Drunk as part of a big California wine night. This is a pretty full-throttle wine and drinking perfectly at the moment. Deep, dark, and surprisingly sweet. Lots of dark berry notes--blackberry, cassis, dark cherries, maybe a dark plum, too--and some chocolate notes as well. If I were stretching, you could say there's some slate notes there, too, but the fruit really sits on top. Overall a silky, elegant, if by no means understated wine
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Aromatically very similar to the last example; pencil, blackberry, fresh leather in a potent combination. This approaches the ripeness line without crossing it, though it's a little warm in the mouth (not as much as I recall from 2020, though this came after many others). I like this quite a lot; it's got personality.
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big, massive, fruit bomb, cocoa, chocolate, enjoyable but not really for food. despite being 25 years old it was the last red of the lineup, and perfectly placed.
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On the nose and palate, medium powerful notes of cassis, sweet blackberries, black cherries, smoke, earthy minerality, anise, leather, dark florals, lead pencil, and dark roast coffee. Deep crimson, medium+, bodied, full legs. Tannins and acidity medium and completely, no heat. Great complexity, VG+ persistence, VG intensity. We tasted this blind, and I would have *never* guessed this was a HSS, a bottling among the most frequent I’ve had of premium, at least for me, Napa cabs, although never this far from the vintage date (and I probably hadn’t had a pre-2000 HSS in 15 years or so). This wine swapped out the power and intensity of the ‘04 and ‘09 which I’ve had in the past 18 months or so, for a far more lithe savoriness and elegance. It was beautiful, but I wished it had retained just a bit more of those traits. While I’m not sure if that’s indicative of a change in philosophy at Shafer at some point around 2000 or if this wine is just fully mature (or the answer to that question is just “Yes”) and I won’t go so far as CT friend MSU on where the wine is now, I’d be inclined to drink this sooner than later. CT score bang on. 95-96
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Shafer HS and a great steak. What a concept! Prime grade bone-in ribeye goes so well with this wine. Was a little dissapointed with the last time I drank this bottle, but the steak really brought it out. Drink anytime.
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Drank this wine for Mother's Day along with: 2008 Chateau Rauzan-Segla and 2012 Chateau Batailley
Poured a quarter of a glass during the afternoon and let the wine sit in the bottle until dinner time.
NOSE Intensity: pronounced Red fruits, perfume, cigar, red cherries, candy, hint of menthol, Nim Jiom Pei Pa Kao (Chinese herbal throat syrup) On the nose, very similar to the 1999 Chateau Palmer I had a few months back
PALATE Body: full Acidity: high Intensity: pronounced Dates, raisins, feels similar to an amarone, spices, red tea, tiny bit of cigar, caramel, vanilla, licorice, eucalyptus
TEXTURE Tannins: medium+, bordering high The tannins were chewy and comfortable, not distracting. Very round. A bit of spiciness
BALANCE Acidy, alcohol and tannins levels were all high. Overall, it was very well balanced and so smooth in my mouth. With the alcohol level at 14.5%, it really didn't feel like it.
COMPLEXITY The changes came slowly but consistently throughout the evening. Felt like if we left it a few more hours or over night, we would be tasting even more flavours.
FINISH Length: medium+ to long Eucalyptus, menthol and red tea aftertaste
CONCLUSION Readiness: Can drink now. But still have many many years ahead of it. I was expecting this to be powerful and heavy. But I didn't find it to be too filling and the overall structure of the wine was outstanding. Everyone liked this wine as the nose and palate was by far the best of the night.
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This Napa Cabernet tastes like it has reached its golden years, when it’s still alive but lacks the power, precision, and energy of days gone by. I'm not scoring because I can't guarantee the provenance, but I purchased this from the cellar of a three-star restaurant, so I’m as confident as one can be having not purchased it directly.
Garnet in color; medium in body; aromas of prune, blueberry compote, and menthol. Flavors of plum, pencil lead, leather, and underbrush, with a brief and grainy finish. 14.5% alcohol. This never shed its plummy and tired nature over the course of four hours. Again, it could just be the bottle, but I wouldn't recommend holding onto this for much longer.
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I must say the nose is beguiling, loaded with pencilly Cabernet, potent and incisive alongside rich blackberry. But on the palate I find this a bit too hot. Not that it’s unpleasurable, but it smudges the details and this terroir doesn’t deserve to be smudged!
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Nose: dense blueberry,, blackberry jam, sweet fruit, stones, thyme and leather. Palate: layered dense and youthful, but shedding its exuberant personality. Silky tannins, mineral and cedar give this great presence that show maturity and depth. Finish: lengthy and powerful cassis and blackberry notes.
Seems like there should be much more complexity at this stage, but the palate is packed and stacked with cool stags leap blue fruit. Much fresher than the Harlan served alongside.
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Absolutely beautiful wine. Not showing its age at all. Served on Mothers Day with grilled New York strips. No browning at the edge. Throwing a lot of sediment. Benefitted from a 90 minute decant. Black cherry, blackberry and currant, mocha, anise aromas. Black cherry, blackberry and currant, pencil lead, mocha, anise and a hint of tobacco on the palate. Long smooth finish. Showing really well now, but not going anywhere in a hurry.
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Sine Qua Non (SQN) Magnum Extravaganza + Bevan, Mike Smith, Sparkling/Champagne, and others (Calistoga): PnP and this at-first-look beauty caressed the palate with lovely black core fruit and black/blue river rock. With every moment of air, however, this HSS started to quickly soften. In little time, the mid-palate had become fairly lithe. Flavors of faint black currant, scorched earth, worn leather, and dried cranberry held interest, but they became washed away with a watery weight that diluted the initial intensity. I much appreciated the nuances here, but the body couldn’t seem to keep up with the flavors over time. The finish was fairly flat by the end of it all.
92-93 points based solely on the initial sips. For my palate, this is on the dark side of the moon in terms of its downward aging trajectory. Drink now and enjoy, but be mindful of its exposure to air.
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Decanted two hours. Deep dark color. Nose not very giving, but has some soft floral notes, maybe even plum and strawberry? Much greater depth on the palate. And the fruit is darker. But just not special.
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So many notes are accurate already. Very strange wine indeed. So much stuffing, plenty of fruit, plenty of tertiary things, smooth mouth feel, not tiring at all, but there is this bitterness that lingers.. not sure if it’s tannins that will melt, haven’t tasted enough serious Napa over time to tell. All I can compare it to is 96 Forts de Latour, which is in a very similar awkward stage. After tasting some extremely alive and delicious 1975 Forts, I would normally say maybe this wine is destined for the long haul, but like many have said, this wine has poor quality corks. It might actually be worth an inquiry to see if Shafer has an interest in recorking these.
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Good, but not as good as I expected. Late night-pop and pour. It came across as a bit chunky and monolithic. Perhaps it needed more air. Judgement reserved. 94+pts?
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Beautiful and intense bouquet with good chocolate and sweet vanilla. Same on the palate. Ripe blackberries and blueberries. Mature and luxurious wine. Great!
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Opened with Durand, since cork crumbled in the first two bottles of this. Opened easily. Decanted just before dinner. Clearly a very fine wine, with wonderful complexity, silky smooth, full bodied, very nice, lingering finish. Yet...I'm not excited about this. It seemed too sweet. My tastes have become much more old world. A glass of 2009 Lanessan drunk just before this seemed almost as satisfying at a tiny fraction of the price/value.
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This has really settled down and morphed into a dynamic, complex and complete tasting experience. The wine is intense and concentrated, balanced and rich, with nuances on the palate that hold through from start to finish. At 20 years of age, this is probably fully mature, but should provide great drinking for at least another decade or longer.
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Zachys/Mana tasting (Mana Contemporary (in Jersey City)): Tasted an HSS blind in an aged Cali tasting a few weeks ago and am just starting to get an appreciation for the amount of life in these wines. This was a complete baby. Had been opened and decanted for 2 hours and was still pretty tight. Alcohol a bit more prevalent than I would have liked (we'd just drunk a number of old world wines so more of a contrast). Mostly just not ready, but would love to sit with this in 20 years and see where it is.
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At Tampa CT Spring break. Cork broke on both bottles when I opened them, decanted the first through a strainer. Surprisingly, I think this could use another couple of years in the cellar; seemed slightly closed on nose and palate. But that said, it was beautifully balanced, and likely has significant upside.
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Maybe my expectations for Shafer Hillside have just gotten too high, and when you add in almost 20 years old from stellar vintage, drinking in Riedel Grand Crus and decanting a couple hours, I was expecting fireworks. While it's clearly a great, elite wine, I think it was still so dense I couldn't find flavors to enjoy. Maybe just too much. Not sure, but I'm disappointed. High class problem, I guess.
Stunning. One of the best Shafer HSS I have had. Smooth, and seamless upon opening. Sexy, seductive, and elegant. More like a Bordeaux than a modern Cali cab. Cherries, wet wood, pencil lead, wet charcoal. see previous notes.
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Terrific. Flirting with perfection. Sexy, subtle, old world, and very much like a 20 year old Bordeaux. Smooth as silk, wonderful red and blue fruits, a little dust, pencil shaving, and espresso. No heat. Just perfectly smooth and seductive.
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California Cult Cabernet dinner (Oak Mill Cafe - Chicago IL): Served alongside the 2001 vintage. Ripe black fruit, engaging spice, lots of vanilla and dark chocolate. Structure is in the background, but firm enough to provide balance and enable everything to come across as harmonious. One of my favorite wines of the night. Very good now, and I think this should drink great for another 5 years, perhaps longer. More pleasure now than the 2001, but I'd expect the opposite to be true in a decade.
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Unbelievable nose after cassis, cherries, tobacco leaves, elegant, concentrated fruit without being overpacing, ripe and silky tannins, still very young, at leat 10 more years ahead, long finish with a fresh acidity, deep, cool and complex with well integrated alcohol, 99p
Overall 3rd place with an average 97,2 points
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USA 1997 (By JK @ Bottles): Beautiful and luxurious bouquet with herbs and sweet spices. On the palate only luxury with sweet and ripe fruits, sweet spices, soft acidity and tannin. Very harmonious wine and completely ready now. This is a true feast! In its utmost optimum stage. It will probably stay here for a while, but I don’t see any reason to wait. If you own a really cold stored bottle it might need a few more years, but the bottle we had tonight was at its top!
