vintage.
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Purple color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of cocoa powder, cassis, thatch and plum. Flavors of plum, cassis and black berries. Medium acidity, medium to firm tannin, full bodied. Drink now with air or continue to hold.
Madison offline
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Slow ox for 24 hours. Didn’t get a chance to try at open. Dark red and black fruits. Secondary tobacco flavors hinting but not overt. Wonderful mouth feel. Very enjoyable.
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Big and bold. Excellent wine from Shafer. Only will get better with time. Tannins still very much in place in this very structured wine. Truly enjoyable experience.
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Honored the passing of John Shafer with a great bottle of Hillside at North Pond, Chicago
It’s a powerful Napa Cab in a very good way. It’s drinking beautifully now or can sit for many years. I’d probably prefer it in another 3+ years but there’s nothing “wrong” with it today.
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Great showing, Exotic nose (classic HHS), Dark blue and black fruits, loads of baking spices, vanilla, intense and massive yet maintains great balance. This is drinking well now, but will get better as the tannins are still fairly big however kept in check with the massive fruit core. Love it.
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Mostly Napa Cabernet Dinner (Eddie V's - Tysons Corner, VA): Explosive nose displaying crème de cassis, blackberry liqueur, black cherry, caramel, vanilla, flower and limestone dust and a hint of lead pencil. Unbelievable concentration, layers upon layers of intense ripe black fruit, unctuous, 10W-40, bright acidity, strong mineral, very fine tannins and never ending finish. This is a monster scale Napa cult.
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Yanked a bottle from my cellar and took it out to LA to taste with Joe at Mastro's in Thousand Oaks. Pop and pour. Tannins were fully integrated, which surprised me a little. Very pure fruit flavor, red raspberry. Perfect balance, perfect wine.
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nose - berry liqueur, smells sweet, almost like jam mouth - big wine, huge extract, still noticeable heat but improve since tasted 5 years ago when I though it was a disaster. The question here is will it all come into balance and if so when. I'm perplexed by this wine.
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Superbly rich, deep and concentrated without heaviness. Tannins are ample but not harsh with a finish that sails on and on. Will probably be even better in a few years but there’s no sense of having left pleasure on the table by drinking now.
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Terroir-istes International - USA - California, Napa South (Cape Town Law offices): (Tasted Blind): A deep black-red wine reaching to the rim. Powerful nose again with a focus on blackcurrant, liquorice, creme de mure and some wood smoke and tar. It appears fresher than some, with lovely intensity. Enjoyable depth on the palate, there is an abundance of ripe rich fruit showing blackcurrant and blackberry towards a smear of vanilla pod and mocha. Excellent concentration, a lively acidity to move the wine forward and enough extract to provide structure with the fruit coating the mid-palate nicely whilst showcasing its big bold flavours and long winding length. However, a source of contention is that the alcohol feels hot, spiky, and notable (almost spirity). Perhaps it detracts a little from the wine, but I didn't feel it was so disjointed to score so much lower. It did have some over-extraction that gave a sense of harshness that the alcohol amplified, but it closed with some savoury edges and chalkiness and with enough fruit to render it workable. Very little topsoil exists so the roots hit the white tofu volcanic soil base at a shallow depth of 50cm, This is an argument favouring why the wine has so much intensity. Spends 32 months in 100% new French oak.
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A friend brought it to restaurant. He said he decanted for three hours. I liked it overall but I brought 2002 Axios which is half the money and it was as good. Good nose and structure. Would have rather to tried it in a quiet place and concentrated more on the wine.
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Decanted for 4 hours; spectacular wine with great balance. Perfect with my steak, but fantastic on its own. Now has both primary and some secondary notes. In a nice place right now
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All day decant. Big wine and ready to drink. Classic Cali Cab and great expression of it. Tasted like had more age than just 10 years, but still young with many years to go.
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Uncorked but not decanted, allowed to rest for three hours. Unctuous right out of the bottle, but after 3 hrs of air this opened and softened into a dramatic, delicate wine with extensive layering.
Dark black fruit on the nose with hints of blueberry, Spicebox, vanilla flavored tobacco and cedar.
Just an exceptional flavor profile; an extraordinary balance of medium+ weighted fruit and Tanic structure. Dry tannins in the background provide multiple layers of depth, structure, and flavor. Unextraordinary wine with the airtime allowed. Long life remains ahead of this, this is what separates Shafer from the rest of the Call-cab pack. BRAVO!!
Salon, Hillside Select Vertical, ZH, Bernabeleva (Our home): What an awesome wine. The groups #2, but my WOTN. The only thing "wrong" with this wine is that will get better. That said, it is still a 100 point wine right now. Purple in color, clear/ruby at the rim. The nose is gorgeous with cassis, cedar, char and graphite. With air some roasted meats and dark cherries come out. On the palate, this is one of those wines that are powerful yet nimble. Cassis and black cherries with some spice and char. Firm tannins. A finish that lasts forever. Delicious right now as it evolves in the glass and better as it swirls in one's mouth. Easily has two or three decades left. An example of why I think of SHS as the Lafite of Napa.
Just amazing. Easily one of the best wines I have ever had. Big and juicy with perfect balance and a richness that goes on and on. At ten years of age this is drinking amazingly. My guess is that this will last forever but for maximum enjoyment, I would recommend drinking over the next ten years.
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My fourth magnificent bottle. Seek this out if you can afford it, or the 2001/02/10 and probably 12/13. I don't know the top Burgundies, but I've tried all the First Growths and most of the top Cabs and Syrahs. In my experience, no less-expensive wine is as good as Hillside Select, and no more-expensive wine is better.
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Having not previously got the most out of Hillside Selects but loving the 1.5, I took some advice and gave this bottle a 6-hour decant and was well rewarded for my efforts. The fruit is still forward but the tannins are so well integrated leaving us with an almost perfect balance. These are the type of wines that one needs to make a date with to consume.
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Pre NYE celebration dinner (why make it only one night?!) at Capital Grille in Charlotte. Bought these upon release and they have laid in the same spot in my cellar since. We gave this 3 hours of air before we consumed and I recommend a strainer as there was a lot of sediment. This wine is everything you would hope it would be with the high critical acclaim that it has received. Deep purple/black in the glass. Dark fruits, black cherry, cassis, vanilla, spice, and some licorice. Fantastic mouth feel and viscosity - glides over the tongue like velvet. Great back end with a long finish that coats your entire mouth. Great wine!
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Napa Valley Master Class with Robert Parker; 11/10/2016-11/20/2016 (Napa Valley): During a Napa 2007 horizontal tasting guided by Robert Parker. From clay soil. Fantastic nose of dark fruit, cassis, pine, eucalyptus, herbs. Wow. Massive palate, full bodied, lots of layers, a bit too rich for my taste. A touch dry on the finish. 96+
Birthday steakhouse celebration & Game 7 of the World Series was calling for a special occasion bottle of wine. My 1st experience with HSS and maybe my expectations were just too high or there were too many evening distractions, but I certainly wasn't blown away by this as I had hoped to be given the premium. Decanted in a wide bottom decanter for 30 min before initial tasting. Color showed subtle signs of rust indicative of age and there was some noticeable heat on the nose and glass, but started to blow off after about an hour. Overall good balance and soft tannins, but I didn't get the lush fruits others noted and the fruit in my bottle seemed to be lacking or fading. Also expected more structure and complexity...definitely more of a finesse lovers Boudreaux style wine. Maybe mine was a slightly flawed bottle, but I had a 2012 VHR the following night that bested this by a mile on all fronts at a much better price point. Not a bad wine, just expected a lot more at this price and pedigree.
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Drank at Ashley's farm with Costco prime. Fantastic stuff. Great nose, flavor and finish. Not too heavy on the tannins. Drinking great now but no sign of fading any time soon.
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Hillside, Pride, Myriad, Montelena, Rhys, Peter Michael, Yquem (Cleveland Heights): Wow. Allowed to breath for about an hour or so. This is big and masculine for a SHS, but its about proportion. Purple in color. The nose has cassis, slight blueberries, dark cherries, licorice and sandalwood. On the palate, this is still very young. Plenty of tannins but a great texture, lush and rich. A lot of cassis fruit along with some char. It is very deep and very long. Sure its got a couple of decades left and if you don't like decadent wine, let it rest for most of that, but this is off the charts deep, tasty and complex. Long finish. From the first sip to the last of the bottle (I had both), it is everything I want from a Napa Cab.
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Deep opaque color with notes of blue, purple and black fruits, currants and spice with just a bit of alcohol peeking through- some tasters described this as "hot" but I didn't think the alc was that obvious. Structured and large-scaled, this is a big wine. Dense, with firm, sweet tannin and flavors of dark fruit, licorice and chocolate. Finishes with good length. Fairly well-balanced in spite of its size, and quite young. It wasn't too long before I realized this was our bottle of HSS.
This had been opened and double decanted about four hours before the flight was poured. I'll try to hold off on the next until 2020+.
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incredibly overrated. I give it 82 points. If this bottle was $18-20 i would jump all over it. Once it gets to $23-$25/bottle it's incredibly overpriced in my opinion. I should be looking at 5-7 years for paying what i paid for this below average bottle.
