Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon "Hillside Select" 2013
(Stags Leap District, Napa Valley, California) - [JS 99, #16 Top Domestic of 2017] [RP 98+] [JD 98] [WE 98] [VM 97] [WS 94]

About this wine:

Shafer Vineyards is an iconic family-owned winery, named one of the top 25 vineyards in the world by wine publication Wine & Spirits and “one of the world’s greatest wineries” by wine critic Robert M. Parker, Jr.

Since 1978 the Shafer family has produced wine in the Stags Leap District, one of the most highly-regarded winegrowing regions within Napa Valley. Shafer’s wines, including its signature wine, Hillside Select, are found in collectors’ cellars and on wine lists in top hotels and restaurants throughout the world.

The small winery is managed by Doug Shafer, son of winery founders John and Bett Shafer. Elias Fernandez is winemaker. 

Hillside Select is sourced from a collection of 14 small vineyard blocks planted within an eons-old amphitheater-like structure of rock and volcanic soil that surrounds the winery. Thanks to scant soil nutrients and moisture, yields at harvest are meager and the berries are small, about the size of blueberries. This Stags Leap District site’s combination of rugged, arid soil and climate results in lush Cabernet Sauvignon fruit with dark color and intense, classic flavor.

The 2013 Hillside Select is a rich, expansive wine balanced by liveliness and energetic aromas and flavors. This vintage is a liquid feast of black cherry, dark chocolate, briar fruit, black tea, cola, blackberry, tobacco, and aromatic herbs. All this abundance comes wrapped in slate minerality while wearing its Stags Leap District tannins with silky ease. It may be difficult to put off drinking this 100% hillside Cabernet Sauvignon but it is sure to offer greater riches with time in your cellar.

99 Points , #16 Top 100 Domestic Wines of 2017 Rank #62 Top 100 Wines of 2017- James Suckling:
"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." (May 22, 2017)

98+ Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:
"The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select will probably hit the magic three-digit score, but it is a more backward style of wine, although probably even more concentrated than the 2012, and that's saying something. Fabulous potential of 30-50 years is evident in this profound bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon that is inky blue/black to the rim and offers up notes of charcoal embers, scorched earth, blackberries, cassis, blueberries, a hint of coffee, and background barrique smells. Massively concentrated but incredibly elegant and poised, this is a wine of great energy and vibrancy. It is fabulously deep, built like a skyscraper, and set for an incredibly long life. Try not to consume a bottle for at least another 4-5 years and then watch the magic unfold." - Robert M. Parker, Jr. (Oct 2016)

98 Points - Wine Enthusiast:
"Among the Napa Valley's most crowning achievements in Cabernet, this vintage of Hillside Select is stunning, bright and beguiling in every way. Intensely layered, its interwoven flavors burst in black licorice, dark chocolate, pipe tobacco, gun smoke and garrigue. Spicy oak adds to the power and weight. Drinkable now, it will show even greater finesse in time; enjoy best 2023-2033 and possibly beyond." - VB (4/1/2018)