2004 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select
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Tasting notes
Showing a bit of bricking at the rim, the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is a strong effort, although not perhaps the equal to the 1994 (also tasted on this occasion). Dried cherries and leather on the nose are joined by flavors of caramel, baked fruit and cherry compote on the full-bodied palate. Supple, silky and long, this wine should continue to drink well for a decade, but I see no compelling reason to wait.
Critic scores
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Brilliantly pure, animated nose offers scents of redcurrant, spices, cedary cigar box and musky underbrush. Boasts outstanding thickness and depth of flavor and an uncanny balance of sweetness and acidity. At once bone-dry and incredibly plush, with the superconcentrated plum and redcurrant flavors complicated by sexy saline soil tones and a note of dark chocolate. Perhaps most impressive today on the suavely tannic, endless finish. (ST)
(14.9% alcohol). Good deep red. Brilliantly pure, animated nose offers scents of redcurrant, spices, cedary cigar box and musky underbrush. Boasts outstanding thickness and depth of flavor and an uncanny balance of sweetness and acidity. At once bone-dry and incredibly plush, with the superconcentrated plum and redcurrant flavors complicated by sexy saline soil tones and a note of dark chocolate. Perhaps most impressive today on the suavely tannic, endless finish. This is wonderfully plush and pliant today but should continue to give great pleasure for at least another ten years.
(14.5% alcohol): Bright, saturated dark ruby. Brilliantly pure aromas of blackberry, kirsch , minerals, bitter chocolate and cocoa powder. Plush, sweet, superconcentrated and very ripe, with sexy mineral and earth nuances adding interest to the intense dark fruit flavors. This utterly seamless Cabernet also boasts terrific mid-palate energy and lift. The superb, ripely tannic, slowly building finish goes on and on. A time-capsule California Cabernet that saturates every square millimeter of the palate. Impeccably balanced right now, but should easily go on for another decade or more.