SHAFER VINEYARDS Cabernet Sauvignon 'Hillside Select' - Stag's Leap District, Napa Valley 2018 Bottle

Description

The 2018 Shafer Hillside Select is a stunning representation of Napa Valley Cabernet, showcasing concentrated blackcurrant, blackberry, and plum flavours intertwined with nuanced notes of cedar, graphite, and spice. Silky tannins and vibrant acidity provide excellent balance and structure, culminating in a long and persistent finish. Elegant yet powerful, this wine offers immediate enjoyment while possessing significant potential for further ageing, epitomising the excellence of the 2018 vintage. James Suckling awarded it 99 points, praising its focus and purity. Vinous highlights its brightness and energy, while The Wine Advocate notes bold fruit and alluring herbal complexities. With 97 points from Wine Enthusiast, this Hillside Select is richly textured and flavour-packed, making it a truly exceptional wine to enjoy from 2025 to 2050.

*****

JAMES SUCKLING 99 points
So much black licorice in this, together with tar, blackcurrants, blackberries and slate. Full-bodied, but very toned and focused, with polish and energy. Extremely fine tannins and wonderful length. All about balance and purity. Gorgeous now, but this will age for decades to come. Great finish. Better after 2026.

VINOUS 98 points
Just as it was from barrel, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is stunning. Bright acids give the 2018 tons of energy. This is an especially mid-weight, refined Hillside Select that is all class. Dark blue/purplish fruit, lavender, spice, mint and blood orange build in the glass. Elegant and bright, the 2018 shows all the energy of the year in spades. - Antonio Galloni

THE WINE ADVOCATE 98+ points
Drink Date 2025 - 2050
Reviewed by Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Issue Date 30th Nov 2021, Source End of November 2021, The Wine Advocate
Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select displays a deep garnet-purple color. It charges out of the gate with bold crème de cassis, blueberry pie and black cherry preserves notes, plus hints of smoked meats, fragrant earth and tar, with a fragrant waft of violets and Provence herbs. Full-bodied, the palate is packed with muscular black fruits, supported by a solid foundation of firm, grainy tannins and compelling freshness, finishing long with an enticing herbal lift.

WINE ENTHUSIAST 97 points
Shafer's iconic, flagship wine is richly textured and flavor packed. It starts with a minty, figgy, bay-leaf aroma before full, ripe, bold black fruits, tobacco and oak spices take over the palate, accompanied by masses of velvety tannins. Excellent depth and concentration will help it age well. — Jim Gordon

JANCIS ROBINSON 16.5++ points
Hillside Select is produced each vintage from carefully selected blocks – including Sunspot, John’s Upper Seven, Venado Ilegal and Firebreak – of the hillside vineyards surrounding the winery, designed to express the voluptuous fruit, rich flavours and velvety texture that characterise Stags Leap District grapes. Aged 32 months in 100% new 60-gallon French oak barrels.
Massive, deep impenetrable colour. Lovely intensity on the nose, of youthful, briary and bitter black-cherry/damson fruit. Generous, plush palate with great length, fine tannins and plenty of oak yet to be fully soaked up by the concentrated fruit. Still youthful, this has masses of potential. (AWH)