Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon 2003

Professional Ratings

• 100 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  One 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. This 2003 should continue to drink well for 25-30 years.
• 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.
• 93 Wine Spectator
  A big, rich, bold and expansive style, with tiers of dense currant, mineral, earth, black cherry, anise and cedary oak flavors that are intense and concentrated, with the tannins showing a raw edge. Young and rambunctious. Needs lots of air or a little time in the cellar.