As advertised. On the young side, but with aggressive decanting, opened up nicely. Multiply layers of flavors, rich, rewarding with a tremendous finish. If scoring 96-98.
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This opaque ruby/red wine (100% Cabernet Sauvignon) weighs in at a lofty 15.5% alcohol, yet shows no heat when served at the proper temperature of 60-65°F. Aged for 32 months in 100% new French oak (Allier and Tronçais), it is a fresh, ripe, concentrated effort that is effusive of cassis, dark plums, savory herbs, tobacco and baking spices. With outstanding mid-palate density, abundant sweet tannins and a silky mouth texture, it goes on to finish with impressive length. While this wine may get even better, it is currently so enjoyable that it is hard to resist. Drink now-2035.
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Can you be disappointed in a wine you like? I was expecting so much more from this. It was a massive dark fruit driven wine, with a thick mouth feel. Almost ten year old vintage ruby port like. This was popped and poured at a restaurant. The color seemed to be very dark (not great lighting at the restaurant), and it threw some sediment. Thankfully, I had stood the bottle up a few days earlier. Lots of vanilla/oak on the nose. My guests and I drank every drop, but for the vintage, the age, the price and comparing it to other Hillsides, I was disappointed.
I have never really met a Hillside that I have enjoyed more than a one point five. After a two hour decant I would say that this wine is excellent but not so great that it eclipses its baby brother. Having had many of them off and on throughout the years, I have been harbouring this conclusion. I still have more of different vintages, so maybe I'll see the light someday.
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Dark purple. Taken from the Eurocave, decanted, and drank it over four hours. Perfect cork. Throwing some sediment as expected. The nose was just bursting with dark fruit, graphite, vanilla and a hint of chocolate. Still young, tannic and structured , but delightful to drink now. Palate was overflowing with layers of blueberry compote, blackberry, ripe cherry and black currents. Oak, tannin and acidity in perfect balance. Lush! Amazing finish and length. I gave it a 99 only because I think it will be even better in a few more years! I cherish my spot on their mailing list!
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Floored. Raspberry, blackberry, pencil lead, mocha/chocolate, vanilla on nose, high tannin. Going to need some time to open, 60+ second finish, simply amazing. Big wine. Will be even better down the road, but for me this is perfect. Will haunt my dreams.
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Bottom half of a previously coravin'd bottle. Uncorked and allowed to breathe for 90 mins. Alcohol, heavily toasted oak and vanilla on the nose, with tobacco leaf in the background. Still tastes tight and tannic, dark blackberry, other juicy ripe dark fruits, bittersweet chocolate. Extremely concentrated with a dry finish behind all the bright ripe fruit. Needs more air than what I offered, but a solid wine that will continue to age effortlessly.
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Pulled from a 55 degree cellar where it's rested since purchased from the winery. Decanted for an hour before a dinner of grilled ribeye steak, baked potato and a spinach strawberry salad. This is the fourth vintage of HS that I've enjoyed since the 2004 vintage. Not much to add that others haven't already noted. Just starting to enter its prime drinking window. Just a explosion of very ripe black fruits, cassis, and some evolving earth tones in the mouth. Rich, concentrated, elegant and perfectly balanced followed by an extraordinarily long finish. IMHO probably on if the best wines that Napa has to offer.
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Youthful and beautiful. WOTN - Tasted blind alongside other 2007 Napa Cab and CdP of the same year. Inky purple with fruits including cherry, raspberry and cassis on the nose. Charming characteristics from the new French oak really differentiated HS in this tasting. Coming into balance and a real treat to enjoy after an hour or two in the decanter. 60+ sec of a memorable finish, covering the entire palate. Just now entering what should be a long drinking window 2015-2035.
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1500 Parker Points of Wines (GHT): In an amazing flight, this was my and most peoples WOTF. A couple found the oak a bit problematic though. I love SHS. Purple in color. The nose has cassis, cigar tobacco, spice, and some licorice. On the palate, the texture is incredible. Juicy, velvety and muscular. Delicious. Each sip makes me want another. Complex. Accessible but there are some smooth tannins. This has a long life left as well. The is the third straight time I have scored this wine 100. Gorgeous.
2.5 hours after coravan'ing a very large glassful. Purple ink coloring with coffee, currants and tight, dark fruit on the nose. Wine is approachable but still noticeably tight- more dark fruit, juicy ripe blackberry, bittersweet chocolate. Pretty obvious a Calicab but well-done and well-integrated and with many years to evolve and soften further.
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Blind tasting (but I was not blind). Nose shows baking spice, dark qualities, not as showy as expected. Palate a little disappointing as well, though big structure, shows notes you would expect like dark chocolate, fresh herbs, black plums, blackberry, maybe graphite. Just not "singing" or wow complexity. Wait a few years on this one. The group guessed several things, Napa Merlot, Sonoma Cab, Napa Cab, some Shiraz (alcohol 15.5).
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An excellent wine. Decanted two hours and then served with a tenderloin. Still young and a bit tannic, but very approachable with lots of subtle flavors including currant and pepper.
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Second Sunday Group: 2007 California Cabs/blends (R&D's): Aromas of chocolate, incense, clay and black fruit. Flavors of currants, vanilla and chocolate. Structured and quite firm, but with good fruit underneath. Has a subtle ripeness- not as much as wine B. Licorice and black fruit in the finish. Nicely balanced, but so young.
My #6, Domino's #5 Group #3, 57 pts
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Decanted 5 hours. Dark violet color leads to an explosive nose of blackberry, dark cherry and vanilla. Full body shows dark fruit, chocolate, Asian spice and a hint off bell pepper. Silky finish lasts well over a minute.
Wow! This is a great wine. It manages to simultaneously be a huge Napa Cab yet retain a ton of finesse. This drinks great now with a long decant. I think there could be some upside to additional aging. Bravo!
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One of the most amazing wines I have had ever. Had at Hutch's in buffalo. Just popped and poured. Wine was dark, thick, and almost a syrupy feel. Very creamy and buttery mouth feel. Finish went on what seemed for ever. Fruit was outstanding. Wine was balanced perfectly. I imagine a 2 hour decant would have raised this wine to a 99 or 100.
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The ruby-black, unctuously-textured 2007 Hillside Select is a large-scaled wine, even by the standards of this extravagant cuvée, bursting from the glass with ripe aromas of kirsch, cassis, blueberries, charcoal and subtle woodsmoke. The wine's copious baby fat is beginning to eat up the oak, which is already quite well integrated. On the palate, the acids are fresh, and the wine's vast volume is nicely balanced out by mid-palate depth; the question will be if that balance will endure as the wine ages. Based on the performance of Shafer's massive 2002, it probably will!
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Big but not bruising, this is a focused wine with great complexity and is a good example of what California wines can be when they are more subtle than the big bold harlans etc. Great finish. Great secondary spices and wood on the nose.
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Drank over 3 hours. Predictably tight at first. What followed was a bit disappointing as it never developed anything complex on the mid-palate and had a timid finish. Not sure if it simply needs more time or is more hollow than I'd like. Will give my other bottle a few more years.
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Jammy wine with crushed berry and cassis dominant flavors, with some dark coffee thrown in as well. It was so substantial, we could only sip it and so for a dinner for two it lasted the whole dinner and into desert. We had some French press coffee with desert and a 1/2 glass of the Schafer left so we went back and forth, and this wine is so powerful it even complimented the coffee, if that makes any sense-- one sip of coffee, one sip of wine and bam, the lingering flavors of the coffee in the mouth exploded. It is versatile and meat and chocolate centric wine... Compared to a delicious BV Georges de latour 2008 I had recently, this is a step above in ageability and density, but it is not a romantic wine... For subtle, delicious Stags Leap cab, my benchmark is the 2007 Cliff Lede Poetry. My girflfriend and I agreed we will age the Schafer and have one a year from the cellar to see how it develops over the next few years.
From 1.5L, decanted for 1 hour. This was still showing a lot of youth and not showing its best IMO. With air time, it opened up with lovely dark fruits and firm tannins. The 750ml I had a few months back showed much better.
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5th Annual Best of Bordeaux vs Kings of Kalifornia (Yan's China Bistro): tasted blind, so comments are generated without any prior knowledge. on the nose i get strong vanilla and heavy alcohol. in the mouth, maple, whisky barrel, and heat. an unmitigated disaster and frankly undrinkable. And others (though not all) were in agreement. Super shocked to see this wine unveiled as the 07 Shafer Hillside Select. Now begin the post mortem anaysis... clearly it is too young, and quite disjointed, not showing well at all tonite, and tasted in a lineup that included some mature funky Bordeaux (83 Palmer, 89 Beausejour Becot) so in that regard it stuck out. But frankly it performed badly even among some other big Cali cabs such as the 08 Hundred Acre Ark. The 02 Hillside Select was much better. In short, this is the reason to taste wines blind
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BYO - US wines (Skovridderkroen): Nose: Dense blackberry fruit. Palate: Wild acidity, dense black currants. A bit disappointed when the bottle was revealed but it could be that it just needs more time..