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Jammy blackberries, blue fruit, smoky cherries and coffee bean notes create the aromatics. The wine is concentrated, fleshy, ripe and packed with plush sweet fruits. This still seems youthful at close 19 years of age.
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Very dark Crimson. Concentrated dark red fruit (brambles, raspberry jam, dark cherry) on the nose and palate. First impression of a round but young south Rhone (reminds of St.Joseph). More soft on palate (raspberry). Slightly tannic. Medium finish. Needs time.
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Side by side with 1995, Blind tasting Below the line the same rating but completely different wines. The 1997 is a typical Cal Cab from this vintage. Fullbodied, mighty with a lot of power. Fruit is still dominant, a lot of wood, but perfectly integrated alcohol, ripe and fine-grained tannins. A lively acidity, for me it will stay at this level for many years for I'M not sure it will improve. This is the difference to 1995.
1995 is elegant and not typical Cal. Many thought it could be a Bordeaux from a warmer year. The fruit is still present but more reluctant. In the foreground are cigarbox, oriental spices, mint (like Mouton and not Eukalytus like Martha's Vineyard) and pencil. 97 but with potential to 99.
Both wines are young with a very long finish and a lot of years ahead. Great wines but I would prefer the vintage 2001 Hillside select.
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It may be the finest wine I have ever had. Other top wines may have a bit more upfront but this is the most well-rounded and proportioned wine I have had. I simply was in awe and couldn't put the glass down. Tasted in in a lineup of a dozen highly rated, cult wines and this far outclasses them. Simply perfect.
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Decanted for 1 hour. The wine continued to open up and evolve with more air. Lots of blue and black fruit on the nose and palate. Still has lots of power and intensity. Hint of wood on the finish which faded with time in the glass and decanter. Absolutely beautiful wine and could probably get even better with more time.
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Shafer's 1997 Hillside Select is a magisterial wine of epic proportions, and by some margin my favorite example of this cuvée. Seriously endowed with fine-grained tannins, it needs some time in the decanter to open up, but when it does the aromatic display of blueberry, blackberry, spring flowers and woodsmoke is magical. On the palate this wine is undeniably massive, but the savory tannins give a more classical, mineral character to the wine than one finds in, say, the more super-ripe 2002 or 2007 vintages here. The 1997 Hillside is aging very gracefully indeed, without any trace of over-ripeness or heat, and may even be a few years away from its profound best. But it is a reference point for California Cabernet, and certainly one of the wines of the vintage.
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Wine Dinner at Collyer Catering In Westport, CT. (Collyer Catering): Was very excited to try this and it did not disappoint. Aromas of dried cherry, dusty berry, clove and blackberry on the nose. As the wine sat in the glass the nose continued to evolve. The palate revealed flavors of blackberry, red currant, dried cherry, touch of pepper, earth and mineral. Did not taste like a 17 year old wine because it was still very fresh and must have been impeccably stored. This wine had no hard edges, was incredibly balanced and had a finish that approached a minute. Simply an unbelievable wine.
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Obviously I am in the minority here based on all of the super high CT scores, but I just think this is a large scaled, overrated, over made, alcoholic, hot mess... that the rest of the world loves, including my wife. Well, she likes it just fine and compares it to Jordan et. al. I just found it heavy and cloddish and the coconut-vanilla-oak was too overpowering and covered the fruit. This is 1997? I could pass for a large scaled 2009 Cali. Cab. Also, I got that eucalyptus oil astringency that comes from wines like this. I have had this at 55 degrees since release and it is not an off bottle. Julie just read this and said she would rather have had the 2008 Jordan and that this was like a large scaled 2009 which is similar to my impressions.
Drank with Jeff and Nancy at Celina Tio's restaurant, Julian. This is why Shafer Hillside is my favorite wine in the world. Lots of everything, but in perfect balance and nothing over the top or exotic. Flavors are easy to enjoy, but long. Someone earlier commented this lacks secondary notes and I think that is accurate. But the primaries are so awesome who cares. Love this stuff.
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decanted 3.5 hours at room temperature. tasted throughout and found that 3.5 was about right. wonderful "pop" this wine has for being 16 years old. very lively with good balance. acidity was perfect. very enjoyable experience.
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Decanted 3 hours at room temp. Deep dark purple hue, young in appearance. At first some youth on the nose, very strident boysenberry nose. Well endowed, with huge gobs of intense fat fruit, boysenberry, powerful yet soft creamy blackberry, leather, slight graphite/lead pencil, with mocha hints, smidgeon of mint. Not showing too much on the secondary components but doubt that it ever will, as it’s all fruit pretty much. Silky in texture, meticulously constructed and ready for consumption. Nigh on perfect Napa cab. If CA cab is your thing, this surely hits it out the park, a masterpiece. Now thru 2035
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Purchased upon release. Wine was served straight from a cold cellar without any decanting. This wine is in a great space right now. If tasted blind, I would have thought the profile would indicate a much younger wine. Alcohol was a bit of a concern of mine for this wine in its infancy, but time has done wonders and allowed it to integrate well (though there is still very slight heat to the finish). Pronounced nose of dark cherries, sweet oak, graphite & asian spices. Definitely new world. IMHO it has hit its peak and can't imagine this getting any better.
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Everything is there, but relavite to my expectations I found it a bit underwhelming, maybe still in a closed phase, but the fruit is hidden and the complexity still owerpowered by the tannins.
Certainly very lovely, but this should be an example of mature Napa at it's finest and that it was not.
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Epic Wine Dinner at Bourbon Steak (Washington DC): A dense Napa Cab -- full of tart blackberries, blackcurrant jam, plums, blueberry pie, dark chocolate, and lead, with sweet herbs, and loam underneath. Quite nice.
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The 97 Cult cab/Meritage dinner at RIS in DC: Blackberries and blueberries, crèmes de cassis, coffee beans, coconut and cedar. Another impressive wine with exceptional concentration but for me a hint of alcohol at the back end. My guess Colgin.
RP 99, ST 95, CT 95.9 average, CT 95.9 Median 96
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From 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, this could be the best non cult Cabernet made in America. With stunning levels of concentrated, sweet, ripe, jammy, polished fruit, velvet textures, chocolate, blueberry, smoke, vanilla, boysenberry, blackberry jam, truffle and cherry, this intense wine coats your mouth in flavor and intensity. The finish seems endless. What a treat! This is probably my favorite vintage of this stunning wine yet produced.
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Drank with Steve the evening before AHG event. This wine is still very young but showing extremely well. Immense and monolithic right out of the bottle (no decanter at the restaurant). Over a three hour period it opened up beautifully. Amazing purity and balance with layers of ripe black fruits and secondary hints of coffee, chocolate, vanilla, tobacco, and cassis. Sixty second plus finish still lingering the next day in our minds. What an amazing wine! If you have a few bottles pop one now because life is short!
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STG End of Year (Roy's): tasted blind apparently, I was the only person bothered by the touch of VA on this wine. I found it medicinal on the nose, with some disjointed type of midpalate. It seemed a very different beast than the 2002 tasted next to it. anyway, no real notes, except it came in last of the flight.
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It's imprtessive, but not as direct and sharp in taste as I would have expected it to be. Nuts and sweetness; powerfull as only extracted Napa's can be. Pricey though
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Decanted 2 hours before serving. The wine was phenomenal. Very smooth and balanced with a great finish. One of the best cabernets I have tried. This wine is in prime and still has a lot of life left in it. If you have this in your cellar relish it, if you don’t find a friend who has some!
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Was expecting this wine to be "big." Opened 4 hours before dinner. The wine defied my expectation, & was complex, seemlessly well proportioned, classy. WOTN at our dinner at Hatfield's with our wine buddies. Outstanding!!
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WOW this wine is incredible. Massive considering its age, still dark and inky like a newer vintage. Blackberry on the nose with cassis undercurrents. Some blueberry nose with spices of cedar and tobacco and oak. Taste is massive but balanced full of fruit a slight hint of vanilla. Decanted for 4 hours this wine is big and bright and will age for years to come.
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A bruiser of a wine. Massive in all respects...but that is part of the trick with this wine - giant size but still balanced. This bodes very well for long keeping. Some tasters felt the wine showed as a 3-year old rather than a 13-year old. Have patience! This wine will become a legend. It is far from showing its best right now.
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Roy Hersh Offline - Dominus and Shafer HSS (Vancouver, BC): Dark red at the core, pink rim, looks like this wine is 3 years old, not 13. This is like smelling a barrel sample. Ripe and lush with blackberries, black plums, cassis and gobs of other black fruits. John said it best: “This is like drinking tar”. So thick and concentrated with a ton of tannins and acid. You need iron gums to taste this wine at this stage. The oak integration is perfect, but holy shit this is like a port. Tar-like on the palate with layer upon layer of black fruit. Lots of potential here, I think, but nothing particularly rewarding about the way this is drinking now. This needs another 10 years, probably more. No rating.
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EWG - Church & State - Cabs - Jan 3, 2009: Back to a big sweetie. Amazing that this is 13 years old. The fruit is so fresh and easily stands up to its oak clothing. Nice balance and not too heavy. I have only tasted a few Hillside Selects but they seem amazingly consistent. So much concentration and no unlikable flavors. Would I pick it is Cab. No. We were served a bottle blind last month and I don't recall anyone picking cab. I thought it was young Cali syrah.
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Very dark and youthful color. Lush bouquet with a lot of everything and remarkable sweetness. Enormously concentrated. A lot of ripe and sweet fruits, like dark cherries and cassis. Chocolate. The wine is soft and smooth, but the tannin is still so powerful. This can last at least another decade and has the potential to improve. Enormously long finish. Great wine!
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Paris Tasting in Zwolle (De Librije - Zwolle): 1997 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select (USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District) Kleur: Diep donkerrood met zelfs nog wat paars, enorme concentratie Aroma / bouquet: Krachtpatser. Enorme concentratie, mist op dit moment nog wat aan complexiteit. Donker fruit, veel extract, potloodslijpsel / gratiet. Ook wat bessen en viooltjes. Smaak / Afdronk: Heavy wijn, dik en geconcentreerd, enorme extractie, prachtig zacht zuur, boordevol boterzachte tannines, hout / vanille. Enorme lengte. Algemeen / potentieel: Krachtpatser met rijpingspotentieel, de komende jaren nog kindermoord. 50 + Kleur: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 11 + Smaak / Afdronk: 17 + Algemeen / potentieel: 8 = 91/100
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Dinner for Juan and Theresa (Our house): Decanted 2 hours. Lush yet soaring nose of great depth and featuring dark berries, spice, rich dark chocolate, and hints of cedar/tobacco. Rich full-bodied fruit immediately on entry. Many layers of primary flavors with some hint of secondary, giving a real sense of complexity and even a bit of finesse. Nicely textured with complex tannin sensations, good acidity and wonderful balance. Very persistent and complex length.
