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.
This is classic Cabernet Sauvignon from our rugged hillsides, exuding dramatic, rich color, high-toned, elegant aromas and full, refined flavors of dark cherry, cassis, espresso, sweet vanilla and wet earth with enticing rose pedal, cranberry, blueberry, oregano and sage. The lush, mouthfilling complexity in your glass is completed with ripe, smooth-textured tannins and a persistent finish that won’t let go. - Winery
Vineyard Location:
100% Shafer’s Hillside Estate Vineyards in Stags Leap District including the vineyard blocks Sunspot, John’s Folly, Venado Ilegal and Firebreak
2010 Growing Season:
The vintage started with a rainy spring followed by a long, cool summer holding fruit maturation at a slow, even pace. With a bit of extra work, pruning away any less than stellar clusters, we set the stage for a harvest of gorgeous fruit – full of elegant, alluring flavor.
Cooperage: 32 months in 100% new 60-gallon French oak barrels (Allier and Tronçais)
Food Affinities:
Grilled or roast lamb, duck, beef and game; dishes featuring roasted red peppers or carmelized onions; seasonings of basil, mint or rosemary; aged, full-flavor cheeses
Alcohol: 15.5%
The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select offers a mindblowing display of blue, red and black fruits along with licorice and floral notes. The prodigious aromatics are followed by a precise, rich, pure blast of inky black currant, blueberry and mulberry flavors. The oak is virtually undetectable, and the wine, for all its power, richness and depth, is incredibly light on its feet and ethereal. It should drink well for 3 to 4 decades. Those who might argue that wines over 14% alcohol are hot, loathsome and heavy really need to objectively taste these wines rather than bloviate. - Robert Parker 100 Points
(15.5% alcohol): Deep, bright ruby-blue. Cassis, blackberry, blueberry, mocha and minerals on the nose, along with a mounting component of sweet oak. Sappy and silky on entry, then utterly mouthfilling without being heavy. The thick yet suave black cherry and cassis flavors boast outstanding intensity and a surprisingly restrained sweetness, with the sexy oak perfectly integrated. Finishes with utterly seamless, noble tannins and great resounding length. A great vintage for this perennial star--and likely to evolve in bottle for at least 15 to 20 years thanks to its outstanding density and balance. - Stephen Tanzer 96+ Points
Pure, rich and intense, massive and well-built, with wall-to-wall ripe berry, currant, cedar and spice notes, framed by gutsy, chewy tannins and aided by the long, intense, layered finish. Drink now through 2027. 2,400 cases made. –JL - Wine Spectator Magazine 95 Points