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This was more or less in a tie for the 3rd spot. When it was on, it was really great. Deep black fruit, wonderful nose, grippy pleasant tannins, deft use of wood, and a great finish. What demoted this wine was its second glass as it warmed, and not even to a room temp its fruit became a bit jammy and the ABV seemed to be more noticeable. Of the 2007 group, this and the Scarecrow have the longest potential at life, but it didn't have that freshness factor that Scarecrow or Schrader BTK had going for them. I think had I had more time with the Ovid, it may have out paced Shafer, but since it was a 2008 it may be a touch backward so they remained tied. Ovide has the longer life potential.
Charleston II - The Collectibles - Afternoon Edition; 9/20/2013-9/21/2013 (Kings Courtyard Inn in Charleston, SC): This was the bi-polar wine. It starts all deep and lovely and soft with a touch of blackberry and maybe some other black fruits and then WHAM - it's grape brandy in a glass which usurps all other flavors. This starts to soften over time (and again, I think this was a wine that was opened that morning, but with just the original decant into a Riedel merlot which doesn't allow for a lot of air).
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Charleston CA Cult Cab Tasting (Kings Courtyard): I didn't really get too good of a note on this one, but it was a bit hot at the start. Red fruit and florals, and did open up more as it sat in the decanter.
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The nose has deep strong fruit, the wine is very dark with a nice garnet ring, huge legs. It is so much better than a year ago, more integrated and smooth. The fruit is strong but not jammy, I didnt expect that, the tannins are smooth. It is approaching its zenith in the next few years. Given the price it is going to be kickicking some french butt!
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This was disapponting. I love SHS but not this one. It is a super hot, super concentrated mess, relatively speaking given its price. The nose is wonderful, except for the alcohol heat. In the mouth it is intense and concentrated cassis but strong, too strong of new oak. And again I say it is hot. Too hot. The finish is long and voluptuous but both the discordant, predominant notes of oak and alcohol play a major role. So if this wine were $40 or $50, I would think it was fine. At the actual price, it is a parody of a big Napa cab. I am, however, optimistic that in five or maybe fifteen years my remaining botles will be wonderful. Or at least good enough to make me think I am getting my moneys worth They just are nowhere near that now. The 03 Pavie and the 01 Quilceda seriously buried the Shafer. And I recognize, given the comments on CT and reviews by Parker and Tanzer and all, that I am expressing a minority view. But I hold to it firmly!
Dinner with Friends (SHS, Cos, Donnhoff, RM, +++) (Our home): Just love this wine. Its everything I want in a Napa Cab, not more, not less. Purple in color, opaque. The nose has cassis, slight cedar, some black licorice, some black cherries. On the palate, this is layered and gorgeous. drink it now or in 20 years IMO. It is not a monster but nothing suggests this is close to full maturity. Delicious. This kind of quality and production is impressive.
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I brought this to a friend's birthday get together. On the nose we knew we were in for a treat. Cassis, graphite, dark fruits flow from the glass. The balance is seamless with not a trace of hard edges. This should drink wonderful for another 5-10 years as it continues to shed some baby fat. This will probably not go down as one of the longer living HSS but it sure does give pleasure now. Wonderful.
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Drank over a three day period celebrating our first children born, a boy and a girl! Intoxicating aroma upon opening. Huge lush nose, blueberries, smoke, spice & a touch floral. The palate is much the same. Large scaled wine with just enough tannin and fruit to balance the alcohol. The second day is more of the same with a little less fruit. Third day is just beautiful lush dark fruits with less tannin showing. I preferred the wine on the third day because it was just so big the first day I couldn't drink more than one glass. This is a huge wine that needs plenty of time.
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2007 Our 25th vintage of Hillside Select offers aromatic elegance and classic Stags Leap District flavors of black fruit, mocha, black plums, cassis, juicy black and red cherry, black tea, with spice and warm toast. Ripe, silken tannins result in a pleasing, lengthy finish, smooth texture, and a refined structure which offers the potential for very long term aging. Drink now – 18 years.
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Clean and bright fruit on both the nose and the palatte - raspberry, jam, some nice floral notes. Incredibly pure and smooth. Awesome wine for sure, and will only get better - did seem like it had some hidden pizzaz/potential there that didn't fully erupt.
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Big wine, but a bit confusing right now. Nothing stood out. It still needs a few years in the bottle. Not as approachable yet as the 2006 was last year.
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Wow! Tasted a year ago and again a month ago. Decanted for 30 minutes and it opened up beautifully. Incredible structure and balance with a weighted briar-like nose of crushed dried twigs and blueberries. Tons of chocolate and rich, dark stags leap fruit on the palate. Another good 5 years and I'll have this straight from the bottle... Can't wait!
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2007 Cal Cult Cabs (SE, Harlan, etc.) and a bunch more: I had heard this was an "off" vintage for SHS comparatively speaking. It was my WOTN and it was for many in the group. WOW. Best nose of the night. Cassis, blueberries, boysenberries, charred toast leaving a somewhat sweet perfumed lingering note. Just an awesome texture. Great fruit. Great balance. Slightly candied, in a really good way, fruit balanced by an underlying minerality that i just pin point balance. Made me stop and pay attention with every sip. A great showing.
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Taste at Cut. Gorgeous wine. Nice layering of high quality fruit. Tell tale HSS styling with feminine qualities but nice brighter red fruit. Lighter cherries and plums as well as Belgian milk chocolate and coco nibs. Some gorgeous floral qualities as well. This is a youngster. Needs some serious time in the bottle.
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Honeymoon Wine Tasting; 6/25/2012-7/3/2012 (California - Napa & Sonoma Counties): Tasted at Winery. 32-34 months in all new french oak. Intense purple color, with powerful aromas of green pepper, dark fruit/blackberry. This wine had a filling mouthfeel with a firm tannic structure, but those tannins were already fine and silky smooth. The finish was incredibly long with some complexity. Overall this wine is drinking very well now and has amazing aging potential.
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Drank after a 2 hour decant. Wonderful deep, dark fruit with a hint of red berries. Layers and layers of depth. Still young, but drank very well. Not as hard as I had expected.
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Lots of great Cabs, Syrahs and others NVW&C (Napa Valley Wine & Cigar): This was slow-oxed for 10 hours and that wasn't nearly enough. This is big and tight and needs 5 years IMO. Such a great texture. Lush and rich. Very tannic. The last glass after a few hours showed complex layering of fruit and an undercurrent of gravel/minerals. Long finish. i mentioned to Tom that texture and finish, for me, are what really shows where this wine is heading, along with the fruit of course. Just needs to time to get there.
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Aromas of sweet dark blackberries and touch of asphalt. Wine came accross somewhat constrained,but was just popped and poured. Should have had long decant. Dense and ripe black fruits with lots of structure from relatively big tannins. Fruit is there, but lies underneath the chew. A weighty wine with very bright future. Not a showy wine currently, reminds me of the 2001 on release. Raw materials there, yet not fully singing yet. Still, all and all tastes great and bottle evaporated in less then a half hour!
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Dark, dark wine. Very young. Opened the bottle in the cellar for 4.5hours before tasting. Big tanic structure. Nose of casis, vanilla, RED plum. This wine is going to go for a long time.
2nd day - fruit and structure still there. I don't usually let a bottle go until day two but, this one needed to. I would recomend you give these 10-14years in a cold cellar.
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Deep dark, almost inky, black/purple in color, gobs of licorice, blackberry, blue fruit, smoke, coffee, chocolate and vanilla fill your glass. Powerful, dense and packed with layers of perfectly ripe, thick, juicy, black and blue fruit, this intense wine fills your mouth and coats your palate. Opulent in character, this is as good as any of the California Cult wines and sells for a lot less money. While it's expensive, (most California Cabernets are) if you're seeking a top experience with the best California has to offer, this is the wine to buy.
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Deep violet aroma. Incredibly smooth, dark color. Complex already, but should age for a long, long time. Dark berries and spice. Lingers for quite a while.
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Tasting at Shafer: Inky crimson color, opaque core. Aromas of violets, cassis, black cherry and florals. Full-bodied with lush, velvety tannins. Powerful, but such amazing balance. Blackberry, cherry and currant flavors with a spice note lingering on the long, long finish. Stunning despite its youth and power.
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Still very tight but a very nice structure and long, long finish. Tasted 05 and 06 at this same tasting in years past and the 05 was much better a year latter.
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This was served at an offline on Sunday. Disclosure: I'm still feeling the effects of a nasty summer cold (week 3) which has really impacted my sense of smell and somewhat dulled my sense of taste. The wine was picked up at the winery last week. Tip of the hat to GS for opening for us. Showing very young right now with a muted entry, somewhat light in body; with a balanced and focused finish. Lovely floral, black and blue berry notes. Needs to fill out on the front and middle which will do so with time. An elegant and well made wine. Very Good to Excellent.
It is really amazing the level of consistency and quality that Elias Fernandez produces with this wine. He really is a master craftsman, and I don't use that term lightly or frequently.