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Decanted 1.5 hours. Absolutely a terrific CA Cab hitting on all cylinders. Dark purple color with layers of rich luscious fruit. Long finish. Just a terrific bottle of wine.
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Dark purple color, almost opaque; nose of cassis, vanilla, toasty oak, and cigar box; full body with tremendous extraction, perfect balance and purity; tannins are soft and smooth; still tastes young with no signs of advanced age; drinking perfectly; finsihes long, in excess of 45 seconds; this baby will continue to evolve and drink well for a decade or more.
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Dark fruit on the nose of blackberry and current, lots of spice and some oak to go along with the wonderful nose. The tatse was HSS all the way. Balanced still tannic to a point and big fruit with chocolate, coffee, vanilla notes. This will age for years to come.
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Glad to have had a glass, and I may be underrating it as I got a bit of sediment. Big, deep black fruit, lots of vanilla, not much wrong with this. Ok, other than maybe a bit.....will I be sinning here?....monolithic? In fairness, I may have had some serious palate fatigue by now. Also, some definite bitterness at the very finish. In any case, thrilled to have had the glass, very tasty, hopefully sometime in the future can give this a more fair shake.
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California BYO @ Texture (London): California BYO @ Texture- deep purple color, this bottle had been open for a few hours before the dinner. its quite funny as the HSS comes in a big massive bottle and sat on the table as if it was king and the wine was the same way. it was full of lush sweet young fruits like currants, sour cherries and blueberries but also had great balance and poise for such a big wine. the finish was very long and the wine just rolls from front to mid to back of your palate. this wine is showing a lot but i think is just going to get better and better
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rather muted aromas of blackberry and cassis, this never really delivered for me, maybe my expectations were too high. Tasted at Liquid Assets Hillside Select Vertical tasting, the '96 outshone it. Don't get me wrong, it is a very good wine but not comparable to the 2001, 1991 or 1995 even.
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'80s and '90s California Cab Tasting w/ Bob Macdonald (Our House): Big, burly, and very oaky immediately upon opening, this settled down considerably with air. Super-ripe, sweet black fruit, coffee creme, and a faint whiff of VA. Large-scaled and still quite tannic. As with the '97 Montelena (see TN), this bottle didn't live up to this wine's stratospheric reputation.
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Rochelles Canteen- Drunk at Lunch-this was as dark purple in color as they get, and it even looked thick. smells of casis and spices, nutmeg and cinnamon. very vibrant and has a very big mouthfeel. you drink it , chew it and smell it all at the same time. really tasty sweet cali cab but very young, still developing. can be drunk now but i think i will try to put the rest of my bottles away for a while
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Deep garnet. The nose tells me that something is amiss, not the usual Shafer sweetness and flamboyance. There is a touch of VA, with black fruits, mellow. Tasted slightly older than it should. Very good, but I expect Shafer HSS to be great. We couldn't identify a specific flaw except the VA, so I rated this. For someone who has never had the Shafer, it would be considered good.
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Nice richness with soft supple tannins and smooth finish. Starting to show slight mustiness from again. Still wonderful to enjoy. This wine is aging gracefully.
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Intense aromatics, purity, depth of concentration and flavor coupled with perfect balance, ripeness, opulence and a long finsh that remained for over a minute makes this wine a stunning experience to taste.
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Dinner at home with Steve & Barb. Decanted for 5 hours. Dark purple in the glass, this is truly the height of what California Cab can be. Nicely resolved, yet still showing a load of fruit and freshness. Great balance and terrific glyceral richness in the mouth. No surprise that it was the perfect match with the grilled ribeye steaks. While I'm not sure this will ever be more enjoyable than it is now, I'm sure it will continue to drink very well for many years. Shafer Hillside is one of the few 1st Growths of California Cab. This reminds me why I drink ( and enjoy ) California Cab so infrequently - very few taste like this ! 50+13+14+9+9 = 95
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1990s Shafer Hillside Select Vertical (The Cellar Master's Lair (Somers, CT)): Brawny and bristling with full-throttle fruit flavors. Dark to the rim, with a pronounced complexity to the nose - under brush, pine sap, ripe black currant, Chinese five spice, and eucalyptus. As seems a HSS trait, the balance was impressive, especially in the "big" vintage which pushed CA cabs to the forefront of the wine world. One of the longest finishes of the night, with plenty of tannins to support 8 - 10 years of peak drinking. [Group placement 4/8]
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decanted. BIG wine, not displaying as much complexity as i recall from a previous bottle this year which i had control of. this is from a friends cellar, and i'm going to say it has some minor provenance issues, showing more mature than it should. nevertheless, very good.
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dark color, very thick wine, brambles on nose , dark fruits, a little sulpher...warm in mouth,very thick , explodes when you taste it,black fruits,ainise,smokey but great balance and long finish
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Decanter for two hours, but still needed another hour to really open and show its stuff. Performed better than I remember from my last bottle (12/2005), but I still think that the 94 is a better wine. However, that is the only negative I can give for the 97.
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Per Se - very nice. I had this on a table of pinots before and it got lost. Had it today with the Maybach Materium and a lot of decanting and it was lovely. The very best that cali cab can be. More wood than the 2002 SE, but the same sweet fruits. Really lovely.
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Shafer Hillside Select Vertical Dinner (1989-2002) (California Club, Los Angeles, CA): This wine proudly shows the strength of the vintage in the hands of a talented winemaker. Beautiful layers of cassis and red current (perfect match with the red currents in the lamb sauce BTW). Silky texture. Finishes with a hint of cedar, black tea, and mocha. A wonderful wine!
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Darker than 1994 and 1992. Thick and unctous. Elevated nose of lead pencil and plum. Very tasty and luscious. Absolutely spellbinding. Just went on and on. The best of tonight's tasting. Need to get more of this.
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Was lucky enough to have this wine twice in a week. Looks like an Alban Syrah - nearly opaque in the glass, with red/purple edges. Dense, lush, dark fruit along with licorice, tar, and smoke. Some soft, velvety berry in the middle. Very intoxicating. The palate shows like 3-5-year old wine, not a 10-year old wine. Still quite a lot of tannins, with blackberry fruit and an explosion of plum. (97 points) (Follow-up - this started to go away after 30 minutes in the glass. Re-scoring would result in 91 points as the wine just didn't have the complexity and full-body that it had originally. Very perplexing as this is not at all what happened when I had this wine three nights earlier.)
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The nose is more hedonistic than I remember it being when I last had it (from magnum!) in December 2005. Rich, lush, cedar, spicebox, and strawberry fruit. Focused, with plenty of tannins and backbone - this could be a new release '03. Cassis, sweet/sour strawberry, black fruits. Still totally primary, but seems to be on the verge of developing some more. Long, long finish.
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Shafer Hillside Select Vertical (Zealous - Chicago, IL): Deep dark ruby to purple. Layered nose of currants, cedar and floral notes. Ripe, deep and lush fruits marry with big tannins. Chunky and delicious --- but lacked the oomph I found in the 94, 95 and 96 SunSpot. 5+13+18+8=94
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New Years Eve of Wine Insanity: WOW - can california cab get any better than this? Still a bit tight (so much for the myth of '97s fading early), with beautiful concentration of black fruit, tannins that are more satin than silk, and a long, brightly polished finish. Wonderful, and fully deserving of the accolades piled upon it, and then some!
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At Azul w Jorge & Cindy Gonzalez. Decanted in open decanter for 1 hoiur, then capped in 1/2 full decanter 7 hours, and refrigerated for 1 hour.(It needed all of this.) A wonderful deep opulent wine that has yet show its real stuff. had to celebrate my 66th birthday this week. Will wait on my 75th for the last one.
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Steaks done Manlin style (Issaquah, WA): Edgy. Wowza, this is very spicy, very intense and very young. It easily stood up to the competion. A fantastic wine!
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1 bottle, Billy Crews' Dining Room, May '06, $250. Very dark in color, with no visible lightening at the edges. Closed on the nose immediately after pulling the cork -- opened considerably during the meal. Incredible aromas of ripe dark fruits (plum and casis) and very full-bodied on the palate. A finish that lasted in excess of one minute -- still tannic, but the tannins were velvety and sweet. A classic.
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With steaks at Steve's - deep, dark color. Iron, blood and black fruit on the nose. Rich and ripe, and while not my favorite style of wine, undeniably impressive. The best part was the long, lingering finish. It was a great match with the steaks, and the overall balance in the wine was outstanding.
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Initially very closed, almost dumb nose, it was a bit flirty tonight, sometimes closed sometimes quite open. On palate though this was shining, deep lushous glycerol, very full and long. Not quite as flashy as it has been in the past, still very youthful though.
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ESTG Does '94 - '97 California Cab's (Roy's Place): Good grief! Does it get any better than this? Fantastic nose - gobs of fruit with a light touch of vanilla and oak. The palate mirrored the nose with, gobs of fruit, some chocolate, a hint of espresso. Another extremely well balanced wine with huge, yet very silky tannins. Great stuff!
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Pinot Fight night (West Vancouver (Jeff's house)): This was a great and generous "starter" wine from Jeff, who is quite a HSS afficianado. After I got my head in the game (made a bad first guess what this was), great aromas and flavours of cassis, ripe blackberry, some minerality, creamy mouthfeel. Yummy!
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Tasted at Motley Cru dinner, 12/10/05. Awesome. Blew away the '97 Montelena. Big wine, but surprisingly integrated and approachable. Glad I have some more of this.
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This is a hedonistic wine! Intense, focused nose. Currant, a hint of cedar, some sweet oak. Strawberry cream marmalade. Plum. In the mouth the fruits turned blue/black. Some coffee bean, cocoa, lead. Sublime. Period. As Don said, this is one of those wines that might garner 101 points. Drunk from magnum.
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Based on recent raves, had decided to have this last night for my birthday with rack of lamb. I was very surprised at how integrated this has become over the past 4 years. Very powerrful, yet oh so elegent.
