Wine Advisor
Shafer, Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon 2004
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Description
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.
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Pure Cabernet Sauvignon, this has a very clean, crisp nose – extremely pure but like a bud that is yet to open – it needs serious time in bottle. A touch of hoi sin, white pepper, black plum, what you might call a “sweet ‘n sour” bouquet but utterly compelling. The palate is medium-bodied, silky smooth tannins, fine balance and purity, blackberry leaf, raspberry, boysenberry. Sensuous and elegant on the velvety, caressing finish. Lovely…lovely and delicious! Drink now-2018. Tasted March 2009.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select performed even better this year than it did in 2007. It possesses an inky/ruby/purple color, a juicy perfume of black currants, black cherries, graphite, charcoal, and toasty oak, superb opulence, a fleshy mid-palate, a multilayered mouthfeel, and a dazzling finish. This flamboyant, sexy Hillside Select can be enjoyed now and over the next 20 years. Celebrating 30 years of consistent quality and both critical and commercial success, this family run winery remains one of the most admirable operations in California. The Shafers have had tremendous success with their Relentless, which was first released in 1999. A blend of 80% Syrah and 20% Petite Sirah that spends 32 months in 100% new French oak, it is a remarkably consistent offering that rarely displays much oak. The Syrah is from Napa’s cool-climate Oak Knoll sector. One of the world’s most prodigious Cabernet Sauvignons is Shafer’s 2,000-case cuvee called Hillside Select. Always 100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged in 100% new French oak for a whopping 32 months, it boasts a gorgeous track record dating back to the early nineties, and just about every recent vintage has flirted with perfection. Tel. (707) 944-2877; Fax (707) 944-9454
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select has been one of Napa’s true first-growths since the early 1990s. The 2004 exhibits a dense opaque purple color along with spectacular, almost surreal levels of fruit that are never heavy, overripe or flawed. Its beautiful notes of creme de cassis, licorice and subtle oak (this cuvee spends 32 months in 100% new French barrels), skyscraper-like texture and extraordinarily long finish are all superb. This is a great wine from a great family who has done everything necessary to produce a world-class wine that can compete with any wine made from the Cabernet Sauvignon grape. You can’t say enough positives about the Shafers. Drink this 2004 Hillside Select over the next 20-25 years, although it could be even more stupendous in 40-50 years. Possibly the hottest winery, qualitatively, in Northern California is Shafer Vineyards. It has been a long time since they have turned out a less than prodigious wine. Moreover, everyone loves this family and staff, so Shafer is the quintessential example of the good guys finishing first. Tel. (707) 944-2877; Fax (707) 944-9454
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
One of the world’s most extraordinary Cabernet Sauvignons is the 1,800-2,400-case offering of Shafer’s Hillside Select. A front end-loaded example, the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select offers attractive spicy cassis notes along with charcoal, new oak, and black currants in its flamboyant bouquet. Unusually evolved for a Hillside Select, it is a supple, fleshy, hussy of a wine filled with charm and seductiveness. Neither as powerful as the 2003 nor as layered and rich as the 2002, it is a beautiful effort that should drink gorgeously well for 15+ years. Not yet released. Tel. (707) 944-2877; Fax (707) 944-9454
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
This vintage shocked me when I did my retrospective earlier this year, and the 2004 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select acquitted itself brilliantly in the vertical of Hillside Selects. It was a hot year, a relatively early harvest and there were worries that the heat had stressed the grapes, and there would be a lack of physiological ripeness and nuance. Those worries have not manifested themselves in this great Cabernet Sauvignon. Inky/purple-colored with notes of blueberry, blackberry, cassis, spring flowers, and a touch of toast, the wine is opulent, voluptuous and full-bodied with sweet tannin, just enough acidity to provide freshness, vibrancy and delineation, and a spectacular finish that goes on 40+ seconds. This is a killer, a showy and flamboyant style of Hillside Select that’s already drinking beautifully and should continue to do so for another 15-20 years.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
One of the world’s, as well as Napa’s, most profound Cabernet Sauvignons is the 2,000 or so case production of Shafer’s Hillside Select. Made from their finest parcels in Stags Leap, the wine spends nearly 32 months in 100% new oak. This is a wine that usually has 20-30 years of aging potential. The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is showing even better than it did last year. A much sexier, opulent, flamboyant style of wine with notes of black currant liqueur intermixed with toasty new oak, charcoal, smoke, barbecue spices, and oodles of fruit, this wine has fabulous richness in an exuberant, sexy style, and a long, heady layered finish with nothing out of balance. The integration of acidity, tannin, wood, and alcohol are brilliant. This is a great wine to drink over the next two decades, if not longer. One of Napa’s most prominent and respected wineries, Shafer is a poster boy for remarkable and consistent quality across the board. All of this is the work of the brilliant father and son team of John and Doug Shafer as well as their long-term winemaker and vineyard manager, Elias Fernandez. With over 200-plus acres of estate holdings, and 55 surrounding their winery in Stags Leap, this is a winery that never seems to disappoint. Previously recommended: 2003 Relentless (93), 2004 Merlot (88), 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select (100). (Release date Fall 2008) Tel. (707) 944-2877; Fax (707) 944-9454