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2/6/2024 - Alanbert Likes this wine: 96 Points
Rounded smoky notes with light, silky, well achieved tannins and a very lasting aftertaste indeed.
Undoubtedly a great Cabernet, alongside with the extroverted Montebello and the classic 707 from Penfolds…
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1/1/2024 - Marshmallowman Likes this wine: 98 Points
Perfection … cassis and currant fruits with licorice and spicy herbs … wonderful balance and long lingering finish.
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12/23/2023 - gator22 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Still going strong with powerful tannins. Drank beautifully after an hour decant.
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11/10/2023 - WineWright Likes this wine: 98 Points
Spectacular! My last fabulous bottle of this vintage was in 2020. Posted a new photo.
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9/4/2023 - randyjc wrote: 90 Points
The last of these and I am not sorry. Each one has been a disappointment - one of the worst QPRs I’ve bought in over 30 years. Untamed alcohol heat and a bombastic personality. It also had the misfortune of sharing the table with a 2002 Mouton Rothschild which was a gracefully mature and classic Pauilliac. I understand there are people who truly enjoy those gigantic Napa wines but I am not one. And don’t get me started on the wastefulness of the bottles.
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8/6/2023 - WojoWineCave Likes this wine: 98 Points
Wow, still growing strong fruit very present. Little tannins. Nose floral. Wow wine at a dinner party. All this needed was 20 minutes decanted. One of the OGs for Napa Cabs.
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5/9/2023 - rexmerlot wrote: 95 Points
Wow what a beautiful wine. Over 16 years old and still drinking so young. Beautiful clear purple in colour. Notes of cassis, licorice, and dark chocolate. Med Body, nice acidity, smooth lush tannins, and long finish. An absolutely beautiful wine.
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5/3/2023 - Quiet Lion Likes this wine: 100 Points
Decanted over cocktails. Just a seamless, silky, deep, intense, well-aged cult Cab.
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2/14/2023 - Marshmallowman wrote: 97 Points
Deliciousness in a wine class!
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!
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2/8/2023 - peternelson Likes this wine: 92 Points
Basil, mint; cassis-blackberry; rich, creamy, full bodied; quite nice, but weirdly came in last place with the group. To me it was solid and solidly in the middle of the line up of great Napa Cabs. Blind tasting is always enlightening, and group preferences are interesting. DD Napa Cabs blind at Michaels
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12/17/2022 - rhalbert wrote: 100 Points
Drank at Club A - Absolutely awesome...
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12/10/2022 - Marshmallowman Likes this wine: 97 Points
Club Christmas Holiday Dinner Dance … Perfection 😃
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11/28/2022 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
Powerful, intense, concentrated, lush, mouth-coating, and palate-staining, the wine is full, deep, and dark, with a boatload of black fruits, licorice, vanilla bean, smoke, chocolate, and blackberry liqueur. High in alcohol, you feel the heat, but there is so much fruit, you might forget to notice all the heat. Drink from 2022-2040.
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11/24/2022 - Harry Cantrell wrote: 97 Points
Deep garnet. Nose of plums, hint of tobacco, filled the room. Mouth of richness, ripe red fruits, long lasting. Great!
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9/10/2022 - FoinZap Likes this wine: 95 Points
2 hour decant. Color is a deep purple/plum. Nose is a rich black fruit and milk chocolate, a hint of spice. Palate is big, in-your-face, blast of blackberry, black cherry, followed by aspects of herbs, eucalyptus, cedar, something like coconut oil. Full-bodied, long, slightly-hot finish, still fairly tannic. Actually quite nicely balanced and integrated, after the initial blast. Complex and delicious.
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2/6/2022 - philweird wrote: 90 Points
Gave it a good 3 hour decant and it did not live up to the hype that has surrounded this premium offering. The tannins just never resolved themselves and while the wine was good. It wasn't "hillside' good. I've often felt that the One Point Five is smoother and this only went as far as to prove that point.
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1/8/2022 - capacious Likes this wine: 95 Points
Always a great bottle, gave this a decant, several hours, drank beautifully. Has decades to go.
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11/20/2021 - randyjc wrote: 91 Points
This is decent with dark flavors and nice mouth feel. Not the hot mess it was 9 years ago nor the flat, closed wine when I last had it 2 or 3 years ago. It is enjoyable, and pleasurable but not as engaging as it should be at its price. Good wine, bad QPR.
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11/13/2021 - tcarter Likes this wine: 97 Points
Awesome. Just awesome. Right in a sweet spot for drinking that should last another decade+. Some smoky, earthy qualities that went great with barbecued meat.
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10/9/2021 - jcasey555 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Drinking very well, tannins have softened and sweetened and integrated with the alcohol
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9/10/2021 - nywine68 wrote: 92 Points
Brilliant purple blue color. Big saturated wine but with good acidity. A bit too much alcohol to call it perfectly balanced. Saturated blueberry and blackberry flavors with earthy notes on the finish. Tannins are beautifully delineated. This will last another 20 years. Just wish the alcohol was less prominent.
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6/25/2021 - gteran76 Likes this wine: 95 Points
This is a monster wine, I opened it around 11AM placed it in the fridge and decanted from 1-2PM and drove to Boca Raton to have it at dinner from 6-8PM.
It’s likely that I under decant this wine, it’s still a bit tannic, lots of dark fruits and solid acidity/tannin which will give this wine its best days in the years to come…
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2/6/2021 - Francophile1 Likes this wine: 96 Points
The highest rating that I have given to a California wine in recent memory. Decanted for 3 hours and consumed over the following 2 hours. Utterly delicious! While not my normal style of wine, this has all the right pieces in all the right places. It is in complete balance... fruit, earth, terroir, and deliciousness! Silky smooth and extremely long finish.
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12/26/2020 - Burgnick Likes this wine: 94 Points
Decanted for a few hours before serving. Vanilla, dark currant, menthol and wood spice. Round, lush and ripe with excellent balance. Great depth and length on the palate. I am sure it will show better in day 2.
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12/25/2020 - Miceri wrote: 92 Points
Dark red almost black; very intense concentrated blackcurrant, vanilla scent; fruity concentrated with light tannins, long aftertaste with some tobacco; nose better than taste, which somehow lacks concentration - a bit mellow
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10/13/2020 - davidandrose Likes this wine: 94 Points
Not enough time in the decanter, but after 40 minutes there’s a hint of raisin, black licorice/cherry on the nose.
This would definitely benefit from more decant time, as we’ve seen this open up considerably in the short window. Still quite dry front to mid pallet, but there’s a lot of rich fruit growing in prominence.
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4/16/2020 - llink wrote: 94 Points
Decanted and consumed over 2 nights. Heady nose of black currant, wood spice and gravel. Maybe a little hot, the alcohol sticks out. Seamless palate, silky smooth texture, deep blackberry flavors and a slightly bitter finish that adds lift. Beautiful example of a modern Cabernet in a ripe rich vintage.
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4/12/2020 - CarguyGM Likes this wine: 95 Points
Tremendous wine 2 hour decant needed more , still unbelievable nose and a great finish !
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4/11/2020 - MWiking wrote: 96 Points
if all American cabs were like this, I would drink so many more.
marvelous wine.
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1/7/2020 - jyensan Likes this wine: 95 Points
Outstanding. Still young. Enjoyed at Castello Picone with Kelly and the boys while watching a disappointing Bills playoff loss! Bad game, great wine!
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11/5/2019 - shaferguy91 wrote: 93 Points
Decanted 1 hour. Maybe still too young.
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10/22/2019 - mattiasjansson wrote: 94 Points
Shafer Hillside Select in Boston - Take II (Boston): Medium-plus fruit. Tannins well integrated. Starting to show some maturity (more so than the '02 we tasted side-by-side). Long, beautiful finish.
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10/19/2019 - wineismylife wrote: 94 Points
WIML94
Tasted non blind.
Purple color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of cocoa powder, cassis, thatch and plum. Flavors of plum, cassis and black berries. Medium acidity, medium to firm tannin, full bodied. Drink now with air or continue to hold.
Madison offline
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9/29/2019 - jcasey555 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Unerwhelmed. I have a vertical starting in 2007 but I think this wine needs more time?? I was expecting more...
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9/25/2019 - LiteItOnFire Likes this wine: 94 Points
Slow ox for 24 hours. Didn’t get a chance to try at open. Dark red and black fruits. Secondary tobacco flavors hinting but not overt. Wonderful mouth feel. Very enjoyable.
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8/30/2019 - vinodonpedro wrote: 98 Points
Big and bold. Excellent wine from Shafer. Only will get better with time. Tannins still very much in place in this very structured wine. Truly enjoyable experience.
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8/7/2019 - patwjr Likes this wine: 97 Points
Pnp, drank over 1 hour. Perfectly aged wine & steaks. Dark, amazing, smooth, delicious fruits, a touch of dark chocolate & tobacco. Great CA Cab.
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7/5/2019 - mlawren1 wrote: 94 Points
Powerful wine. Full of currants, black cherries, blackberries. Still really young with a fresh finish.
