- CRITICAL REVIEWS
- WINEMAKER NOTES
Jeb Dunnuck
Robert Parker Wine Advocate
Vinous
2021 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon, Stags Leap District, USA
Release Date: September 1, 2024
Vineyard Location: 100% hillside vineyards in Stags Leap District including Shafer’s estate vineyard blocks Sunspot, John’s Upper Seven, Hitching Post, and Firebreak.
2021 Growing Season: 2021 was a Napa Valley classic offering long stretches of warm days and cool nights. By early September the fruit had developed rich color and elegant, pure aromas and flavors.
Varietal Composition: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Brix at Harvest: 24.0° - 26.0°
Barrel Aging: 28 months in 100% new 60-gallon French oak barrels (Allier and Tronçais).
Alcohol: 15.5%
Hillside Select Story
For decades Hillside Select has been Shafer’s flagship Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine that is the ultimate culmination of a world-class estate and legendary winemaking. The revered critic Robert Parker called Hillside Select, “… one of the New World’s most profound Cabernets.” Each vintage of Hillside Select originates from a collection of small vineyard blocks planted on our rugged, amphitheater-like estate of bedrock and volcanic soil. This property’s rare combination of climate and site results in gorgeous Cabernet Sauvignon fruit, which transforms into a deeply-colored wine with complex aromas and flavors that vintage after vintage are rich, elegant, and exquisitely balanced. Hillside Select’s lineage goes back to Shafer’s first wine, the 1978 Cabernet Sauvignon. By 1983, knowing it was something special we called it Hillside Select.