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Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select 2017 - First Bottle

Technical Details

Blend	Cabernet Sauvignon
Winemaker	Elais Fernandez
Country	US
Region	California North Coast
Appellation	Napa Valley
Vineyard	Hillside Estate Vineyards
Farming Method	Sustainable
Aging/Cooperage	32 months in 100% new 60 gallon French oak barrels (Allier and Troncais)
Brix at Harvest	24-26
Release Date	09/01/20
Alcohol	15.5

Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select 2017

Cabernet Blends | US

WA98+, JS98, JD98, VN97

$324.95 - 750mL

"Year in year out, this is one of the superstar wineries, not only in Napa Valley and all of California but in the entire world... One of the world’s great wines and profound expressions of Cabernet Sauvignon. The quality of the wines soared to first-growth standards, and have remained there for the last twenty-plus years.” - Robert Parker

The year was 2004, and I had an opportunity to buy several bottles of 1978 Shafer Cab (first vintage!) and it was, and is, a revelation. Simply put, nothing has changed. These wines, from the quiet masterwork winemaking of Elias Fernandez (truly, one of the greatest people and winemakers in the Valley), remain rock-solid, polished, powerful and beautifully well-made wines in the entire Valley, year after year. The 2017 Hillside is simply the best wine produced in the vintage and an absolutely gorgeous wine from start to finish. Always an early site, these south facing hillised vineyards were fully picked before the fires. There are few wines in the world that can match the consistency and excellence of Hillside Select. Grown on the rocky, volcanic hillsides of the Stag's Leap palisades o the winery 60+ acre estate, the intensity, purity and silky tannins are a signature of this site.

"The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is an insanely beautiful wine. The aromatics alone are pure seduction. Juicy, red berry fruit, crushed flower, cinnamon, blood orange and spice give the 2017 quite a bit of complexity, but it is the wine's textural finesse and impeccable balance that elevate it to its place among the very finest wines of the year." - Antonio Galloni

Technical Details

Blend	Cabernet Sauvignon
Winemaker	Elais Fernandez
Country	US
Region	California North Coast
Appellation	Napa Valley
Vineyard	Hillside Estate Vineyards
Farming Method	Sustainable
Aging/Cooperage	32 months in 100% new 60 gallon French oak barrels (Allier and Troncais)
Brix at Harvest	24-26
Release Date	09/01/20
Alcohol	15.5%

About The Producer

John Shafer uprooted his family from Chicago in 1972, and bought 209 acres in what would later become Stag's Leap District. He quickly planted a small parcel of Cabernet in the hillsides above the winery at the advice of Nathan Fay and created his first wine from that planting in 1978, a precursor to their legendary Hillside Select. John's son Doug joined the family biz in 1983 and has helped shepard the winery into the international limelight. The hillside select is sourced from 14 small vineyard plots planted on rock and volcanic soils. The poor soils leads to small yields and small berries and go through meticulous sorting to ensure the best quality grapes go into this exquisite wine.

Reviews

98+

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select displays a deep garnet-purple color, bursting from the glass with scents of blueberry pie, crème de cassis, black cherry compote and chocolate box plus nuances of cedar chest, clove oil, lavender and menthol. The richly fruited, full-bodied palate has a lively skip in its step, featuring gorgeous ripe, velvety tannins and fantastic freshness to support all the spicy black fruit layers, finishing long and perfumed. An absolute triumph!

Jeb Dunnuck
In the running for the wine of the vintage, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is an incredible success and offers more depth, opulence, and purity than just about every other wine out there. Revealing a dense purple color as well as a killer nose of blueberries, chocolate-covered cherries, scorched earth, tobacco, violets, and exotic spices, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a seamless, pure, incredibly layered mouthfeel, building tannins, and a great, great finish. As with most top 2017s, it stays tight and compact on the palate, with notable structure and impressive concentration. It has some up-front appeal given its purity of fruit and balance, yet it's going to take 7-8 years to hit prime time and will be a long-lived bottle of Napa Cabernet. Hats off to Doug Shafer and the team for yet another magical Cabernet Sauvignon!

James Suckling
Wild blackberries and brambleberries on the nose with raw cocoa, cloves and crushed gravel. Violets and orange peel, too. It’s medium-bodied with wonderful purity and depth of fruit, interlaced with dark-chocolate flavors. Firm, well-integrated tannins. Complex and refined with fantastic energy. One of the finest Hillside Selects I have had

Vinous
The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is an insanely beautiful wine. The aromatics alone are pure seduction. Juicy, red berry fruit, crushed flower, cinnamon, blood orange and spice give the 2017 quite a bit of complexity, but it is the wine's textural finesse and impeccable balance that elevate it to its place among the very finest wines of the year. Stylistically, the 2017 is a bit more red-toned in profile. Texturally, it is a bit lighter and less opulent than the norm, but that is not a bad thing. The 2017 has always been stellar from barrel, but the from-bottle tasting is the proof in the pudding. It's a tour de force from Proprietor Doug Shafer and Winemaker Elias Fernandez.