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I had the good fortune of finding this wine at a restaurant in DC for $210. With that kind of price, I had to pull the trigger (actually ended up getting 2 bottles). It is a quintessential California cabernet, with a soaring nose of ripe cassis, cherry and mixed spices including licorice and mint. This is a kind of wine that makes you appreciate good wine. It glides in your mouth like a smooth silk cloth, revealing tremedous amount of ripe fruit and sweetest tannins I've experienced in a while. Even with this kind of ripeness, it is never heavy nor cloying, rather it is so light on its feet due to the nice acidic backbone balancing out the ripeness. The finish does not leave you for a good 45 seconds and invites you to dive in for another sip.
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Tasted at Beltramo's with Doug Shafer in attendence. Per Beltramo's the wine was poured into the glasses about 1 hour prior to tasting. All vintages (1995-2001) appeared to me to be the same color due to the lighting which was a red purple color.
Dry cherry with celery, well integrated wine and very smooth.
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Ruby colour, more muted than the 2001. This is not a patch on a bottle tasted in the summer, some smooth fruit on the nose. Perhaps this is some 'bottle shock' these only arrived from the US a week earlier. A disapointment.
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Decanted for 3 hours. A terrific CA Cab ! Wonderful aroma of black currants and cherries. Fruit is so thick that you almost have to cut it with a knife. Very powerful and elegant and a very long delicious finish. Drinking well now but will probably be great for years to come.
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Gary Margol Offline (Bentley Hotel London): Black to ruby rim. Initial explosion on ripe blackcurrant, that flows into a more acidic, well balanced, tannic finish. Enormous length and depth. For me this had the slightest edge over the Screagle due to a saline / savoury quality that was much more evident in this wine. Absolutely magnificent stuff.
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My contribution to table #3 at the NYC Shafer Hillside Off-line at the Post House restaurant. Dark and deep color. Reticent on the nose. This is tightly wound and hard as nails. A wall of inpentetrability. Not enjoyable at the moment and defitinely infantcide. This was the outlier in the tasting. The only wine in the retrospective where the structure total obliterated the fruit. It is difficult to assess this at the moment but it should begin to come into its own in about a decade.
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Shafer Hillside Select Dinner (Manresa Restaurant, Los Gatos, California USA): Not much of a nose, a few folks suspected this wine was over-decanted. Palate showed ripe fruit, bitter chocolate, a nice texture, though a bit wood and lacking serious structure. Fairly tannic, won’t get any better. (Elias was against decanting the wines, except for removing sediment. His opinion is that decanting usually breaks down the wines and dulls the fruit with too much oxidation. Letting evolve in the glass is a much better strategy).
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2004 WS Wine Experience: Shafer HSS Vertical (Hyatt Regency, Chicago): There was perfect fruit set on the vines in 1997. They had a huge yield (3.5 tons/acre), with uniform fruit. This wine is explosive in the mouth, with multi-dimensional flavors, including tobacco, toasty dark fruit, and earth. If you like ‘em bold, don’t hold. Otherwise, this should age and improve for at least another 5-10 years.
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what's not to love? but for me, the fisher ruled because it wasn't the bully the shafer is. good god, this is a powerful, mega structured, sensational, anvil on your head cab. a special event wine. the splurge on a hooker who you know isn't a carrier, and you are prepared to be twisted into a knot wine. (reminds me of the russian wrestler pretzel hold joke). nobody identified this wine specifically, but there were many comments that this was a parker perfect 100.
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This is a wine that, at present, needs some serious decanting. Initially poured from bottle to glass, the wine just sat there, dark and brooding, refusing to give up anything. After 30+ minutes it started to taste like Cabernet. After almost 2 hours, the currant and berry flavors were very forward, but in great harmony with the overall structure of the wine. I think this will be a good one to try in 5 more years.
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Dark red, purple colour. Vanilla, smoke and turpentine on the nose. Pretty brutal in the mouth, but there's so much rich, sweet fruit here. Stylistically, this is probably as powerful a wine as I can handle. The rich chocolatey finish is long and pretty hardcore. But great!
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Dark red to purple. And a completely black core. This wine was a bit reluctant and probably served too cold. (My mistake). Upon warming up in the glass a huge, delightful sweetness evolved revealing moccha and leather notes. Also dark fruits galore! But this wine was just a hair too oaky for me. And maybe lacking a bit in complexity. The finish was long and pleasant.
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A great wine to share with great friends. Twice the wine the Insignia was!! Incredible fruit, incredible body but quite amazingly... INCREDIBLE balance. Tannins are quite tame. This actually closed down a little over the evening. This is awesome now but could get even better (what a concept!!) What a treat!!!!
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2/16/2024 - MAkita Likes this wine: 96 Points
Drunk as part of a big California wine night. This is a pretty full-throttle wine and drinking perfectly at the moment. Deep, dark, and surprisingly sweet. Lots of dark berry notes--blackberry, cassis, dark cherries, maybe a dark plum, too--and some chocolate notes as well. If I were stretching, you could say there's some slate notes there, too, but the fruit really sits on top. Overall a silky, elegant, if by no means understated wine
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12/3/2023 - englishman's claret wrote: 96 Points
Aromatically very similar to the last example; pencil, blackberry, fresh leather in a potent combination. This approaches the ripeness line without crossing it, though it's a little warm in the mouth (not as much as I recall from 2020, though this came after many others). I like this quite a lot; it's got personality.
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8/19/2023 - soyhead wrote:
big, massive, fruit bomb, cocoa, chocolate, enjoyable but not really for food. despite being 25 years old it was the last red of the lineup, and perfectly placed.
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8/19/2022 - sfwinelover1 Likes this wine: 96 Points
On the nose and palate, medium powerful notes of cassis, sweet blackberries, black cherries, smoke, earthy minerality, anise, leather, dark florals, lead pencil, and dark roast coffee. Deep crimson, medium+, bodied, full legs. Tannins and acidity medium and completely, no heat. Great complexity, VG+ persistence, VG intensity. We tasted this blind, and I would have *never* guessed this was a HSS, a bottling among the most frequent I’ve had of premium, at least for me, Napa cabs, although never this far from the vintage date (and I probably hadn’t had a pre-2000 HSS in 15 years or so). This wine swapped out the power and intensity of the ‘04 and ‘09 which I’ve had in the past 18 months or so, for a far more lithe savoriness and elegance. It was beautiful, but I wished it had retained just a bit more of those traits. While I’m not sure if that’s indicative of a change in philosophy at Shafer at some point around 2000 or if this wine is just fully mature (or the answer to that question is just “Yes”) and I won’t go so far as CT friend MSU on where the wine is now, I’d be inclined to drink this sooner than later. CT score bang on. 95-96
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8/19/2022 - soyhead wrote:
lovely wine with great perfume and delectable fruit. downright elegant. the purity of fruit is something to behold.
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10/16/2021 - levinml wrote: 96 Points
Shafer HS and a great steak. What a concept! Prime grade bone-in ribeye goes so well with this wine. Was a little dissapointed with the last time I drank this bottle, but the steak really brought it out. Drink anytime.
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5/8/2021 - Albert Wong Likes this wine: 96 Points
Drank this wine for Mother's Day along with:
2008 Chateau Rauzan-Segla and 2012 Chateau Batailley
Poured a quarter of a glass during the afternoon and let the wine sit in the bottle until dinner time.
NOSE
Intensity: pronounced
Red fruits, perfume, cigar, red cherries, candy, hint of menthol, Nim Jiom Pei Pa Kao (Chinese herbal throat syrup)
On the nose, very similar to the 1999 Chateau Palmer I had a few months back
PALATE
Body: full
Acidity: high
Intensity: pronounced
Dates, raisins, feels similar to an amarone, spices, red tea, tiny bit of cigar, caramel, vanilla, licorice, eucalyptus
TEXTURE
Tannins: medium+, bordering high
The tannins were chewy and comfortable, not distracting. Very round.
A bit of spiciness
BALANCE
Acidy, alcohol and tannins levels were all high. Overall, it was very well balanced and so smooth in my mouth.
With the alcohol level at 14.5%, it really didn't feel like it.
COMPLEXITY
The changes came slowly but consistently throughout the evening. Felt like if we left it a few more hours or over night, we would be tasting even more flavours.
FINISH
Length: medium+ to long
Eucalyptus, menthol and red tea aftertaste
CONCLUSION
Readiness: Can drink now. But still have many many years ahead of it.
I was expecting this to be powerful and heavy. But I didn't find it to be too filling and the overall structure of the wine was outstanding.
Everyone liked this wine as the nose and palate was by far the best of the night.
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12/25/2020 - msuwine wrote:
This Napa Cabernet tastes like it has reached its golden years, when it’s still alive but lacks the power, precision, and energy of days gone by. I'm not scoring because I can't guarantee the provenance, but I purchased this from the cellar of a three-star restaurant, so I’m as confident as one can be having not purchased it directly.
Garnet in color; medium in body; aromas of prune, blueberry compote, and menthol. Flavors of plum, pencil lead, leather, and underbrush, with a brief and grainy finish. 14.5% alcohol. This never shed its plummy and tired nature over the course of four hours. Again, it could just be the bottle, but I wouldn't recommend holding onto this for much longer.
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10/7/2020 - englishman's claret wrote: 93 Points
I must say the nose is beguiling, loaded with pencilly Cabernet, potent and incisive alongside rich blackberry. But on the palate I find this a bit too hot. Not that it’s unpleasurable, but it smudges the details and this terroir doesn’t deserve to be smudged!
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10/1/2020 - RockinCabs wrote: 95 Points
Nose: dense blueberry,, blackberry jam, sweet fruit, stones, thyme and leather. Palate: layered dense and youthful, but shedding its exuberant personality. Silky tannins, mineral and cedar give this great presence that show maturity and depth. Finish: lengthy and powerful cassis and blackberry notes.
Seems like there should be much more complexity at this stage, but the palate is packed and stacked with cool stags leap blue fruit. Much fresher than the Harlan served alongside.
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5/30/2020 - rm97 wrote: 96 Points
Stunningly good.
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5/10/2020 - gharter Likes this wine: 97 Points
Absolutely beautiful wine. Not showing its age at all. Served on Mothers Day with grilled New York strips. No browning at the edge. Throwing a lot of sediment. Benefitted from a 90 minute decant. Black cherry, blackberry and currant, mocha, anise aromas. Black cherry, blackberry and currant, pencil lead, mocha, anise and a hint of tobacco on the palate. Long smooth finish. Showing really well now, but not going anywhere in a hurry.
