Shafer - Hillside Cabernet 2014 (750ml)

Hillside Select is a wine of a place, produced each vintage from carefully selected blocks of the hillside vineyards surrounding the winery. These grapes are small and deeply colored, with concentrated flavors enhanced by meticulous winemaking and extensive aging in French oak barrels. Hillside Select consistently expresses the voluptuous fruit, rich flavors and velvety texture that characterize grapes grown in Stags Leap District

The 2014 vintage opens with an aromatic wave of deep, intense fruit and spices such as black plum, blackberry pie filling, cassis, and anise, along with nutmeg, dark toast, and dried rose petals. The energy in the nose is just as dramatic in the mouth with open, beautiful ripeness, mocha, briar fruit, pomegranate, baking spice, and ripe tannins that collectors will recognize as offering the promise of sensational things to come in the cellar.

Very deep inky-purple colored, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is incredibly intense and impactful on the nose, revealing notes of crushed black cherries, blackberries and fresh black currants with underlying notions of charcoal, sautéed herbs, black soil, chargrilled meat and pencil lead, plus a waft of violets. Very full-bodied, very rich and wonderfully concentrated, the wall of fruit is well matched by a firm structure of ripe, grainy tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing with great length and depth.
Rating: 98+

Lastly, the flagship 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon (the only vintage where it wasn’t 100% was in 1984, when it included 9% Cabernet Franc) brought up all in high-class French oak. A textbook example of the balanced nature of the 2014 vintage, it offers a complex bouquet of crème de cassis, lead pencil shavings, tobacco leaf, and subtle minerality. Finesse-driven yet powerful on the palate, with full-bodied richness, its tannin structure is perfectly integrated into the wine, it has notable purity and freshness, and a great finish. It’s relatively approachable by this cuvée’s standard but has another 20-30 years of longevity ahead of it.

The famous wine lives up to its mighty reputation in this vintage. Densely packed in tones of red currant, cassis and cocoa powder, the palate offers a sublime texture that lingers despite an overall powerful punch of structure and tannin. Elements of crushed rock and black licorice unfold on the finish. Enjoy from 2024–2034.
Cellar Selection

A fascinating nose of licorice, tarte tartin, blackcurrant compote, orange rind, ivy, holly, pine needles, ash, Christmas cake and even raspberry cheesecake as well as a slight minty/herbal note. The palate is so well-knit but powerful; it's the sort of wine that takes no prisoners. Yet the vintage shines through, and it remains always fresh and balanced. Layers upon layers of fruit and a long, decadent finish.

The lush berry nose precedes a velvety and rich palate of ripe plum, vanilla, toast, and tangy acidity. A masterpiece of restraint and generosity, this makes an impression that lingers beyond its lasting favors.

This shows the dark sage and tobacco edge of the vintage, with a core of gently steeped plum and blackberry fruit emerging slowly. Smoky details pervade the finish, which displays a serious bolt of graphite. Best from 2021 through 2036.

John Shafer helped define the voice of Stags Leap District cabernet sauvignon with the early releases from the knolls he and his son, Doug, planted under the escarpment in southeastern Napa Valley. The first release, from 1978, was dark, layered and rich, soft enough that people questioned him about how much merlot there was in the blend. The cabernet went on to become a cult phenomenon in the 1990s, and Elias Fernandez, who has made the wine since the early 1980s, continued to push the limits of richness and ripeness, even as his other cabernet (One Point Five) remained relatively restrained. While we regularly recommend One Point Five, our panels have passed on the recent releases of Hillside Select since 2010. Then this 2014 came along, integrated in its richness, merlot-like in its graceful power, with zesty fruit one panelist described as “fresh crushed marionberries and blackberries.” That freshness was still intact three days later, the fruit lasting as it infused the tannins with color. If you loved the early vintages of Hillside Select (think 1978 or 1991 for two great examples), and even if you loved the most recent heady styles, this is a 2014 you’ll want in your cellar.