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Shafer’s flagship wine is the 2,000 case cuvee of Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon. Aged 32 months in 100% new French oak prior to bottling, it is one of the world’s greatest Cabernet Sauvignons. The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select exhibits the vintage’s up-front, super fruit in a precocious, more evolved style. It offers a dense ruby/purple color along with beautiful floral, black currant, cherry, licorice, and smoky characteristics. While dense and full-bodied, it does not appear to be as concentrated as its three predecessors. Nevertheless, its charm and seductiveness are hard to resist, and it will probably be one of the more forward Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignons, drinkable upon release and for 12-15 years thereafter. Shafer Vineyards, one of the most impeccably run wineries in the world, is a wonderful family operation that deserves all the success they have earned. (Release date 9/08) Tel. (707) 944-2877; Fax (707) 944-9454
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
(14.9% alcohol): Good deep red. Brilliantly pure, animated nose offers scents of redcurrant, spices, cedary cigar box and musky underbrush. Boasts outstanding thickness and depth of flavor and an uncanny balance of sweetness and acidity. At once bone-dry and incredibly plush, with the superconcentrated plum and redcurrant flavors complicated by sexy saline soil tones and a note of dark chocolate. Perhaps most impressive today on the suavely tannic, endless finish. This is wonderfully plush and pliant today but should continue to give great pleasure for at least another ten years.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
(14.5% alcohol): Bright, saturated dark ruby. Brilliantly pure aromas of blackberry, kirsch, minerals, bitter chocolate and cocoa powder. Plush, sweet, superconcentrated and very ripe, with sexy mineral and earth nuances adding interest to the intense dark fruit flavors. This utterly seamless Cabernet also boasts terrific mid-palate energy and lift. The superb, ripely tannic, slowly building finish goes on and on. A time-capsule California Cabernet that saturates every square millimeter of the palate. Impeccably balanced right now, but should easily go on for another decade or more.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Showing a bit of bricking at the rim, the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is a strong effort, although not perhaps the equal to the 1994 (also tasted on this occasion). Dried cherries and leather on the nose are joined by flavors of caramel, baked fruit and cherry compote on the full-bodied palate. Supple, silky and long, this wine should continue to drink well for a decade, but I see no compelling reason to wait.
About the Producer
John Shafer, the founder of Shafer Vineyards, was a vice president of a Chicago publishing company when he left his 23-year career in publishing in mid-life. For 35 years, he and his son Doug have run the winery, which has earned a reputation as "one of the best wines in Napa". Today, Sifford is considered to be a full-scale winery, having expanded over the years to over 80 hectares of vineyards. Today, Sifford produces red and white wines with an annual production of 360,000 bottles. Located in the Stag's Leap AVA, the vineyards of Sifford Vineyards are situated in the southeast of Oakville in the middle of Napa Velley, with the Vaca Mountains to the east and the rolling hills and Napa Valley to the west, hence the name "Valley within a Valley". The soil of Deerleap is divided into two types, a volcanic ash layer to the east and a river alluvium layer to the west, consisting of more fertile soils with sub-clay. The vineyards are planted mainly with Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. The location on the hillside means that the sunshine, the oceanic fog streams in the evening and the cool nights are ideal for perfect ripening of the grapes. Standing at the foot of the hill and looking upwards, the vineyards slope downwards and, because of the steepness of the slope, the vines need to grow downwards in a desperate attempt to root, allowing the grapes to gain more nutrients and flavour. The long growing period means that the grapes ripen better, with smaller grains and lower yields, resulting in a richer flavour. In order to save energy and reduce the greenhouse effect on the atmosphere, Château Sèvres has installed solar power and does not use the electricity grid at all. In addition, the winery has been growing its grapes organically since the 1980s. The Shafer, Stag's Leap District Hillside Select is one of the top wines of the estate and one that has put it among the top wines in the world. Made from the ripest, most perfect Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, the wine is fermented and then matured for 2-3 years in new oak barrels. The wine has a concentrated fruitiness, heavy tannins and a majestic presence. Since 1990, Château Sifford's Deer Leap Mountain Selection has never scored low with the major names, with Parker rating it 100 and 99 points in 2002 and 2001 respectively, and 94-97, 95-97, 97 and 95 points in 2006, 2005, 2004 and 2003 respectively.
