Shafer
About Shafer
In 1978, the first-ever vintage of the Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon was released and earned a most encouraging 95 points from Robert M. Parker Jr., who called it “a remarkable example of California Cabernet Sauvignon” that “comes across like a Pauillac-styled red”. Today, Shafer Vineyards is managed by Doug Shafer with Elias Fernandez overseeing the winemaking.
An iconic producer of the Stags Leap AVA, Shafer Vineyards has long since been recognized for its outstanding range, in particular the Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon. A blend of the best fruit from 14 blocks located on the rugged hillside, the first vintage of the Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon earned 95 points from Robert M. Parker Jr., who called it “a remarkable example of California Cabernet Sauvignon” that resembles a “Pauillac-styled red”.
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California | 1 | 94-96 (JD) | $632.00 | |||||
Jeb Dunnuck (94-96)I've always loved the Chardonnay from this team, and their 2019 Chardonnay Red Shoulder Ranch has that classic richer, full-bodied style while staying balanced and light on its feet. Buttered lemons, tangerines, green almond, and toasty notes all make an appearance, and it's incredibly textured, with nicely integrated acidity and one heck of a finish. This powerful Chardonnay is going to impress right out of the gate. |
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California | 2 | - | $438.00 | |||||
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California | 1 | 100 (WA) | $3,240.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (100)The 2001 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is the first of these back-to-back perfect wines from Shafer that, at age 13, is still a baby, but, wow, what an amazing wine. A fabulous growing season produced a wine with inky/purple black color, stunning crème de cassis notes, with additional hints of lead pencil shavings, spring flowers, cedar wood and forest floor. It is full-bodied, sensationally concentrated, with a seamless integration of acidity, tannin, wood and alcohol. This is a great, monumental Napa Cabernet Sauvignon that is still an infant, at age 13, going on 14. This has got at least three decades of life left in it, and probably won’t hit its peak for another 5-7 years. |
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California | 2 | 100 (WE) | $1,900.00 | |||||
Wine Enthusiast (100)A perfect score has to be considered in the context of its region. Shafer's 2004 Hillside Select is tremendous as a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon that competes with its peers at the highest levels. It's always a fabulous wine, but in warm 2004, Shafer's amphitheater vineyard sheltered the grapes, ripening them to perfection yet protecting the "iron fist in a velvet glove" structure that André Tchelistcheff defined as Stags Leap. This 100% Cabernet is tremendous in cassis, black currant and mocha flavors, and the 100% new French oak provides perfect additions of smoke and caramel. It's soft and gorgeous enough to drink now, and should age well in a cool cellar for the next 20 years. |
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California | 1 | 99 (WA) | $2,655.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (99)One of the world’s great wines and profound expressions of Cabernet Sauvignon, is the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select. This wine spends more than 30 months in 100% new oak, and, year in year out, has been one of the most singular and profound examples of Cabernet Sauvignon in the world. It seems Shafer began to ratchet up performance during the 1990s, and the first decade of the 21st century has provided a treasure trove of either perfect or nearly perfect wines, including the 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007 and more recently the 2010, 2012 and, in all likelihood, the 2013. The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select (about 2,000 cases produced) is another one of those “wow” wines, but it does it with a sort of measured richness and restraint and extraordinary subtle character, like the Gary Cooper of Napa Cabernet Sauvignons – authentic, tall, straight-boned, but substantial and worthy of introspection. Inky purple, with a classic nose of creme de cassis, licorice, a touch of vanilla and forest floor, the wine hits the palate with a gorgeous display of measured, but substantial fruit, body and intensity. Not a component is out of place, and the wine remarkably pure and persuasive. Combine great winemaking with great viticulture and a special terroir, and this is the result. Readers are in the presence of genius when tasting this wine. |
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California | 1 | 100 (WA) | $3,255.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (100)Deep purple-black colored, the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select exudes beautiful notions of violets, dark chocolate, black olives, spice cake and cedar chest with a core of crème de cassis, blackberry pie, plum preserves and fragrant earth plus a waft of unsmoked cigars. Full-bodied, super concentrated and jam-packed with multilayered black and blue fruits, it has a rock-solid frame of grainy tannins and fantastic freshness, finishing long with tons of exotic spice and savory sparks. |
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California | 1 | 100 (WA) | $2,550.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (100)Shafer’s flagship wine, and one of the world’s greatest Cabernet Sauvignons, is the Hillside Select, which comes from the rocky, volcanic soils on hillsides above the winery. Vineyard production is small, and the wine an incredible example of Cabernet Sauvignon. Aged in 100% new oak for 32 months and bottled unfiltered, this can generally be expected to be one of the top dozen or so Cabernet Sauvignons in virtually any vintage in Napa, and certainly possesses 25 to possibly 50 years of aging potential. The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is a perfect wine. It elicits more than a few “wows” when you smell the incredible notes of charcoal, graphite and subtle toast, buttressed and dominated by blackcurrant, blackberry and blueberry fruit. The purity of these fruits, the multidimensional mouthfeel, the seamless integration of acid, alcohol, tannin and wood are all flawless. The 2012 signature adds an extravagant opulence and density that is just mind-boggling, and the wine is a total hedonistic and intellectual turn-on already, although it has 30+ years of life ahead of it. |
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California | 1 | 99 (JS) | $1,650.00 | |||||
James Suckling (99)Wonderful floral aromas with perfumed roses plus hints of blackcurrants and spearmint. Full-bodied and so powerful and muscular but always showing the brightness and beauty of fruit. Winemakers say this reminds them of the 1978, their first year. It certainly has the structure — "those tannins" as they put it. Finish is so impressive with tar, iron and spices. Available in September 2017. Try in 2023. |
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California | 1 | 100 (JD) | $2,675.00 | |||||
Jeb Dunnuck (100)Pure perfection, the prodigious 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select reveals an even deeper purple/blue hue as well as extraordinary notes of unsmoked tobacco, crushed rocks, graphite, crème de cassis, and blueberries. With a massive, full-bodied profile and a texture that builds incrementally on the palate, it has a stacked mid-palate, ultra-fine (yet lots of them) tannins, flawless balance, and a monster of a finish. It’s tight and closed at the moment, so hide bottles for a solid 7-8 years. It should age at a glacier pace. |
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California | 14 | 100 (JD) | $2,045.00 | |||||
Jeb Dunnuck (100)The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is another perfect wine, although readers will need to have patience, as it’s still a baby. Deep purple-hued with a perfumed, vibrant bouquet of blue fruits, graphite, spring flowers, and lead pencil, it’s full-bodied, sensationally concentrated, has perfectly integrated acidity, tannin, and alcohol, not a hard edge to be found, and an incredible finish. This monumental Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is 7-8 years away from maturity and will have 40-50 years of overall longevity. |
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