100 points Robert Parker: "One of the world’s greatest wines year in and year out is Shafer’s Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select. The 2002 was a candidate for perfection the first time I tasted it. The estate keeps this cuvee 32 months in 100% new French oak, so I had a number of chances to see it from barrel. Moreover, I purchased the wine for my own cellar and have had it at least a half dozen times since bottling, and it just gets more profound with each sip. This wine is beyond belief for how it balances its extraordinary richness, purity of personality, and the elegance and finesse of the Stags Leap District with massive cassis fruit, spring flowers, toasty oak and earth. The wine is fabulously concentrated, multidimensional and built like a skyscraper, yet nothing is out of place. The wood, alcohol, acidity and tannin are all in perfect balance. This offering is a tribute to the greatness of Napa Valley, which was recognized by men and women hundreds of years ago, and to the modern day genius of the Shafer family. This 2002 has 50 years of life ahead of it - but why wait! (Jun 2012)"
'Cabernet of the Year (2006)', Wine News: "Released in September, the current Hillside Select duplicates the outstanding achievement of its 2001 predecessor; a perfect example of the best Cabernet that Napa can produce from an excellent vintage, with the added advantage of its area of origin - Stags Leap District estate hillside blocks with names like Sunspot, John's Folly, Venado Illegal and Rattler. Vivid, intensely aromatic scents of perfectly ripe blackberry-cassis-black cherry enhanced by notes of dark chocolate, mild peppery herbaceousness and roasted coffee bean. Bold and powerful, but not overripe or out of balance, this 100 percent Cab boasts extracted, highly concentrated flavors of succulent black fruit highlighted by dark chocolate, dried herbs, vanilla and a certain hillside minerality that extends into the long finish. Exciting and appealing to drink now, but clearly deserving of cellaring over the next five to ten years, and longer. (2,500 cases) (Dec 2006/Jan 2007)"
97 points Wine Enthusiast: "The impression is of a young, tannicly closed but enormously promising Cabernet. Floods the mouth with dramatic black currant, cherry and chocolate flavors, masses of toasty, caramelized new oak, and a rich, minerally earthiness. For all the power, there’s elegance and refinement. (Sep 2006)"
97 points Jeff Leve (The Wine Cellar Insider): "It's been ages since I last tasted this gem. It is hard to believe, this is almost 18 years old. The color remains dark. The fruit, which has softened over the years, continues to hold on to its youth. The oak is better integrated. But this is still about the power and layers of decadent berries, so I'd wait another few years before popping another cork. (Aug 2019)"
96 points Stephen Tanzer (International Wine Cellar): "Saturated full ruby color.Brooding aromas of cassis, black raspberry, smoke, chocolate, graphite and minerals. Thoroughly ripe, rich and tactile, but with captivating lift to its flavors of blackberry, black raspberry, cassis and flowers.Highly impressive mounting finish saturates the palate with flavor. Already shows great sweetness, but the wine's tight core of fruit suggests it will develop slowly and gracefully in bottle. Boasts a combination of lushness and energy that's rare for California cabernet. (Jan/Feb 2007)"
Karen MacNeil (The World of Fine Wine): "Massively structured and powerful. Hillsides this young still possess a lot of primary-fruit drama. Dark chocolate, wild berries, pepper, and vanilla bean swirl together in a kaleidoscope of dense flavor. The wine's texture is already as soft and unctuous as tiramisu. But best of all with this vintage, as with all of the top Hillsides, the wine has a commanding presence. (Issue 33; 2011)"
Stephen Brook (The Finest Wines of California): "An opulent and oaky black-fruit nose. Sumptuous, highly concentrated, with massive tannins, but smoky and complex, with terrific drive but no jamminess. Very long. (Tasted 2008-09)"
'Cabernet of the Year (2006)', Wine News: "Released in September, the current Hillside Select duplicates the outstanding achievement of its 2001 predecessor; a perfect example of the best Cabernet that Napa can produce from an excellent vintage, with the added advantage of its area of origin - Stags Leap District estate hillside blocks with names like Sunspot, John's Folly, Venado Illegal and Rattler. Vivid, intensely aromatic scents of perfectly ripe blackberry-cassis-black cherry enhanced by notes of dark chocolate, mild peppery herbaceousness and roasted coffee bean. Bold and powerful, but not overripe or out of balance, this 100 percent Cab boasts extracted, highly concentrated flavors of succulent black fruit highlighted by dark chocolate, dried herbs, vanilla and a certain hillside minerality that extends into the long finish. Exciting and appealing to drink now, but clearly deserving of cellaring over the next five to ten years, and longer. (2,500 cases) (Dec 2006/Jan 2007)"
97 points Wine Enthusiast: "The impression is of a young, tannicly closed but enormously promising Cabernet. Floods the mouth with dramatic black currant, cherry and chocolate flavors, masses of toasty, caramelized new oak, and a rich, minerally earthiness. For all the power, there’s elegance and refinement. (Sep 2006)"
97 points Jeff Leve (The Wine Cellar Insider): "It's been ages since I last tasted this gem. It is hard to believe, this is almost 18 years old. The color remains dark. The fruit, which has softened over the years, continues to hold on to its youth. The oak is better integrated. But this is still about the power and layers of decadent berries, so I'd wait another few years before popping another cork. (Aug 2019)"
96 points Stephen Tanzer (International Wine Cellar): "Saturated full ruby color.Brooding aromas of cassis, black raspberry, smoke, chocolate, graphite and minerals. Thoroughly ripe, rich and tactile, but with captivating lift to its flavors of blackberry, black raspberry, cassis and flowers.Highly impressive mounting finish saturates the palate with flavor. Already shows great sweetness, but the wine's tight core of fruit suggests it will develop slowly and gracefully in bottle. Boasts a combination of lushness and energy that's rare for California cabernet. (Jan/Feb 2007)"
Karen MacNeil (The World of Fine Wine): "Massively structured and powerful. Hillsides this young still possess a lot of primary-fruit drama. Dark chocolate, wild berries, pepper, and vanilla bean swirl together in a kaleidoscope of dense flavor. The wine's texture is already as soft and unctuous as tiramisu. But best of all with this vintage, as with all of the top Hillsides, the wine has a commanding presence. (Issue 33; 2011)"
Stephen Brook (The Finest Wines of California): "An opulent and oaky black-fruit nose. Sumptuous, highly concentrated, with massive tannins, but smoky and complex, with terrific drive but no jamminess. Very long. (Tasted 2008-09)"
| Product SKU | 114466 |
| Producer | Shafer |
| Country | United States |
| Region | California |
| Varietal | Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Vintage | 2002 |
| Size | 750ml |
| Color | Red |
| Ships To |
