Ratings & Tasting Notes:
99 points Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
Joe Czerwinski called it “a big, ripe wine” that “remains harmonious from front to back,” with deep aromas of black cherries and cassis accented by dried spices, and a full-bodied, textural palate showing tremendous intensity and length. He expects it to drink well through 2050.
99 points Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Galloni described the wine as “insanely beautiful” and among the finest he’s tasted from the estate, with “a beguiling mix of Cabernet aromatics, generous fruit and gentle structure.” He noted red-toned fruit, blood orange, menthol, pine, and sweet spice building into “the eternal finish.”
99 points Decanter
Decanter praised tannins that “practically dance across the palate,” with notes of huckleberry, black cherry, black truffle, dried violets, graphite, and salted dark chocolate, framed by racy acidity that keeps the wine “fresh and lifted.”
Cult Wines International Notes:
Shafer Vineyards traces its roots to 1972, when Chicago publishing executive John Shafer left his career behind and moved his family to Napa Valley to pursue winemaking on a 209-acre hillside property in what would become the Stags Leap District. After years spent terracing and replanting the rugged slopes, the family crushed their first Cabernet Sauvignon in 1978, and Hillside Select was born in 1983 — the same year John’s son Doug joined as winemaker, a year before Elias Fernandez arrived as his assistant. Fernandez took over as head winemaker in 1994 and remains at the helm today, marking the 2021 as his 38th vintage with the estate — a continuity of ownership and winemaking talent rare anywhere in California. Hillside Select is drawn exclusively from Shafer’s steepest blocks, planted in a natural box canyon where vine roots push through nearly bare white volcanic tufa, rarely extending more than 18 inches before striking bedrock — the defining source of the wine’s concentration and mineral intensity.
The 2021 growing season in Napa Valley followed what the winery itself calls a classic pattern: long stretches of warm, sunny days paired with cool nights, allowing slow, even ripening without the extremes that can stress fruit in hotter years. By early September, the grapes on Shafer’s hillside blocks had developed rich color along with elegant, pure aromas and flavors, and the low, naturally stressed yields typical of this terroir produced fruit of exceptional concentration. The result is a vintage that multiple critics have singled out as a high point for the wine’s history — structured and built for the long haul, in the mold of standout vintages like 2010 and 2018, rather than the more opulent, fleshier style of some other years, with the purity, balance, and mineral drive that have made Hillside Select one of the benchmark Cabernets of Napa Valley.
Bottle Size:
750 mL
Storage History:
Always stored on its side in a climate-controlled cellar.
Condition:
Outstanding condition.
Please note: The condition of the bottle you will receive is accurately reflected by the one shown in the images.