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6/1/2019 - bambam Likes this wine: 100 Points
This was perfection tonight. Fully integrated, perfectly balanced, fruit was still very lively. BlackBerry, Cherry, spice box. Wow!
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3/9/2019 - PopularCar Likes this wine: 95 Points
Honored the passing of John Shafer with a great bottle of Hillside at North Pond, Chicago
It’s a powerful Napa Cab in a very good way. It’s drinking beautifully now or can sit for many years. I’d probably prefer it in another 3+ years but there’s nothing “wrong” with it today.
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2/28/2019 - pakabear Likes this wine: 98 Points
Great showing, Exotic nose (classic HHS), Dark blue and black fruits, loads of baking spices, vanilla, intense and massive yet maintains great balance. This is drinking well now, but will get better as the tannins are still fairly big however kept in check with the massive fruit core. Love it.
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2/28/2019 - dcwino wrote: 98 Points
Mostly Napa Cabernet Dinner (Eddie V's - Tysons Corner, VA): Explosive nose displaying crème de cassis, blackberry liqueur, black cherry, caramel, vanilla, flower and limestone dust and a hint of lead pencil. Unbelievable concentration, layers upon layers of intense ripe black fruit, unctuous, 10W-40, bright acidity, strong mineral, very fine tannins and never ending finish. This is a monster scale Napa cult.
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2/26/2019 - webbaker Likes this wine: 100 Points
Yanked a bottle from my cellar and took it out to LA to taste with Joe at Mastro's in Thousand Oaks. Pop and pour. Tannins were fully integrated, which surprised me a little. Very pure fruit flavor, red raspberry. Perfect balance, perfect wine.
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8/3/2018 - HOS wrote: 95 Points
Brought for a wedding. Still very primary. Strong fruit, hints of chocolate in a smooth, full bodied wine. An absolute baby.
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7/22/2018 - rustyRudy Likes this wine: 99 Points
Beautiful dark purple. Nose jumps out of the decanter upon opening. Red and dark fruits, smooth, blueberry, exceptional balance, marvelous juice!
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7/22/2018 - andrewdodd86 Likes this wine: 99 Points
Dark fruit. Just gorgeous. Black dark currant. Vanilla. Graphite. Chocolate. Violets. Floral
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7/13/2018 - soyhead wrote:
nose - berry liqueur, smells sweet, almost like jam
mouth - big wine, huge extract, still noticeable heat but improve since tasted 5 years ago when I though it was a disaster. The question here is will it all come into balance and if so when. I'm perplexed by this wine.
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5/12/2018 - starkravingmad wrote: 97 Points
Group wine tasting - among the higher scoring cabs
Fruity; Bold; "Great with the food (ribs)"; More years to go before peak; Bright, dry
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5/11/2018 - Hamersly wrote: 97 Points
Superbly rich, deep and concentrated without heaviness. Tannins are ample but not harsh with a finish that sails on and on. Will probably be even better in a few years but there’s no sense of having left pleasure on the table by drinking now.
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5/8/2018 - rikipedia Likes this wine: 92 Points
Terroir-istes International - USA - California, Napa South (Cape Town Law offices): (Tasted Blind): A deep black-red wine reaching to the rim. Powerful nose again with a focus on blackcurrant, liquorice, creme de mure and some wood smoke and tar. It appears fresher than some, with lovely intensity.
Enjoyable depth on the palate, there is an abundance of ripe rich fruit showing blackcurrant and blackberry towards a smear of vanilla pod and mocha. Excellent concentration, a lively acidity to move the wine forward and enough extract to provide structure with the fruit coating the mid-palate nicely whilst showcasing its big bold flavours and long winding length.
However, a source of contention is that the alcohol feels hot, spiky, and notable (almost spirity). Perhaps it detracts a little from the wine, but I didn't feel it was so disjointed to score so much lower. It did have some over-extraction that gave a sense of harshness that the alcohol amplified, but it closed with some savoury edges and chalkiness and with enough fruit to render it workable.
Very little topsoil exists so the roots hit the white tofu volcanic soil base at a shallow depth of 50cm, This is an argument favouring why the wine has so much intensity. Spends 32 months in 100% new French oak.
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4/28/2018 - rashcar Likes this wine: 95 Points
A friend brought it to restaurant. He said he decanted for three hours. I liked it overall but I brought 2002 Axios which is half the money and it was as good. Good nose and structure. Would have rather to tried it in a quiet place and concentrated more on the wine.
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3/24/2018 - cubswinws Likes this wine: 95 Points
Decanted and left to open over 2 hours. Still holding some back. Lovely wine but needs 4-5 years to really shine.
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12/31/2017 - mactheknife Likes this wine: 97 Points
Decanted for 5 hours; seamless, beautiful balance. Dark fruits and tannins in the background. Plenty more life left
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12/31/2017 - mactheknife Likes this wine: 97 Points
Decanted for 4 hours; spectacular wine with great balance. Perfect with my steak, but fantastic on its own. Now has both primary and some secondary notes. In a nice place right now
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10/27/2017 - wineguy75 Likes this wine: 97 Points
All day decant. Big wine and ready to drink. Classic Cali Cab and great expression of it. Tasted like had more age than just 10 years, but still young with many years to go.
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10/5/2017 - danielbleier Likes this wine: 98 Points
Flavors of blackberry, mocha and herb. Massive in its depth and power, but well integrated and balanced.
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9/16/2017 - davidandrose Likes this wine: 98 Points
Uncorked but not decanted, allowed to rest for three hours. Unctuous right out of the bottle, but after 3 hrs of air this opened and softened into a dramatic, delicate wine with extensive layering.
Dark black fruit on the nose with hints of blueberry, Spicebox, vanilla flavored tobacco and cedar.
Just an exceptional flavor profile; an extraordinary balance of medium+ weighted fruit and Tanic structure. Dry tannins in the background provide multiple layers of depth, structure, and flavor. Unextraordinary wine with the airtime allowed. Long life remains ahead of this, this is what separates Shafer from the rest of the Call-cab pack. BRAVO!!
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8/2/2017 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 100 Points
Salon, Hillside Select Vertical, ZH, Bernabeleva (Our home): What an awesome wine. The groups #2, but my WOTN. The only thing "wrong" with this wine is that will get better. That said, it is still a 100 point wine right now. Purple in color, clear/ruby at the rim. The nose is gorgeous with cassis, cedar, char and graphite. With air some roasted meats and dark cherries come out. On the palate, this is one of those wines that are powerful yet nimble. Cassis and black cherries with some spice and char. Firm tannins. A finish that lasts forever. Delicious right now as it evolves in the glass and better as it swirls in one's mouth. Easily has two or three decades left. An example of why I think of SHS as the Lafite of Napa.
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7/28/2017 - cubswinws Likes this wine: 100 Points
Just amazing. Easily one of the best wines I have ever had. Big and juicy with perfect balance and a richness that goes on and on. At ten years of age this is drinking amazingly. My guess is that this will last forever but for maximum enjoyment, I would recommend drinking over the next ten years.
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7/22/2017 - Don Pratt Likes this wine: 100 Points
My fourth magnificent bottle. Seek this out if you can afford it, or the 2001/02/10 and probably 12/13. I don't know the top Burgundies, but I've tried all the First Growths and most of the top Cabs and Syrahs. In my experience, no less-expensive wine is as good as Hillside Select, and no more-expensive wine is better.
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7/17/2017 - philweird wrote: 95 Points
Having not previously got the most out of Hillside Selects but loving the 1.5, I took some advice and gave this bottle a 6-hour decant and was well rewarded for my efforts. The fruit is still forward but the tannins are so well integrated leaving us with an almost perfect balance. These are the type of wines that one needs to make a date with to consume.
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7/16/2017 - leadpencil wrote:
Heat damaged
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7/2/2017 - mactheknife wrote: 98 Points
Decanted, rebottled and took to dinner; mouthcoating, full bodied. Dark fruit, some graphite. Tannins are integrated. Great stuff with plenty left.
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6/9/2017 - Kim Gerner wrote: 95 Points
WA 100 points US wines (14 wines) - Wine tasting dinner (Søllerød Kro): Deep purple colour. Aromas of blackberry and Blackcurrant. High extraction
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4/29/2017 - pdemaio wrote: 96 Points
An incredible wine with nothing not to like. Big, but not for Napa. Great, perfectly ripe, fruit. smooth round Tannins. Drink now (but no big rush)...
PDQ95+
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3/18/2017 - Zweder wrote: 98 Points
Occasional dinner group: 100 Parker points (red) wines (@ the Librije in Zwolle, Netherlands.): Just some short notes. Beautiful dark berries with a perfect balance between acidity and sweetness. Some chocolate. Beautifully smooth tannin and a great length. Lovely now and the next decade or longer. 98+
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1/20/2017 - cmueller Likes this wine: 98 Points
Wow, polished with the right amount of age. Big and smooth but still complex, as close to perfection as I've had in a while.
