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.

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. (RP) 98+

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select has developed along the lines of finesse rather than power, and that differentiates it from both the two other 2013s I tasted from Shafer, and many other 2013s. It retains terrific freshness and plenty of nuance but with less mid-palate heft than it had as a young wine. Crème de cassis, chocolate, spice, cedar and tobacco show just the first signs of aromatic nuance. (AG)