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”.

Year	Wine	Region	Format	Qty	Score	Price
Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon 1997 (6x75cl) HK$26,255.00
1997	Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon 1997 (6x75cl) Wine Advocate (96) The 1997 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is a relatively evolved style for Hillside Select and seemingly more advanced than the older vintages, such as 1995 and 1994. Nevertheless, there is plenty to excite. It’s a big wine, dense purple in color with some lightening at the edge, plenty of crème de cassis fruit, lead pencil shavings, sweet vanilla and earth. It is very ripe, full-bodied, opulent and voluptuously textured. This is terrific stuff, hedonistic, showing secondary/tertiary nuances in the aromatics and essentially a full resolution of the tannin. This wine also seems to have come into its own and is clearly at its peak of flavor. Drink it over the next 10-15 years. Estimated Arrival to United Kingdom: 3-4 months	California	6x75cl	1	96 (WA) Read Review/Description	HK$26,255.00
Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 (1x75cl) HK$3,780.00
2004	Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 (1x75cl) 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. repack Estimated Arrival to United Kingdom: 3-4 months	California	1x75cl	1	100 (WE) Read Review/Description	HK$3,780.00
Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 (6x75cl) HK$22,765.00
2005	Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 (6x75cl) 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. Estimated Arrival to United Kingdom: 3-4 months	California	6x75cl	2	99 (WA) Read Review/Description	HK$22,765.00
Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 (6x75cl) HK$12,385.00
2011	Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 (6x75cl) Wine Advocate (96) Possibly the Cabernet Sauvignon of the vintage is Shafer’s 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select. Last year I thought it was a strong effort, but it’s even better now that it’s been bottled. With an opaque black/purple color and notes of subtle burning charcoal embers, blueberry, blackberry and graphite, the wine has a certain Bordelais minerality, but then the richness of Napa kicks in. It’s full-bodied (somewhat unusual for a 2011) with lighter tannins, and no doubt the wine will be on a faster evolutionary track than vintages such as 2010, 2012 and 2013. Nevertheless, the Shafers and Elias said this was the toughest vintage they’d ever experienced. To be able to produce a compelling wine like this is a testament to their extraordinary skills and craftsmanship. This wine can be drunk now or cellared for another 15-20 years. Estimated Arrival to United Kingdom: 3-4 months	California	6x75cl	1	96 (WA) Read Review/Description	HK$12,385.00

Shafer

About Shafer

Wine Advocate (96)

Wine Enthusiast (100)

Wine Advocate (99)

Wine Advocate (96)