2003 Shafer "Hillside Select" Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon (lightly scuffed label)
100RP
96WE
93ST
93W&S
93WS
$234.99
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100
Wine Advocate
Reviewed July 2013One of the great so-called 'first growths' of Napa is Shafer’s 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon from their Stags Leap vineyard known as Hillside Select. This has been one of the top dozen or so wines in every vintage for over 15 years. A big wine at 14.9% alcohol, it is aged an atypically long time of 32 months in 100% new French oak, but at ten years of age, no oak is present. It is an utterly perfect wine, surpassing almost everything else made in 2003! It possesses everything one could desire in a Cabernet Sauvignon – minerality, flowers, creme de cassis, blackberries, velvety tannins, a skyscraper texture, perfect balance and integration between the acidity, tannin, alcohol and wood, all well-concealed by the luxurious nature of this great wine. The finish is endless in this prodigious offering from a great family of grape growers and winemakers. It proves the point that good guys can finish first. (RP)
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Professional Reviews
96
Wine Enthusiast
Solidly in the Hillside Select model, this vigorous young Cab is dramatically ripe and powerful. The flavors of red and black currants, milk chocolate, figs and smoky vanilla erupt in the mouth, making the tastebuds jump with joy. However, there is also the structure, among the greatest in California Cabs. The acidity is fine, but the tannins are stupendously rich, sweet and complex, practically a food group in themselves. *Best of 2008, Cellar Selection*
93
Int'l Wine Cellar
Medium ruby. Aromas of black raspberry, currant, cocoa powder, cedar, graphite, violet, licorice and sweet oak. Lush and very sweet but with lively mint and naphtha notes lifting the flavors of black cherry, dark berries and dark chocolate. Finishes with a firm edge of tannins and acids and yet this wine should give early pleasure. I find a wider range of ripeness here than in the supernal 2002. (ST)
93
Wine & Spirits
Elias Fernandez produces a powerful, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the hillside blocks John Shafer planted in the 1970s. The 2003 vintage is about as potent as they come, its austere, mineral structure managing to hold all the richness of tannin and crushed berry fruit. Layers of flavor begin to take shape with air, from chocolate cake to blackberries and a hint of strawberry-a complex impression that lasts. Hillside Select will reward cellaring for ten years or more.
Details
| Origin | Napa Valley, California, United States |
|---|---|
| Type/Varietal | Cabernet Sauvignon and Blends |
| Alcohol Content | 14.9% |
| SKU | 1544429 |