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12/30/2016 - TastesGoodToMe Likes this wine: 97 Points
Pre NYE celebration dinner (why make it only one night?!) at Capital Grille in Charlotte. Bought these upon release and they have laid in the same spot in my cellar since. We gave this 3 hours of air before we consumed and I recommend a strainer as there was a lot of sediment. This wine is everything you would hope it would be with the high critical acclaim that it has received. Deep purple/black in the glass. Dark fruits, black cherry, cassis, vanilla, spice, and some licorice. Fantastic mouth feel and viscosity - glides over the tongue like velvet. Great back end with a long finish that coats your entire mouth. Great wine!
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11/18/2016 - Collector1855 wrote: 96 Points
Napa Valley Master Class with Robert Parker; 11/10/2016-11/20/2016 (Napa Valley): During a Napa 2007 horizontal tasting guided by Robert Parker. From clay soil. Fantastic nose of dark fruit, cassis, pine, eucalyptus, herbs. Wow. Massive palate, full bodied, lots of layers, a bit too rich for my taste. A touch dry on the finish. 96+
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11/2/2016 - City Squirrel wrote: 95 Points
Birthday steakhouse celebration & Game 7 of the World Series was calling for a special occasion bottle of wine. My 1st experience with HSS and maybe my expectations were just too high or there were too many evening distractions, but I certainly wasn't blown away by this as I had hoped to be given the premium. Decanted in a wide bottom decanter for 30 min before initial tasting. Color showed subtle signs of rust indicative of age and there was some noticeable heat on the nose and glass, but started to blow off after about an hour. Overall good balance and soft tannins, but I didn't get the lush fruits others noted and the fruit in my bottle seemed to be lacking or fading. Also expected more structure and complexity...definitely more of a finesse lovers Boudreaux style wine. Maybe mine was a slightly flawed bottle, but I had a 2012 VHR the following night that bested this by a mile on all fronts at a much better price point. Not a bad wine, just expected a lot more at this price and pedigree.
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10/22/2016 - levinml wrote: 97 Points
Drank at Ashley's farm with Costco prime. Fantastic stuff. Great nose, flavor and finish. Not too heavy on the tannins. Drinking great now but no sign of fading any time soon.
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9/30/2016 - rpenn77 Likes this wine: 98 Points
Rich and fruit forward with good balance and long finish.
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9/17/2016 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 100 Points
Hillside, Pride, Myriad, Montelena, Rhys, Peter Michael, Yquem (Cleveland Heights): Wow. Allowed to breath for about an hour or so. This is big and masculine for a SHS, but its about proportion. Purple in color. The nose has cassis, slight blueberries, dark cherries, licorice and sandalwood. On the palate, this is still very young. Plenty of tannins but a great texture, lush and rich. A lot of cassis fruit along with some char. It is very deep and very long. Sure its got a couple of decades left and if you don't like decadent wine, let it rest for most of that, but this is off the charts deep, tasty and complex. Long finish. From the first sip to the last of the bottle (I had both), it is everything I want from a Napa Cab.
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7/23/2016 - AllRed wrote: 93 Points
Deep opaque color with notes of blue, purple and black fruits, currants and spice with just a bit of alcohol peeking through- some tasters described this as "hot" but I didn't think the alc was that obvious. Structured and large-scaled, this is a big wine. Dense, with firm, sweet tannin and flavors of dark fruit, licorice and chocolate. Finishes with good length. Fairly well-balanced in spite of its size, and quite young. It wasn't too long before I realized this was our bottle of HSS.
This had been opened and double decanted about four hours before the flight was poured. I'll try to hold off on the next until 2020+.
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7/21/2016 - npettit wrote: 94 Points
Enjoyed. Pretty typical hillside select. Improved throughout the evening. I recommend opening several hours prior to consuming.
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7/20/2016 - Slick23861 Does not like this wine:
incredibly overrated. I give it 82 points. If this bottle was $18-20 i would jump all over it. Once it gets to $23-$25/bottle it's incredibly overpriced in my opinion. I should be looking at 5-7 years for paying what i paid for this below average bottle.
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6/25/2016 - dontime wrote:
As advertised. On the young side, but with aggressive decanting, opened up nicely. Multiply layers of flavors, rich, rewarding with a tremendous finish. If scoring 96-98.
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5/18/2016 - Siebs Cellar wrote:
Great.
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4/30/2016 - La Cave d'Argent Likes this wine: 98 Points
This opaque ruby/red wine (100% Cabernet Sauvignon) weighs in at a lofty 15.5% alcohol, yet shows no heat when served at the proper temperature of 60-65°F. Aged for 32 months in 100% new French oak (Allier and Tronçais), it is a fresh, ripe, concentrated effort that is effusive of cassis, dark plums, savory herbs, tobacco and baking spices. With outstanding mid-palate density, abundant sweet tannins and a silky mouth texture, it goes on to finish with impressive length. While this wine may get even better, it is currently so enjoyable that it is hard to resist. Drink now-2035.
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3/10/2016 - SMHalps Likes this wine: 93 Points
Can you be disappointed in a wine you like? I was expecting so much more from this. It was a massive dark fruit driven wine, with a thick mouth feel. Almost ten year old vintage ruby port like. This was popped and poured at a restaurant. The color seemed to be very dark (not great lighting at the restaurant), and it threw some sediment. Thankfully, I had stood the bottle up a few days earlier. Lots of vanilla/oak on the nose. My guests and I drank every drop, but for the vintage, the age, the price and comparing it to other Hillsides, I was disappointed.
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1/9/2016 - philweird wrote: 90 Points
I have never really met a Hillside that I have enjoyed more than a one point five. After a two hour decant I would say that this wine is excellent but not so great that it eclipses its baby brother. Having had many of them off and on throughout the years, I have been harbouring this conclusion. I still have more of different vintages, so maybe I'll see the light someday.
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12/25/2015 - rustyRudy Likes this wine: 99 Points
Dark purple. Taken from the Eurocave, decanted, and drank it over four hours. Perfect cork. Throwing some sediment as expected. The nose was just bursting with dark fruit, graphite, vanilla and a hint of chocolate. Still young, tannic and structured , but delightful to drink now. Palate was overflowing with layers of blueberry compote, blackberry, ripe cherry and black currents. Oak, tannin and acidity in perfect balance. Lush! Amazing finish and length. I gave it a 99 only because I think it will be even better in a few more years! I cherish my spot on their mailing list!
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12/25/2015 - andrewdodd86 Likes this wine: 100 Points
Floored. Raspberry, blackberry, pencil lead, mocha/chocolate, vanilla on nose, high tannin. Going to need some time to open, 60+ second finish, simply amazing. Big wine. Will be even better down the road, but for me this is perfect. Will haunt my dreams.
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12/13/2015 - davidandrose Likes this wine: 95 Points
Bottom half of a previously coravin'd bottle. Uncorked and allowed to breathe for 90 mins. Alcohol, heavily toasted oak and vanilla on the nose, with tobacco leaf in the background. Still tastes tight and tannic, dark blackberry, other juicy ripe dark fruits, bittersweet chocolate. Extremely concentrated with a dry finish behind all the bright ripe fruit. Needs more air than what I offered, but a solid wine that will continue to age effortlessly.
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10/17/2015 - wmccone54 wrote: 97 Points
Pulled from a 55 degree cellar where it's rested since purchased from the winery. Decanted for an hour before a dinner of grilled ribeye steak, baked potato and a spinach strawberry salad. This is the fourth vintage of HS that I've enjoyed since the 2004 vintage. Not much to add that others haven't already noted. Just starting to enter its prime drinking window. Just a explosion of very ripe black fruits, cassis, and some evolving earth tones in the mouth. Rich, concentrated, elegant and perfectly balanced followed by an extraordinarily long finish. IMHO probably on if the best wines that Napa has to offer.
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9/20/2015 - floridawinedrkr Likes this wine: 96 Points
Outstanding! Oak, Vanilla and huge sour cherry finish. Great Bottle. Needs at least a 6 hour decant to settle down.
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8/8/2015 - Matt D Likes this wine: 96 Points
Youthful and beautiful. WOTN - Tasted blind alongside other 2007 Napa Cab and CdP of the same year. Inky purple with fruits including cherry, raspberry and cassis on the nose. Charming characteristics from the new French oak really differentiated HS in this tasting. Coming into balance and a real treat to enjoy after an hour or two in the decanter. 60+ sec of a memorable finish, covering the entire palate. Just now entering what should be a long drinking window 2015-2035.
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7/20/2015 - jjaffee wrote:
100 Parker. Hold until 2020-45
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6/28/2015 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 100 Points
1500 Parker Points of Wines (GHT): In an amazing flight, this was my and most peoples WOTF. A couple found the oak a bit problematic though. I love SHS. Purple in color. The nose has cassis, cigar tobacco, spice, and some licorice. On the palate, the texture is incredible. Juicy, velvety and muscular. Delicious. Each sip makes me want another. Complex. Accessible but there are some smooth tannins. This has a long life left as well. The is the third straight time I have scored this wine 100. Gorgeous.