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9/28/2019 - AlexHop Likes this wine: 97 Points
Beautiful, perfect age. Still big bold flavors with plenty of spice, white pepper, herbs. Long long finish.
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6/25/2019 - bookert wrote: 93 Points
As expected, big and opulent with big but ripe tannins, though not overdone. A standout.
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11/8/2018 - JonnyG Likes this wine: 93 Points
A Special 40th Anniversary Celebration (Restaurant Daniel, New York City): More straightforward than complex, with signature cassis and black fruit notes, and a smooth, gentle texture. I do not see improvement ahead, and in fact suspect it is a bit past peak.
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8/4/2018 - csimm wrote: 93 Points
Sine Qua Non (SQN) Magnum Extravaganza + Bevan, Mike Smith, Sparkling/Champagne, and others (Calistoga): PnP and this at-first-look beauty caressed the palate with lovely black core fruit and black/blue river rock. With every moment of air, however, this HSS started to quickly soften. In little time, the mid-palate had become fairly lithe. Flavors of faint black currant, scorched earth, worn leather, and dried cranberry held interest, but they became washed away with a watery weight that diluted the initial intensity. I much appreciated the nuances here, but the body couldn’t seem to keep up with the flavors over time. The finish was fairly flat by the end of it all.
92-93 points based solely on the initial sips. For my palate, this is on the dark side of the moon in terms of its downward aging trajectory. Drink now and enjoy, but be mindful of its exposure to air.
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6/22/2018 - rcg62 wrote: 91 Points
Decanted two hours. Deep dark color. Nose not very giving, but has some soft floral notes, maybe even plum and strawberry? Much greater depth on the palate. And the fruit is darker. But just not special.
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5/4/2018 - Purple Grillz wrote: 91 Points
So many notes are accurate already. Very strange wine indeed. So much stuffing, plenty of fruit, plenty of tertiary things, smooth mouth feel, not tiring at all, but there is this bitterness that lingers.. not sure if it’s tannins that will melt, haven’t tasted enough serious Napa over time to tell. All I can compare it to is 96 Forts de Latour, which is in a very similar awkward stage. After tasting some extremely alive and delicious 1975 Forts, I would normally say maybe this wine is destined for the long haul, but like many have said, this wine has poor quality corks. It might actually be worth an inquiry to see if Shafer has an interest in recorking these.
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1/7/2018 - JulianSkeels wrote: 94 Points
Good, but not as good as I expected. Late night-pop and pour. It came across as a bit chunky and monolithic. Perhaps it needed more air. Judgement reserved. 94+pts?
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9/30/2017 - Zweder wrote: 98 Points
Beautiful and intense bouquet with good chocolate and sweet vanilla. Same on the palate. Ripe blackberries and blueberries. Mature and luxurious wine. Great!
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6/26/2017 - Lord Rayas wrote: flawed
Peter's MNSC (Petrus): corked.
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5/26/2017 - mattiasjansson wrote: 97 Points
Shafer Hillside Select in Boston (Boston): Has held up better than many '97s
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5/14/2017 - Ibetian wrote: 94 Points
Opened with Durand, since cork crumbled in the first two bottles of this. Opened easily. Decanted just before dinner. Clearly a very fine wine, with wonderful complexity, silky smooth, full bodied, very nice, lingering finish. Yet...I'm not excited about this. It seemed too sweet. My tastes have become much more old world. A glass of 2009 Lanessan drunk just before this seemed almost as satisfying at a tiny fraction of the price/value.
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4/8/2017 - Peech Likes this wine: 92 Points
Much, much smoother than I had expected. Smoky nose with a hint of vanilla, but overall much leaner than I would have guessed.
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2/9/2017 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
This has really settled down and morphed into a dynamic, complex and complete tasting experience. The wine is intense and concentrated, balanced and rich, with nuances on the palate that hold through from start to finish. At 20 years of age, this is probably fully mature, but should provide great drinking for at least another decade or longer.
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9/20/2016 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Zachys/Mana tasting (Mana Contemporary (in Jersey City)): Tasted an HSS blind in an aged Cali tasting a few weeks ago and am just starting to get an appreciation for the amount of life in these wines. This was a complete baby. Had been opened and decanted for 2 hours and was still pretty tight. Alcohol a bit more prevalent than I would have liked (we'd just drunk a number of old world wines so more of a contrast). Mostly just not ready, but would love to sit with this in 20 years and see where it is.
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7/14/2016 - mrmedoes wrote: flawed
Horribly corked. Kills you on something this aged
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3/20/2016 - Ibetian wrote: 94 Points
At Tampa CT Spring break. Cork broke on both bottles when I opened them, decanted the first through a strainer. Surprisingly, I think this could use another couple of years in the cellar; seemed slightly closed on nose and palate. But that said, it was beautifully balanced, and likely has significant upside.
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3/5/2016 - levinml wrote: 94 Points
Maybe my expectations for Shafer Hillside have just gotten too high, and when you add in almost 20 years old from stellar vintage, drinking in Riedel Grand Crus and decanting a couple hours, I was expecting fireworks. While it's clearly a great, elite wine, I think it was still so dense I couldn't find flavors to enjoy. Maybe just too much. Not sure, but I'm disappointed. High class problem, I guess.
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12/31/2015 - floridawinedrkr Likes this wine: 99 Points
Stunning. One of the best Shafer HSS I have had. Smooth, and seamless upon opening. Sexy, seductive, and elegant. More like a Bordeaux than a modern Cali cab. Cherries, wet wood, pencil lead, wet charcoal. see previous notes.
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12/16/2015 - floridawinedrkr Likes this wine: 99 Points
Terrific. Flirting with perfection. Sexy, subtle, old world, and very much like a 20 year old Bordeaux. Smooth as silk, wonderful red and blue fruits, a little dust, pencil shaving, and espresso. No heat. Just perfectly smooth and seductive.
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11/19/2015 - Burgundy Al wrote: 95 Points
California Cult Cabernet dinner (Oak Mill Cafe - Chicago IL): Served alongside the 2001 vintage. Ripe black fruit, engaging spice, lots of vanilla and dark chocolate. Structure is in the background, but firm enough to provide balance and enable everything to come across as harmonious. One of my favorite wines of the night. Very good now, and I think this should drink great for another 5 years, perhaps longer. More pleasure now than the 2001, but I'd expect the opposite to be true in a decade.
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10/2/2015 - aquacongas Likes this wine: 99 Points
Big Blind Tasting of 19 Reds from California 1997
For me 2nd place
Unbelievable nose after cassis, cherries, tobacco leaves, elegant, concentrated fruit without being overpacing, ripe and silky tannins, still very young, at leat 10 more years ahead, long finish with a fresh acidity, deep, cool and complex with well integrated alcohol, 99p
Overall 3rd place with an average 97,2 points
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9/26/2015 - jkoenen wrote: 98 Points
97 Napa-retrospective (Restaurant Bottles, Sas van Gent): Incredible smoothness, creme de cassis, toast, luxurious oak, verging on perfection... Wow. (my #1; group #3; scores 95-98)
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9/26/2015 - Zweder wrote: 98 Points
USA 1997 (By JK @ Bottles): Beautiful and luxurious bouquet with herbs and sweet spices. On the palate only luxury with sweet and ripe fruits, sweet spices, soft acidity and tannin. Very harmonious wine and completely ready now. This is a true feast! In its utmost optimum stage. It will probably stay here for a while, but I don’t see any reason to wait. If you own a really cold stored bottle it might need a few more years, but the bottle we had tonight was at its top!
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9/23/2015 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
Jammy blackberries, blue fruit, smoky cherries and coffee bean notes create the aromatics. The wine is concentrated, fleshy, ripe and packed with plush sweet fruits. This still seems youthful at close 19 years of age.
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8/22/2015 - Revenga Likes this wine: 89 Points
Very dark Crimson. Concentrated dark red fruit (brambles, raspberry jam, dark cherry) on the nose and palate. First impression of a round but young south Rhone (reminds of St.Joseph). More soft on palate (raspberry). Slightly tannic. Medium finish. Needs time.
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4/11/2015 - aquacongas wrote: 97 Points
Side by side with 1995, Blind tasting
Below the line the same rating but completely different wines. The 1997 is a typical Cal Cab from this vintage. Fullbodied, mighty with a lot of power. Fruit is still dominant, a lot of wood, but perfectly integrated alcohol, ripe and fine-grained tannins. A lively acidity, for me it will stay at this level for many years for I'M not sure it will improve. This is the difference to 1995.
1995 is elegant and not typical Cal. Many thought it could be a Bordeaux from a warmer year. The fruit is still present but more reluctant. In the foreground are cigarbox, oriental spices, mint (like Mouton and not Eukalytus like Martha's Vineyard) and pencil. 97 but with potential to 99.
Both wines are young with a very long finish and a lot of years ahead. Great wines but I would prefer the vintage 2001 Hillside select.
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1/23/2015 - soyhead wrote:
nose - brandy-esque smoked orange
mouth - complex bitter red fruit, raspberry, bitter cherry, very complex, licorice, great wine!
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12/20/2014 - ledwards wrote: 100 Points
It may be the finest wine I have ever had. Other top wines may have a bit more upfront but this is the most well-rounded and proportioned wine I have had. I simply was in awe and couldn't put the glass down. Tasted in in a lineup of a dozen highly rated, cult wines and this far outclasses them. Simply perfect.
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5/24/2014 - Barbaro wrote: 96 Points
Decanted for 1 hour. The wine continued to open up and evolve with more air. Lots of blue and black fruit on the nose and palate. Still has lots of power and intensity. Hint of wood on the finish which faded with time in the glass and decanter. Absolutely beautiful wine and could probably get even better with more time.
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5/8/2014 - William Kelley Likes this wine:
Shafer's 1997 Hillside Select is a magisterial wine of epic proportions, and by some margin my favorite example of this cuvée. Seriously endowed with fine-grained tannins, it needs some time in the decanter to open up, but when it does the aromatic display of blueberry, blackberry, spring flowers and woodsmoke is magical. On the palate this wine is undeniably massive, but the savory tannins give a more classical, mineral character to the wine than one finds in, say, the more super-ripe 2002 or 2007 vintages here. The 1997 Hillside is aging very gracefully indeed, without any trace of over-ripeness or heat, and may even be a few years away from its profound best. But it is a reference point for California Cabernet, and certainly one of the wines of the vintage.
