SHAFER VINEYARDS Cabernet Sauvignon 'Hillside Select' - Stag's Leap District, Napa Valley 2013 Bottle

Description

The 2013 Shafer Hillside Select is a remarkable expression of Napa Cabernet, showcasing a deep, complex core of ripe blackcurrant, blackberry, and plum. Sophisticated layers of mocha, tobacco, and graphite enrich its profile, while silky tannins contribute structure and elegance. This wine is both rich and harmonious, delivering a long, lingering finish that exemplifies the hallmark of hillside fruit. Winemaker Elias Fernandez describes the vintage as a "liquid feast" of black cherry, dark chocolate, and briar fruit, balanced by lively aromas and flavours. The Wine Advocate awards it 98+ points, praising its profound depth and fabulous potential, suggesting a drinking window from 2020 to 2071. With 98 points from Wine Enthusiast, this stunning wine promises to age beautifully for years to come.

*****

"The 2013 Hillside Select is a rich, expansive wine balanced by liveliness and energetic aromas and flavours. The vintage is a liquid feast of black cherry, dark chocolate, briar fruit, black tea, cola, blackberry, tobacco and a touch of aromatic herbs." Elias Fernandez, Winemaker.

THE WINE ADVOCATE 98+ points
Drink Date: 2020 - 2071 - "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.

VINOUS 98 points
The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select has developed along the lines of finesse rather than power, and that differentiates it from both the two other 2013s I tasted from Shafer, and many other 2013s. It retains terrific freshness and plenty of nuance but with less mid-palate heft than it had as a young wine. Crème de cassis, chocolate, spice, cedar and tobacco show just the first signs of aromatic nuance. - Antonio Galloni

WINE ENTHUSIAST 98 points
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. — Virginie Boone