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3/28/2015 - davidandrose wrote: 94 Points
2.5 hours after coravan'ing a very large glassful. Purple ink coloring with coffee, currants and tight, dark fruit on the nose. Wine is approachable but still noticeably tight- more dark fruit, juicy ripe blackberry, bittersweet chocolate. Pretty obvious a Calicab but well-done and well-integrated and with many years to evolve and soften further.
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3/14/2015 - robertek wrote: 95 Points
Still very young but well-balanced and rounded. It would be great to have tried this wine in 10 years - I believe it would have been even better.
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3/2/2015 - GTFreek wrote:
Blind tasting (but I was not blind). Nose shows baking spice, dark qualities, not as showy as expected. Palate a little disappointing as well, though big structure, shows notes you would expect like dark chocolate, fresh herbs, black plums, blackberry, maybe graphite. Just not "singing" or wow complexity. Wait a few years on this one. The group guessed several things, Napa Merlot, Sonoma Cab, Napa Cab, some Shiraz (alcohol 15.5).
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1/3/2015 - pdemaio Likes this wine: 95 Points
Big smooth and lovely. A mocha powerhouse. Easy to enjoy but very complex. 30 second finish. A great example of California Bordeaux style blend.
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1/1/2015 - Double D wrote: 96 Points
Rich, dense smooth loaded with fruit flavors, big boys wine, wine great with filet mignon on New Years Day.
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11/29/2014 - mchanin4 Likes this wine: 96 Points
An excellent wine. Decanted two hours and then served with a tenderloin. Still young and a bit tannic, but very approachable with lots of subtle flavors including currant and pepper.
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11/9/2014 - AllRed wrote:
Second Sunday Group: 2007 California Cabs/blends (R&D's): Aromas of chocolate, incense, clay and black fruit. Flavors of currants, vanilla and chocolate. Structured and quite firm, but with good fruit underneath. Has a subtle ripeness- not as much as wine B. Licorice and black fruit in the finish. Nicely balanced, but so young.
My #6, Domino's #5
Group #3, 57 pts
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9/10/2014 - flashvictor Likes this wine: 98 Points
Decanted 5 hours. Dark violet color leads to an explosive nose of blackberry, dark cherry and vanilla. Full body shows dark fruit, chocolate, Asian spice and a hint off bell pepper. Silky finish lasts well over a minute.
Wow! This is a great wine. It manages to simultaneously be a huge Napa Cab yet retain a ton of finesse. This drinks great now with a long decant. I think there could be some upside to additional aging. Bravo!
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7/26/2014 - floridawinedrkr Likes this wine: 98 Points
One of the most amazing wines I have had ever. Had at Hutch's in buffalo. Just popped and poured. Wine was dark, thick, and almost a syrupy feel. Very creamy and buttery mouth feel. Finish went on what seemed for ever. Fruit was outstanding. Wine was balanced perfectly. I imagine a 2 hour decant would have raised this wine to a 99 or 100.
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7/5/2014 - Uglypinga Likes this wine:
Everything you want from a cab. Cassis, beef, great texture and body, present but unobtrusive tannins, length, balance. My perfect cab.
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5/8/2014 - William Kelley Likes this wine:
The ruby-black, unctuously-textured 2007 Hillside Select is a large-scaled wine, even by the standards of this extravagant cuvée, bursting from the glass with ripe aromas of kirsch, cassis, blueberries, charcoal and subtle woodsmoke. The wine's copious baby fat is beginning to eat up the oak, which is already quite well integrated. On the palate, the acids are fresh, and the wine's vast volume is nicely balanced out by mid-palate depth; the question will be if that balance will endure as the wine ages. Based on the performance of Shafer's massive 2002, it probably will!
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4/15/2014 - pdemaio wrote: 95 Points
Big but not bruising, this is a focused wine with great complexity and is a good example of what California wines can be when they are more subtle than the big bold harlans etc. Great finish. Great secondary spices and wood on the nose.
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3/21/2014 - El Tej wrote: 93 Points
Drank over 3 hours. Predictably tight at first. What followed was a bit disappointing as it never developed anything complex on the mid-palate and had a timid finish. Not sure if it simply needs more time or is more hollow than I'd like. Will give my other bottle a few more years.
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1/25/2014 - George C ATLANTA wrote: 96 Points
Jammy wine with crushed berry and cassis dominant flavors, with some dark coffee thrown in as well. It was so substantial, we could only sip it and so for a dinner for two it lasted the whole dinner and into desert. We had some French press coffee with desert and a 1/2 glass of the Schafer left so we went back and forth, and this wine is so powerful it even complimented the coffee, if that makes any sense-- one sip of coffee, one sip of wine and bam, the lingering flavors of the coffee in the mouth exploded. It is versatile and meat and chocolate centric wine... Compared to a delicious BV Georges de latour 2008 I had recently, this is a step above in ageability and density, but it is not a romantic wine... For subtle, delicious Stags Leap cab, my benchmark is the 2007 Cliff Lede Poetry. My girflfriend and I agreed we will age the Schafer and have one a year from the cellar to see how it develops over the next few years.
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12/19/2013 - bambam Likes this wine: 95 Points
From 1.5L, decanted for 1 hour. This was still showing a lot of youth and not showing its best IMO. With air time, it opened up with lovely dark fruits and firm tannins. The 750ml I had a few months back showed much better.
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12/19/2013 - MS92 wrote: 96 Points
Decanted for several hours and enjoyed a big, lush bottle.
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12/15/2013 - soyhead Does not like this wine:
5th Annual Best of Bordeaux vs Kings of Kalifornia (Yan's China Bistro): tasted blind, so comments are generated without any prior knowledge. on the nose i get strong vanilla and heavy alcohol. in the mouth, maple, whisky barrel, and heat. an unmitigated disaster and frankly undrinkable. And others (though not all) were in agreement. Super shocked to see this wine unveiled as the 07 Shafer Hillside Select. Now begin the post mortem anaysis... clearly it is too young, and quite disjointed, not showing well at all tonite, and tasted in a lineup that included some mature funky Bordeaux (83 Palmer, 89 Beausejour Becot) so in that regard it stuck out. But frankly it performed badly even among some other big Cali cabs such as the 08 Hundred Acre Ark. The 02 Hillside Select was much better. In short, this is the reason to taste wines blind
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10/11/2013 - bwaverley Likes this wine: 93 Points
Still quite young. Drank it in comparison to a Maiden and Sloan (same vintage).
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9/28/2013 - canan wrote: 95 Points
BYO - US wines (Skovridderkroen): Nose: Dense blackberry fruit.
Palate: Wild acidity, dense black currants.
A bit disappointed when the bottle was revealed but it could be that it just needs more time..
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9/23/2013 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine: 97 Points
This was more or less in a tie for the 3rd spot. When it was on, it was really great. Deep black fruit, wonderful nose, grippy pleasant tannins, deft use of wood, and a great finish. What demoted this wine was its second glass as it warmed, and not even to a room temp its fruit became a bit jammy and the ABV seemed to be more noticeable. Of the 2007 group, this and the Scarecrow have the longest potential at life, but it didn't have that freshness factor that Scarecrow or Schrader BTK had going for them. I think had I had more time with the Ovid, it may have out paced Shafer, but since it was a 2008 it may be a touch backward so they remained tied. Ovide has the longer life potential.
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9/22/2013 - RussK wrote: 91 Points
Pablo's WW tasting at Council Oak. Still big. Feet. 91-
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9/20/2013 - Bob in NC wrote:
Brought to the Charleston Cult Cab tasting. It was 5th in the line up of the Cult Cabs. The heat on this wine had knocked it down for us.
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9/20/2013 - Bob in NC wrote: 95 Points
Brought to the Charleston Cult Cab tasting. It was 5th in the line up of the Cult Cabs. The heat on this wine had knocked it down for us.
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9/20/2013 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine: 95 Points
Charleston II - The Collectibles - Afternoon Edition; 9/20/2013-9/21/2013 (Kings Courtyard Inn in Charleston, SC): This was the bi-polar wine. It starts all deep and lovely and soft with a touch of blackberry and maybe some other black fruits and then WHAM - it's grape brandy in a glass which usurps all other flavors. This starts to soften over time (and again, I think this was a wine that was opened that morning, but with just the original decant into a Riedel merlot which doesn't allow for a lot of air).
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9/20/2013 - wineberg Likes this wine: 95 Points
Charleston CA Cult Cab Tasting (Kings Courtyard): I didn't really get too good of a note on this one, but it was a bit hot at the start. Red fruit and florals, and did open up more as it sat in the decanter.
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9/14/2013 - scaredone Likes this wine: 95 Points
The nose has deep strong fruit, the wine is very dark with a nice garnet ring, huge legs. It is so much better than a year ago, more integrated and smooth. The fruit is strong but not jammy, I didnt expect that, the tannins are smooth. It is approaching its zenith in the next few years. Given the price it is going to be kickicking some french butt!