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2/14/2014 - AtoZ wrote: 94 Points
Delicious. Needed a decant to integrate the wood. Still most primary.
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1/11/2014 - slywka7 Likes this wine: 100 Points
Wine Dinner at Collyer Catering In Westport, CT. (Collyer Catering): Was very excited to try this and it did not disappoint. Aromas of dried cherry, dusty berry, clove and blackberry on the nose. As the wine sat in the glass the nose continued to evolve. The palate revealed flavors of blackberry, red currant, dried cherry, touch of pepper, earth and mineral. Did not taste like a 17 year old wine because it was still very fresh and must have been impeccably stored. This wine had no hard edges, was incredibly balanced and had a finish that approached a minute. Simply an unbelievable wine.
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11/17/2013 - shaferguy91 wrote: 95 Points
Decanted 1.5 hours.
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8/24/2013 - Charlie Carnes Does not like this wine: 80 Points
Obviously I am in the minority here based on all of the super high CT scores, but I just think this is a large scaled, overrated, over made, alcoholic, hot mess... that the rest of the world loves, including my wife. Well, she likes it just fine and compares it to Jordan et. al. I just found it heavy and cloddish and the coconut-vanilla-oak was too overpowering and covered the fruit. This is 1997? I could pass for a large scaled 2009 Cali. Cab. Also, I got that eucalyptus oil astringency that comes from wines like this. I have had this at 55 degrees since release and it is not an off bottle. Julie just read this and said she would rather have had the 2008 Jordan and that this was like a large scaled 2009 which is similar to my impressions.
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7/1/2013 - Wine_lvr wrote: flawed
Shafer Hillside Select Vertical Tasting (Switzerland): Big disappointment. The 1997 was flawed! Behind the TCA there is a blockbuster wine. I am looking forward to the next opportunity to try this wine
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5/11/2013 - levinml wrote: 98 Points
Drank with Jeff and Nancy at Celina Tio's restaurant, Julian. This is why Shafer Hillside is my favorite wine in the world. Lots of everything, but in perfect balance and nothing over the top or exotic. Flavors are easy to enjoy, but long. Someone earlier commented this lacks secondary notes and I think that is accurate. But the primaries are so awesome who cares. Love this stuff.
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5/11/2013 - TeamFlynn Likes this wine: 97 Points
decanted 3.5 hours at room temperature. tasted throughout and found that 3.5 was about right. wonderful "pop" this wine has for being 16 years old. very lively with good balance. acidity was perfect. very enjoyable experience.
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4/1/2013 - Peech Likes this wine: 94 Points
smoky and concentrated on the palate. Nice, ripe fruit with vanilla.
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3/4/2013 - Peech Likes this wine: 96 Points
huge nose of sweet fruits, vanilla, tangerine... Sweet on the palate.
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3/4/2013 - Lord Rayas Likes this wine: 95 Points
MNSC - Kevin (Cepage): lush and velvety, vanilla, toffee. excellent showing.
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2/25/2013 - shaferguy91 wrote: 98 Points
Decanted 2 hours.
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2/12/2013 - MDV wrote: 98 Points
Decanted 3 hours at room temp.
Deep dark purple hue, young in appearance.
At first some youth on the nose, very strident boysenberry nose.
Well endowed, with huge gobs of intense fat fruit, boysenberry, powerful yet soft creamy blackberry, leather, slight graphite/lead pencil, with mocha hints, smidgeon of mint. Not showing too much on the secondary components but doubt that it ever will, as it’s all fruit pretty much.
Silky in texture, meticulously constructed and ready for consumption.
Nigh on perfect Napa cab. If CA cab is your thing, this surely hits it out the park, a masterpiece. Now thru 2035
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12/2/2012 - JOwzer Likes this wine: 96 Points
Purchased upon release. Wine was served straight from a cold cellar without any decanting. This wine is in a great space right now. If tasted blind, I would have thought the profile would indicate a much younger wine. Alcohol was a bit of a concern of mine for this wine in its infancy, but time has done wonders and allowed it to integrate well (though there is still very slight heat to the finish). Pronounced nose of dark cherries, sweet oak, graphite & asian spices. Definitely new world. IMHO it has hit its peak and can't imagine this getting any better.
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6/25/2012 - aegerter Likes this wine: 93 Points
Everything is there, but relavite to my expectations I found it a bit underwhelming, maybe still in a closed phase, but the fruit is hidden and the complexity still owerpowered by the tannins.
Certainly very lovely, but this should be an example of mature Napa at it's finest and that it was not.
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4/18/2012 - davidwhitedc wrote: 94 Points
Epic Wine Dinner at Bourbon Steak (Washington DC): A dense Napa Cab -- full of tart blackberries, blackcurrant jam, plums, blueberry pie, dark chocolate, and lead, with sweet herbs, and loam underneath. Quite nice.
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12/21/2011 - dcwino wrote: 96 Points
The 97 Cult cab/Meritage dinner at RIS in DC: Blackberries and blueberries, crèmes de cassis, coffee beans, coconut and cedar. Another impressive wine with exceptional concentration but for me a hint of alcohol at the back end. My guess Colgin.
RP 99, ST 95, CT 95.9 average, CT 95.9 Median 96
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11/29/2011 - Jeff Leve wrote: 99 Points
From 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, this could be the best non cult Cabernet made in America. With stunning levels of concentrated, sweet, ripe, jammy, polished fruit, velvet textures, chocolate, blueberry, smoke, vanilla, boysenberry, blackberry jam, truffle and cherry, this intense wine coats your mouth in flavor and intensity. The finish seems endless. What a treat! This is probably my favorite vintage of this stunning wine yet produced.
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9/22/2011 - Mr. Muga wrote: 98 Points
Drank with Steve the evening before AHG event. This wine is still very young but showing extremely well. Immense and monolithic right out of the bottle (no decanter at the restaurant). Over a three hour period it opened up beautifully. Amazing purity and balance with layers of ripe black fruits and secondary hints of coffee, chocolate, vanilla, tobacco, and cassis. Sixty second plus finish still lingering the next day in our minds. What an amazing wine! If you have a few bottles pop one now because life is short!
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9/21/2011 - keithgg wrote:
I gave this 98 points in 2007- my, how my taste has changed! Way too ripe and alcoholic for my palate these days.
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4/3/2011 - shaferguy91 wrote:
NO rating . It was definitely good but I have a horrible cold and I could not really taste it well. It was a waste on me. Decanted 2 hours.
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1/21/2011 - tarheel17 wrote:
STG End of Year (Roy's): tasted blind
apparently, I was the only person bothered by the touch of VA on this wine. I found it medicinal on the nose, with some disjointed type of midpalate. It seemed a very different beast than the 2002 tasted next to it. anyway, no real notes, except it came in last of the flight.
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12/10/2010 - ChiefNose wrote: 95 Points
It's imprtessive, but not as direct and sharp in taste as I would have expected it to be. Nuts and sweetness; powerfull as only extracted Napa's can be. Pricey though
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11/13/2010 - stevedg wrote: 98 Points
Decanted 2 hours before serving. The wine was phenomenal. Very smooth and balanced with a great finish. One of the best cabernets I have tried. This wine is in prime and still has a lot of life left in it. If you have this in your cellar relish it, if you don’t find a friend who has some!
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10/9/2010 - bonniewai@waiconnor.com wrote: 99 Points
Was expecting this wine to be "big." Opened 4 hours before dinner. The wine defied my expectation, & was complex, seemlessly well proportioned, classy. WOTN at our dinner at Hatfield's with our wine buddies. Outstanding!!
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6/6/2010 - mcneil7 wrote: 97 Points
WOW this wine is incredible. Massive considering its age, still dark and inky like a newer vintage. Blackberry on the nose with cassis undercurrents. Some blueberry nose with spices of cedar and tobacco and oak. Taste is massive but balanced full of fruit a slight hint of vanilla. Decanted for 4 hours this wine is big and bright and will age for years to come.
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4/30/2010 - Blair Curtis wrote: 97 Points
A bruiser of a wine. Massive in all respects...but that is part of the trick with this wine - giant size but still balanced. This bodes very well for long keeping. Some tasters felt the wine showed as a 3-year old rather than a 13-year old. Have patience! This wine will become a legend. It is far from showing its best right now.
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4/24/2010 - godx wrote:
Roy Hersh Offline - Dominus and Shafer HSS (Vancouver, BC): Dark red at the core, pink rim, looks like this wine is 3 years old, not 13. This is like smelling a barrel sample. Ripe and lush with blackberries, black plums, cassis and gobs of other black fruits. John said it best: “This is like drinking tar”. So thick and concentrated with a ton of tannins and acid. You need iron gums to taste this wine at this stage. The oak integration is perfect, but holy shit this is like a port. Tar-like on the palate with layer upon layer of black fruit. Lots of potential here, I think, but nothing particularly rewarding about the way this is drinking now. This needs another 10 years, probably more. No rating.
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1/3/2010 - jasonh wrote:
EWG - Church & State - Cabs - Jan 3, 2009: Back to a big sweetie. Amazing that this is 13 years old. The fruit is so fresh and easily stands up to its oak clothing. Nice balance and not too heavy. I have only tasted a few Hillside Selects but they seem amazingly consistent. So much concentration and no unlikable flavors. Would I pick it is Cab. No. We were served a bottle blind last month and I don't recall anyone picking cab. I thought it was young Cali syrah.
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11/14/2009 - Zweder wrote: 96 Points
Very dark and youthful color. Lush bouquet with a lot of everything and remarkable sweetness. Enormously concentrated. A lot of ripe and sweet fruits, like dark cherries and cassis. Chocolate. The wine is soft and smooth, but the tannin is still so powerful. This can last at least another decade and has the potential to improve. Enormously long finish. Great wine!
