Hillside Select 2017 is Shafer Vineyards' flagship Cabernet Sauvignon, grown on the steep estate slopes of the Stags Leap District. It was the 35th vintage of the wine, from a long, warm season that followed a wet winter and spring.
About This Wine
The 2017 is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from hillside blocks around the winery, including Sunspot, John's Upper 7, Venado Ilegal and Firebreak. It spent 32 months in new 60-gallon French oak barrels from the Allier and Tronçais forests, and the label shows 15.5% alcohol. Winemaker Elias Fernandez picked out blackberry, cocoa, black cherry, rhubarb, rose water and espresso on release. The Wine Advocate gave it 98+, James Suckling and Jeb Dunnuck 98, and Antonio Galloni 97, singling out its textural finesse and balance.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Blackberry, black cherry and cassis with cocoa, rose water, espresso and a touch of rhubarb.
- Palate: Full-bodied yet lively, with bramble fruit, liquorice, cracked pepper and baking spice over ripe, velvety tannins.
- Finish: Long and perfumed, with spice and dark fruit.
Serving & Food
Decant for an hour and serve at 17 to 18°C in a large Bordeaux glass. Drinking well now and will keep for another 15 years. Try it with a Tomahawk steak, char siu-glazed pork belly or braised beef cheeks.
How to Enjoy
A mature flagship Napa Cabernet for a celebration dinner, or to keep in the cellar a while longer.
Product Details
Producer: Shafer Vineyards
Country: USA
Region: Napa Valley, California
Appellation: Stags Leap District
Vintage: 2017
Grape Variety: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Oak: 32 months, 100% new French oak
ABV: 15.5%
Volume: 750mL
About the Winery
John Shafer left a career in Chicago textbook publishing in 1972 and bought 209 acres of neglected hillside east of Yountville, in what later became the Stags Leap District. Vines had grown there since the 1880s. He planted Cabernet Sauvignon in the early 1970s, and the first Shafer Cabernet came from the 1978 vintage.
His son Doug joined in 1983, and Elias Fernandez arrived the following year, rising to head winemaker. In February 2022 the family sold the winery to Shinsegae, the South Korean retail group,.