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9/14/2013 - randyjc wrote:
This was disapponting. I love SHS but not this one. It is a super hot, super concentrated mess, relatively speaking given its price. The nose is wonderful, except for the alcohol heat. In the mouth it is intense and concentrated cassis but strong, too strong of new oak. And again I say it is hot. Too hot. The finish is long and voluptuous but both the discordant, predominant notes of oak and alcohol play a major role. So if this wine were $40 or $50, I would think it was fine. At the actual price, it is a parody of a big Napa cab. I am, however, optimistic that in five or maybe fifteen years my remaining botles will be wonderful. Or at least good enough to make me think I am getting my moneys worth They just are nowhere near that now. The 03 Pavie and the 01 Quilceda seriously buried the Shafer. And I recognize, given the comments on CT and reviews by Parker and Tanzer and all, that I am expressing a minority view. But I hold to it firmly!
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9/8/2013 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 100 Points
Dinner with Friends (SHS, Cos, Donnhoff, RM, +++) (Our home): Just love this wine. Its everything I want in a Napa Cab, not more, not less. Purple in color, opaque. The nose has cassis, slight cedar, some black licorice, some black cherries. On the palate, this is layered and gorgeous. drink it now or in 20 years IMO. It is not a monster but nothing suggests this is close to full maturity. Delicious. This kind of quality and production is impressive.
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7/25/2013 - bambam Likes this wine: 97 Points
I brought this to a friend's birthday get together. On the nose we knew we were in for a treat. Cassis, graphite, dark fruits flow from the glass. The balance is seamless with not a trace of hard edges. This should drink wonderful for another 5-10 years as it continues to shed some baby fat. This will probably not go down as one of the longer living HSS but it sure does give pleasure now. Wonderful.
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7/23/2013 - hawkeye54 wrote: 98 Points
Drank over a three day period celebrating our first children born, a boy and a girl! Intoxicating aroma upon opening. Huge lush nose, blueberries, smoke, spice & a touch floral. The palate is much the same. Large scaled wine with just enough tannin and fruit to balance the alcohol. The second day is more of the same with a little less fruit. Third day is just beautiful lush dark fruits with less tannin showing. I preferred the wine on the third day because it was just so big the first day I couldn't drink more than one glass. This is a huge wine that needs plenty of time.
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7/9/2013 - llink wrote:
2007 Our 25th vintage of Hillside Select offers aromatic elegance and classic Stags Leap District flavors of black fruit, mocha, black plums, cassis, juicy black and red cherry, black tea, with spice and warm toast. Ripe, silken tannins result in a pleasing, lengthy finish, smooth texture, and a refined structure which offers the potential for very long term aging. Drink now – 18 years.
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6/10/2013 - BK29 wrote: 97 Points
Clean and bright fruit on both the nose and the palatte - raspberry, jam, some nice floral notes. Incredibly pure and smooth. Awesome wine for sure, and will only get better - did seem like it had some hidden pizzaz/potential there that didn't fully erupt.
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2/23/2013 - RoseWater Likes this wine: 95 Points
Big wine, but a bit confusing right now. Nothing stood out. It still needs a few years in the bottle. Not as approachable yet as the 2006 was last year.
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1/3/2013 - timapalooza Likes this wine: 99 Points
Wow! Tasted a year ago and again a month ago. Decanted for 30 minutes and it opened up beautifully. Incredible structure and balance with a weighted briar-like nose of crushed dried twigs and blueberries. Tons of chocolate and rich, dark stags leap fruit on the palate. Another good 5 years and I'll have this straight from the bottle... Can't wait!
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9/30/2012 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 100 Points
2007 Cal Cult Cabs (SE, Harlan, etc.) and a bunch more: I had heard this was an "off" vintage for SHS comparatively speaking. It was my WOTN and it was for many in the group. WOW. Best nose of the night. Cassis, blueberries, boysenberries, charred toast leaving a somewhat sweet perfumed lingering note. Just an awesome texture. Great fruit. Great balance. Slightly candied, in a really good way, fruit balanced by an underlying minerality that i just pin point balance. Made me stop and pay attention with every sip. A great showing.
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9/18/2012 - beezer6 wrote: 94 Points
Taste at Cut. Gorgeous wine. Nice layering of high quality fruit. Tell tale HSS styling with feminine qualities but nice brighter red fruit.
Lighter cherries and plums as well as Belgian milk chocolate and coco nibs. Some gorgeous floral qualities as well. This is a youngster.
Needs some serious time in the bottle.
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9/5/2012 - ChicagoScot wrote: 95 Points
Just awesome! Big bold juice with a balanced finish. The wine improved over dinner as it opened up. Just perfect.
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6/25/2012 - GoBlue2002 wrote: 94 Points
Honeymoon Wine Tasting; 6/25/2012-7/3/2012 (California - Napa & Sonoma Counties): Tasted at Winery. 32-34 months in all new french oak. Intense purple color, with powerful aromas of green pepper, dark fruit/blackberry. This wine had a filling mouthfeel with a firm tannic structure, but those tannins were already fine and silky smooth. The finish was incredibly long with some complexity. Overall this wine is drinking very well now and has amazing aging potential.
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5/28/2012 - webbaker Likes this wine: 98 Points
Drank after a 2 hour decant. Wonderful deep, dark fruit with a hint of red berries. Layers and layers of depth. Still young, but drank very well. Not as hard as I had expected.
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4/14/2012 - WVWine wrote: 95 Points
Very wonderful wine. Deep and dark color. Smells of violet and casis. Smooth and lush on the tongue.
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3/16/2012 - cubswinws wrote: 96 Points
Simply amazing. deep and dark. very dense but extremely opulent mouth feel. Wonderfully put together and a wine for the ages.
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3/4/2012 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 95 Points
Lots of great Cabs, Syrahs and others NVW&C (Napa Valley Wine & Cigar): This was slow-oxed for 10 hours and that wasn't nearly enough. This is big and tight and needs 5 years IMO. Such a great texture. Lush and rich. Very tannic. The last glass after a few hours showed complex layering of fruit and an undercurrent of gravel/minerals. Long finish. i mentioned to Tom that texture and finish, for me, are what really shows where this wine is heading, along with the fruit of course. Just needs to time to get there.
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1/4/2012 - kaiwhitney@gmail.com wrote: 95 Points
light, clean, creamy vanilla nose
Red brick color with light body
lower acids
Oak creamy vanilla/ short clean finish
Tasted at legends of 2007 tasting all wines 98-100 Parker Points.
www.dwewine.com
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12/24/2011 - KenK wrote: 95 Points
Aromas of sweet dark blackberries and touch of asphalt. Wine came accross somewhat constrained,but was just popped and poured. Should have had long decant. Dense and ripe black fruits with lots of structure from relatively big tannins. Fruit is there, but lies underneath the chew. A weighty wine with very bright future. Not a showy wine currently, reminds me of the 2001 on release. Raw materials there, yet not fully singing yet. Still, all and all tastes great and bottle evaporated in less then a half hour!
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11/20/2011 - paffy wrote: 97 Points
Dark, dark wine. Very young.
Opened the bottle in the cellar for 4.5hours before tasting.
Big tanic structure. Nose of casis, vanilla, RED plum.
This wine is going to go for a long time.
2nd day - fruit and structure still there. I don't usually let a bottle go until day two but, this one needed to.
I would recomend you give these 10-14years in a cold cellar.
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11/3/2011 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
Deep dark, almost inky, black/purple in color, gobs of licorice, blackberry, blue fruit, smoke, coffee, chocolate and vanilla fill your glass. Powerful, dense and packed with layers of perfectly ripe, thick, juicy, black and blue fruit, this intense wine fills your mouth and coats your palate. Opulent in character, this is as good as any of the California Cult wines and sells for a lot less money. While it's expensive, (most California Cabernets are) if you're seeking a top experience with the best California has to offer, this is the wine to buy.
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10/28/2011 - mdmcgonigal wrote: 91 Points
Deep violet aroma. Incredibly smooth, dark color. Complex already, but should age for a long, long time. Dark berries and spice. Lingers for quite a while.
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10/6/2011 - AllRed wrote: 95 Points
Tasting at Shafer: Inky crimson color, opaque core. Aromas of violets, cassis, black cherry and florals. Full-bodied with lush, velvety tannins. Powerful, but such amazing balance. Blackberry, cherry and currant flavors with a spice note lingering on the long, long finish. Stunning despite its youth and power.
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9/17/2011 - slywka7 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Still very tight but a very nice structure and long, long finish. Tasted 05 and 06 at this same tasting in years past and the 05 was much better a year latter.
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9/14/2011 - tanglenet wrote:
This was served at an offline on Sunday. Disclosure: I'm still feeling the effects of a nasty summer cold (week 3) which has really impacted my sense of smell and somewhat dulled my sense of taste. The wine was picked up at the winery last week. Tip of the hat to GS for opening for us. Showing very young right now with a muted entry, somewhat light in body; with a balanced and focused finish. Lovely floral, black and blue berry notes. Needs to fill out on the front and middle which will do so with time. An elegant and well made wine. Very Good to Excellent.
It is really amazing the level of consistency and quality that Elias Fernandez produces with this wine. He really is a master craftsman, and I don't use that term lightly or frequently.
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4/30/2011 - RussK wrote: 91 Points
RUSSK Pablo's WW at PrVera. Mid Tier. 99RP
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