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11/14/2009 - WildeMeeuw wrote: 91 Points
Paris Tasting in Zwolle (De Librije - Zwolle): 1997 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select (USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District) Kleur: Diep donkerrood met zelfs nog wat paars, enorme concentratie Aroma / bouquet: Krachtpatser. Enorme concentratie, mist op dit moment nog wat aan complexiteit. Donker fruit, veel extract, potloodslijpsel / gratiet. Ook wat bessen en viooltjes. Smaak / Afdronk: Heavy wijn, dik en geconcentreerd, enorme extractie, prachtig zacht zuur, boordevol boterzachte tannines, hout / vanille. Enorme lengte. Algemeen / potentieel: Krachtpatser met rijpingspotentieel, de komende jaren nog kindermoord. 50 + Kleur: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 11 + Smaak / Afdronk: 17 + Algemeen / potentieel: 8 = 91/100
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10/26/2009 - thomaskeil wrote: 96 Points
Dinner for Juan and Theresa (Our house): Decanted 2 hours. Lush yet soaring nose of great depth and featuring dark berries, spice, rich dark chocolate, and hints of cedar/tobacco. Rich full-bodied fruit immediately on entry. Many layers of primary flavors with some hint of secondary, giving a real sense of complexity and even a bit of finesse. Nicely textured with complex tannin sensations, good acidity and wonderful balance. Very persistent and complex length.
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10/18/2009 - shaferguy91 wrote: 97 Points
Decanted 1.5 hours. Absolutely a terrific CA Cab hitting on all cylinders. Dark purple color with layers of rich luscious fruit. Long finish. Just a terrific bottle of wine.
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9/18/2009 - knelsfk wrote: 97 Points
Dark purple color, almost opaque; nose of cassis, vanilla, toasty oak, and cigar box; full body with tremendous extraction, perfect balance and purity; tannins are soft and smooth; still tastes young with no signs of advanced age; drinking perfectly; finsihes long, in excess of 45 seconds; this baby will continue to evolve and drink well for a decade or more.
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7/19/2009 - mcneil7 wrote: 95 Points
Dark fruit on the nose of blackberry and current, lots of spice and some oak to go along with the wonderful nose. The tatse was HSS all the way. Balanced still tannic to a point and big fruit with chocolate, coffee, vanilla notes. This will age for years to come.
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6/17/2009 - snordhoff wrote: 95 Points
TNs: Latour, La Turque SQN, LLC, Shafer HSS, Alban, Bryant, etc. (Rancho Sante Fe): Still young. Extremely ripe even after 12 years. A cascade of fruit on the nose and palate with wonderful balance. Maybe not as structured and complex as the better Bordeauxs this day, but damn tasty.
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5/30/2009 - cadamson wrote: 92 Points
Glad to have had a glass, and I may be underrating it as I got a bit of sediment. Big, deep black fruit, lots of vanilla, not much wrong with this. Ok, other than maybe a bit.....will I be sinning here?....monolithic? In fairness, I may have had some serious palate fatigue by now. Also, some definite bitterness at the very finish. In any case, thrilled to have had the glass, very tasty, hopefully sometime in the future can give this a more fair shake.
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5/28/2009 - reichken wrote: 97 Points
California BYO @ Texture (London): California BYO @ Texture- deep purple color, this bottle had been open for a few hours before the dinner. its quite funny as the HSS comes in a big massive bottle and sat on the table as if it was king and the wine was the same way. it was full of lush sweet young fruits like currants, sour cherries and blueberries but also had great balance and poise for such a big wine. the finish was very long and the wine just rolls from front to mid to back of your palate. this wine is showing a lot but i think is just going to get better and better
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5/25/2009 - jivey wrote: 92 Points
Most approciable hilside I have had but still just built like a brick, blueberry, vanilla, cherry, mocha notes on a closed finish. Big wine!
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5/16/2009 - Ki Punwar wrote: 93 Points
rather muted aromas of blackberry and cassis, this never really delivered for me, maybe my expectations were too high. Tasted at Liquid Assets Hillside Select Vertical tasting, the '96 outshone it. Don't get me wrong, it is a very good wine but not comparable to the 2001, 1991 or 1995 even.
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5/11/2009 - Siggy wrote: 90 Points
'80s and '90s California Cab Tasting w/ Bob Macdonald (Our House): Big, burly, and very oaky immediately upon opening, this settled down considerably with air. Super-ripe, sweet black fruit, coffee creme, and a faint whiff of VA. Large-scaled and still quite tannic. As with the '97 Montelena (see TN), this bottle didn't live up to this wine's stratospheric reputation.
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4/28/2009 - psmith wrote:
1994 and 1997 California Cabernet Retrospective (Chicago, IL): Bright, vibrant cassis and red fruit notes. Well balanced and finely tannic. Great purity. Very nice wine. Rated 19/20.
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2/28/2009 - Cheryl wrote:
Craft NYC/LA Live (New York, NY): Green and alcoholic. What's with me tonight?! :(
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1/28/2009 - reichken wrote: 97 Points
Rochelles Canteen- Drunk at Lunch-this was as dark purple in color as they get, and it even looked thick. smells of casis and spices, nutmeg and cinnamon. very vibrant and has a very big mouthfeel. you drink it , chew it and smell it all at the same time. really tasty sweet cali cab but very young, still developing. can be drunk now but i think i will try to put the rest of my bottles away for a while
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12/27/2008 - Harry Cantrell wrote: 91 Points
Deep garnet. The nose tells me that something is amiss, not the usual Shafer sweetness and flamboyance. There is a touch of VA, with black fruits, mellow. Tasted slightly older than it should. Very good, but I expect Shafer HSS to be great. We couldn't identify a specific flaw except the VA, so I rated this. For someone who has never had the Shafer, it would be considered good.
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5/6/2008 - jhngo wrote: 97 Points
Nice richness with soft supple tannins and smooth finish. Starting to show slight mustiness from again. Still wonderful to enjoy. This wine is aging gracefully.
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4/21/2008 - Jeff Leve wrote: 99 Points
Intense aromatics, purity, depth of concentration and flavor coupled with perfect balance, ripeness, opulence and a long finsh that remained for over a minute makes this wine a stunning experience to taste.
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2/2/2008 - JeffGMorris wrote: 95 Points
Dinner at home with Steve & Barb. Decanted for 5 hours. Dark purple in the glass, this is truly the height of what California Cab can be. Nicely resolved, yet still showing a load of fruit and freshness. Great balance and terrific glyceral richness in the mouth. No surprise that it was the perfect match with the grilled ribeye steaks. While I'm not sure this will ever be more enjoyable than it is now, I'm sure it will continue to drink very well for many years. Shafer Hillside is one of the few 1st Growths of California Cab. This reminds me why I drink ( and enjoy ) California Cab so infrequently - very few taste like this ! 50+13+14+9+9 = 95
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1/17/2008 - ERoss wrote: 95 Points
1990s Shafer Hillside Select Vertical (The Cellar Master's Lair (Somers, CT)): Brawny and bristling with full-throttle fruit flavors. Dark to the rim, with a pronounced complexity to the nose - under brush, pine sap, ripe black currant, Chinese five spice, and eucalyptus. As seems a HSS trait, the balance was impressive, especially in the "big" vintage which pushed CA cabs to the forefront of the wine world. One of the longest finishes of the night, with plenty of tannins to support 8 - 10 years of peak drinking. [Group placement 4/8]
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1/1/2008 - jeff nowak wrote: 93 Points
decanted. BIG wine, not displaying as much complexity as i recall from a previous bottle this year which i had control of. this is from a friends cellar, and i'm going to say it has some minor provenance issues, showing more mature than it should. nevertheless, very good.
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9/1/2007 - reichken wrote: 96 Points
dark color, very thick wine, brambles on nose , dark fruits, a little sulpher...warm in mouth,very thick , explodes when you taste it,black fruits,ainise,smokey but great balance and long finish
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8/8/2007 - jwgauthier wrote:
Decanter for two hours, but still needed another hour to really open and show its stuff. Performed better than I remember from my last bottle (12/2005), but I still think that the 94 is a better wine. However, that is the only negative I can give for the 97.
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6/16/2007 - Cheryl wrote:
Per Se - very nice. I had this on a table of pinots before and it got lost. Had it today with the Maybach Materium and a lot of decanting and it was lovely. The very best that cali cab can be. More wood than the 2002 SE, but the same sweet fruits. Really lovely.
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6/11/2007 - zazoo wrote: 98 Points
I love this stuff. Rich and powerfull
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4/28/2007 - Paul Lin wrote: 94 Points
Shafer Hillside Select Vertical Dinner (1989-2002) (California Club, Los Angeles, CA): This wine proudly shows the strength of the vintage in the hands of a talented winemaker. Beautiful layers of cassis and red current (perfect match with the red currents in the lamb sauce BTW). Silky texture. Finishes with a hint of cedar, black tea, and mocha. A wonderful wine!
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4/25/2007 - acheng wrote: 97 Points
Darker than 1994 and 1992. Thick and unctous. Elevated nose of lead pencil and plum. Very tasty and luscious. Absolutely spellbinding. Just went on and on. The best of tonight's tasting. Need to get more of this.
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4/22/2007 - tommydiesel wrote:
at Pace's with the Tantillo's,its as good as it gets.
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4/21/2007 - MarkC wrote: 97 Points
Was lucky enough to have this wine twice in a week. Looks like an Alban Syrah - nearly opaque in the glass, with red/purple edges. Dense, lush, dark fruit along with licorice, tar, and smoke. Some soft, velvety berry in the middle. Very intoxicating. The palate shows like 3-5-year old wine, not a 10-year old wine. Still quite a lot of tannins, with blackberry fruit and an explosion of plum. (97 points) (Follow-up - this started to go away after 30 minutes in the glass. Re-scoring would result in 91 points as the wine just didn't have the complexity and full-body that it had originally. Very perplexing as this is not at all what happened when I had this wine three nights earlier.)
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4/21/2007 - Steve Williams wrote: 94 Points
Showed good depth, but not as much as last Wednesday. Seemed closed and not as robust. Had this four times, and this was the worst showing.
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4/19/2007 - MarkC wrote: 97 Points
The nose is more hedonistic than I remember it being when I last had it (from magnum!) in December 2005. Rich, lush, cedar, spicebox, and strawberry fruit. Focused, with plenty of tannins and backbone - this could be a new release '03. Cassis, sweet/sour strawberry, black fruits. Still totally primary, but seems to be on the verge of developing some more. Long, long finish.
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2/16/2007 - keithgg wrote: 98 Points
Don't worry about 97 cabs like this fading. Many years of life and improvement remain.
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2/9/2007 - psmith wrote:
A great assortment from a generous friend (Columbus, OH): Still very ripe and rich. Firmly but finely tannic. Modern-styling. Seamless and pure. Really tasty but no real distinguishing character.
