JD
98
Jeb Dunnuck
All Cabernet aged 32 months in new French oak, the flagship 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is a beauty that offers just about everything you could want out of wine. Blackcurrants, scorched earth, smoky oak and spice aromatics all give way to a full-bodied, concentrated, structured 2013 that has incredible fruit intensity, yet never seems heavy, over the top, or cumbersome in any way. It needs 4-5 years of cellaring and is going to keep for two to three decades. Reviewed by Jeb Dunnuck, December 2017. Drinking window: 2018-2048.
RP
98
Robert Parker Wine Advocate
(Rating 98+) 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. Reviewed by Robert M. Parker, Jr. Issue date: October 28, 2016. Drinking window: 2020-2071.
V
97
Vinous
Just bottled a few months before this tasting, the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon
Hillside Select is shaping up to be a jewel of a wine. Readers will have to be
patient with this big, tannic Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2013 doesn't have the
sensuality of the 2012 nor the silkiness of the 2011. Instead, the 2013 is a
dense, vertical wine that needs at least a few years of cellaring. This is an
intensely savory, mineral driven vintage for Shafer's flagship Cabernet
Sauvignon. Reviewed by Antonio Galloni, September 2016. Drinking window: 2021-2033.