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1/11/2007 - Nanda wrote: 94 Points
Shafer Hillside Select Vertical (Zealous - Chicago, IL): Deep dark ruby to purple. Layered nose of currants, cedar and floral notes. Ripe, deep and lush fruits marry with big tannins. Chunky and delicious --- but lacked the oomph I found in the 94, 95 and 96 SunSpot. 5+13+18+8=94
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1/1/2007 - beaunehead wrote: 98 Points
New Years Eve of Wine Insanity: WOW - can california cab get any better than this? Still a bit tight (so much for the myth of '97s fading early), with beautiful concentration of black fruit, tannins that are more satin than silk, and a long, brightly polished finish. Wonderful, and fully deserving of the accolades piled upon it, and then some!
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12/9/2006 - shaferguy91 wrote: 97 Points
Decanted 2 hours. Spectacular !
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11/27/2006 - kstoddard wrote: 96 Points
G7 (Jeff): Dark blackcurrant fruit. Spicy and rich finish. Hillside always performs. Fantastic wine.
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10/14/2006 - markellen.foodies@gmail.com wrote: 97 Points
At Azul w Jorge & Cindy Gonzalez. Decanted in open decanter for 1 hoiur, then capped in 1/2 full decanter 7 hours, and refrigerated for 1 hour.(It needed all of this.) A wonderful deep opulent wine that has yet show its real stuff. had to celebrate my 66th birthday this week. Will wait on my 75th for the last one.
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7/16/2006 - jonphillips wrote: 95 Points
Good, but grew a little tiresome over the life of the bottle
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6/17/2006 - Eric wrote: 96 Points
Steaks done Manlin style (Issaquah, WA): Edgy. Wowza, this is very spicy, very intense and very young. It easily stood up to the competion. A fantastic wine!
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5/8/2006 - tbabes wrote: 97 Points
1 bottle, Billy Crews' Dining Room, May '06, $250. Very dark in color, with no visible lightening at the edges. Closed on the nose immediately after pulling the cork -- opened considerably during the meal. Incredible aromas of ripe dark fruits (plum and casis) and very full-bodied on the palate. A finish that lasted in excess of one minute -- still tannic, but the tannins were velvety and sweet. A classic.
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4/26/2006 - Rieslingfan wrote:
With steaks at Steve's - deep, dark color. Iron, blood and black fruit on the nose. Rich and ripe, and while not my favorite style of wine, undeniably impressive. The best part was the long, lingering finish. It was a great match with the steaks, and the overall balance in the wine was outstanding.
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3/29/2006 - Russell Faulkner wrote: 95 Points
Initially very closed, almost dumb nose, it was a bit flirty tonight, sometimes closed sometimes quite open. On palate though this was shining, deep lushous glycerol, very full and long. Not quite as flashy as it has been in the past, still very youthful though.
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3/27/2006 - Tubbs wrote: 96 Points
ESTG Does '94 - '97 California Cab's (Roy's Place): Good grief! Does it get any better than this? Fantastic nose - gobs of fruit with a light touch of vanilla and oak. The palate mirrored the nose with, gobs of fruit, some chocolate, a hint of espresso. Another extremely well balanced wine with huge, yet very silky tannins. Great stuff!
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1/8/2006 - Blair Curtis wrote: 96 Points
Pinot Fight night (West Vancouver (Jeff's house)): This was a great and generous "starter" wine from Jeff, who is quite a HSS afficianado. After I got my head in the game (made a bad first guess what this was), great aromas and flavours of cassis, ripe blackberry, some minerality, creamy mouthfeel. Yummy!
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12/14/2005 - Steve Williams wrote: 100 Points
Tasted at Motley Cru dinner, 12/10/05. Awesome. Blew away the '97 Montelena. Big wine, but surprisingly integrated and approachable. Glad I have some more of this.
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12/10/2005 - MarkC wrote: 100 Points
This is a hedonistic wine! Intense, focused nose. Currant, a hint of cedar, some sweet oak. Strawberry cream marmalade. Plum. In the mouth the fruits turned blue/black. Some coffee bean, cocoa, lead. Sublime. Period. As Don said, this is one of those wines that might garner 101 points. Drunk from magnum.
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12/7/2005 - jwgauthier wrote: 96 Points
A more intense version of the 1995, this was still a bit harsh and tannic at this point and again, needs a few more years before opening. 96+ points.
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11/6/2005 - buckeye76 wrote: 96 Points
DEEP BERRY FRUIT IN THE NOSE AND FLAVOR, BLACKBERRIES AND CURRANTS. NICE COMPLEXITY AND A LONG FINISH.
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10/30/2005 - thomaskeil wrote: 96 Points
Based on recent raves, had decided to have this last night for my birthday with rack of lamb. I was very surprised at how integrated this has become over the past 4 years. Very powerrful, yet oh so elegent.
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10/27/2005 - Hammer wrote: 99 Points
I had the good fortune of finding this wine at a restaurant in DC for $210. With that kind of price, I had to pull the trigger (actually ended up getting 2 bottles). It is a quintessential California cabernet, with a soaring nose of ripe cassis, cherry and mixed spices including licorice and mint. This is a kind of wine that makes you appreciate good wine. It glides in your mouth like a smooth silk cloth, revealing tremedous amount of ripe fruit and sweetest tannins I've experienced in a while. Even with this kind of ripeness, it is never heavy nor cloying, rather it is so light on its feet due to the nice acidic backbone balancing out the ripeness. The finish does not leave you for a good 45 seconds and invites you to dive in for another sip.
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10/14/2005 - tanglenet wrote:
Tasted at Beltramo's with Doug Shafer in attendence. Per Beltramo's the wine was poured into the glasses about 1 hour prior to tasting. All vintages (1995-2001) appeared to me to be the same color due to the lighting which was a red purple color.
Dry cherry with celery, well integrated wine and very smooth.
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10/10/2005 - Russell Faulkner wrote:
Ruby colour, more muted than the 2001. This is not a patch on a bottle tasted in the summer, some smooth fruit on the nose. Perhaps this is some 'bottle shock' these only arrived from the US a week earlier. A disapointment.
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8/28/2005 - shaferguy91 wrote: 97 Points
Decanted for 3 hours. A terrific CA Cab ! Wonderful aroma of black currants and cherries. Fruit is so thick that you almost have to cut it with a knife. Very powerful and elegant and a very long delicious finish. Drinking well now but will probably be great for years to come.
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7/10/2005 - Russell Faulkner wrote: 99 Points
Gary Margol Offline (Bentley Hotel London): Black to ruby rim. Initial explosion on ripe blackcurrant, that flows into a more acidic, well balanced, tannic finish. Enormous length and depth. For me this had the slightest edge over the Screagle due to a saline / savoury quality that was much more evident in this wine. Absolutely magnificent stuff.
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3/14/2005 - Chateaunewf wrote: 94 Points
My contribution to table #3 at the NYC Shafer Hillside Off-line at the Post House restaurant. Dark and deep color. Reticent on the nose. This is tightly wound and hard as nails. A wall of inpentetrability. Not enjoyable at the moment and defitinely infantcide. This was the outlier in the tasting. The only wine in the retrospective where the structure total obliterated the fruit. It is difficult to assess this at the moment but it should begin to come into its own in about a decade.
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3/13/2005 - PaulH wrote: 94 Points
Shafer Hillside Select Dinner (Manresa Restaurant, Los Gatos, California USA): Not much of a nose, a few folks suspected this wine was over-decanted. Palate showed ripe fruit, bitter chocolate, a nice texture, though a bit wood and lacking serious structure. Fairly tannic, won’t get any better. (Elias was against decanting the wines, except for removing sediment. His opinion is that decanting usually breaks down the wines and dulls the fruit with too much oxidation. Letting evolve in the glass is a much better strategy).
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11/5/2004 - otisabdul wrote: 94 Points
2004 WS Wine Experience: Shafer HSS Vertical (Hyatt Regency, Chicago): There was perfect fruit set on the vines in 1997. They had a huge yield (3.5 tons/acre), with uniform fruit. This wine is explosive in the mouth, with multi-dimensional flavors, including tobacco, toasty dark fruit, and earth. If you like ‘em bold, don’t hold. Otherwise, this should age and improve for at least another 5-10 years.
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11/1/2004 - winefool wrote: 96 Points
WS CWE 04 - Shafer Hillside Vertical (Marquis Marriott): Deep black/red. Medium clean aroma of black fruit. Rich sweet forward fruit fruit on a backbone of chocolately spice. Finishes forever. Wonderful! 11/04
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10/2/2004 - jeff nowak wrote:
what's not to love? but for me, the fisher ruled because it wasn't the bully the shafer is. good god, this is a powerful, mega structured, sensational, anvil on your head cab. a special event wine. the splurge on a hooker who you know isn't a carrier, and you are prepared to be twisted into a knot wine. (reminds me of the russian wrestler pretzel hold joke). nobody identified this wine specifically, but there were many comments that this was a parker perfect 100.
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8/28/2004 - MarkC wrote: 95 Points
This is a wine that, at present, needs some serious decanting. Initially poured from bottle to glass, the wine just sat there, dark and brooding, refusing to give up anything. After 30+ minutes it started to taste like Cabernet. After almost 2 hours, the currant and berry flavors were very forward, but in great harmony with the overall structure of the wine. I think this will be a good one to try in 5 more years.
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6/1/2003 - Joe Belmaati wrote: 95 Points
Dark red, purple colour. Vanilla, smoke and turpentine on the nose. Pretty brutal in the mouth, but there's so much rich, sweet fruit here. Stylistically, this is probably as powerful a wine as I can handle. The rich chocolatey finish is long and pretty hardcore. But great!
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10/26/2002 - slon wrote:
Slow to open, but then beautiful. Aromas of black cherry, brown sugar, and vanilla. Full, rich, ripe, and sweet.
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7/18/2002 - Joe Belmaati wrote: 94 Points
Dark red to purple. And a completely black core. This wine was a bit reluctant and probably served too cold. (My mistake). Upon warming up in the glass a huge, delightful sweetness evolved revealing moccha and leather notes. Also dark fruits galore! But this wine was just a hair too oaky for me. And maybe lacking a bit in complexity. The finish was long and pleasant.
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12/15/2001 - JeffGMorris wrote:
A great wine to share with great friends. Twice the wine the Insignia was!! Incredible fruit, incredible body but quite amazingly... INCREDIBLE balance. Tannins are quite tame. This actually closed down a little over the evening. This is awesome now but could get even better (what a concept!!) What a treat!!!!
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