2006 Hillside Select® Cabernet Sauvignon
Release date: September 1, 2010
Suggested California retail: $215
“… one of the New World’s most profound Cabernet Sauvignons …” – Robert M. Parker, Jr., The Wine Advocate
“Shafer, of course, has been one of Napa’s most reliable wineries, routinely producing great wines, chief among them its Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet from Stags Leap.” – James Laube, Wine Spectator
Hillside Select is made of 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon fruit sourced from rugged hillside vineyard blocks on our Stags Leap District Estate. Truly a “wine of a place,” this Cabernet exemplifies the extraordinary richness and suppleness consistently produced in our little valley within a valley.
Hillside Select is aged a full four years prior to release (three years in Alliers and Tronçais oak barrels and one year in the bottle). While enjoyable today, this wine will gain richness and maturity with up to 20 years of careful cellaring.
Growing season
The 2006 growing season gave this wine some rich gifts. Spring arrived with a torrent of rain – in fact it rained every day in March -- and all that moisture in the soil gave us the wherewithal to sustain a three-day heat spike in the middle of the summer.
“What a lot of people forget about the 2006 growing season is how exceptionally cool it was,” says Elias Fernandez, Shafer winemaker. “We did eventually get the right heat for harvest, but ithe meantime we got world-class, last-season hangtime.”
Harvest offered up big, juicy clusters of fruit which produced a wine that strikes a balance between intensity and elegance.
Winemaker’s Notes
“The first thing I get on opening a bottle is the immediate aromatic beauty. There’s nothing closed about this nose. The aliveness is followed in the mouth with a core of juicy, black fruit, chocolate, black plums, cassis, black and red cherry, black tea, and vanilla and spice. Ripe tannins put together good structure for very long term aging.”
– Elias Fernandez
Making a Wine of a Place
John Shafer, Doug Shafer, and Elias Fernandez – the team that have produced Hillside Select for
more than two decades – tell behind-the-scenes stories about how the wine was created and how it’s
being made today.
Hillside Select® Tasting Notes
- 2005
- 2004
- 2003
- 2002
- 2001
- 2000
- 1999
- 1998
- 1997
- 1996
- 1995
- 1994
- 1993
- 1992
- 1991
- 1990
- 1989
- 1988
- 1987
- 1986
- 1985
- 1984
| 2005 | From a year of abundant fruit we selected only the best-of-the-best from our small vineyard blocks. Pure varietal aromas of blackberry and cassis almost seem to press the cork out of the bottle followed by juicy flavors of black cherry, currant, cassis liqueur, black plum, dark chocolate, spice and tobacco. The exuberance of these flavors comes in a knitting of ripe, round tannins that promises, as we’ve seen with this wine, that the power of youth will one day mature into the smoky elegance and complexity of age. | Drink now – 20 years |
| 2004 | This is a classic Hillside Select striking a balance of dark, lush, jammy fruit with youthful elegance. These are the enduring aromas and flavors of our hillside grapes – loads of blackberry, cassis, dark chocolate, juicy black cherry, black pepper integrated nicely with oak, char and vanilla all tied up in a bow of silky, firm, easy-to-enjoy tannins. In terms of its weight and style, this one is a close relative of the 1999 vintage. | Drink now – 19 years |
| 2003 | The aromas of blackberry, black cherry and spice combine power and perfume while the wine fills the mouth with a rich abundance of cassis, blackberry, toasty vanilla, mocha, herbs, and a seamless integration of soft, ripe Stags Leap District tannins. Expansive and juicy in the mouth with flavors that remain long after the glass is empty. | Drink now – 13 years |
| 2002 | This Hillside Select is classic Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon from a justly celebrated Napa Valley vintage. Pure, wide-open, dark-fruit aromas and flavors. The movement from nose to mouth to supple tannin to lengthy finish is harmonious, offering a round, expansive, silky liquid feast of black cherry, rich plum, black fruit, cassis, and dark chocolate shot through with toasty vanilla, blueberry, and cedar. Strikes a balance between extract and elegance. | Drink now – 18 years |
| 2001 | From the legendary 2001 vintage this Hillside Select offers aromatic, elegant black berry, currant, black cherry, cola, and cassis; rich, stylish dark fruit flavors, with a balanced seasoning of minerals, smoke, vanilla, tobacco, and herbs; a core of sweetness emerges from our hillside fruit with a long, mouth-filling finish of chocolate and spice all surrounded by the classic silky tannins of the Stags Leap District | Drink now – 14 years |
| 2000 | Shows a pleasing range of aromatics — black fruit, pepper, mineral, sweet-spicy vanilla and dense purple-midnight color. Beginning to show age characteristics of cedar and tea. A core of sweetness and supple, mature tannins from our small-berried hillside fruit spread a rounded, rich feel in the mouth and a lengthy finish. | Drink now – 6 years |
| 1999 | After ten years this one continues to fill the glass with aromatic brightness and in the mouth offering raspberry, blackberry, cola and a richness of fruit; its liveliness is just beginning to show a more mature balance of tobacco, herbs and minerals and a core of sweetness. This generously proportioned wine offers a long, lingering. Its masculine tannins are similar to the 1992 vintage of Hillside Select and continue to offer excellent aging potential. | Drink now – 11 years |
| 1998 | We wish we had more of this one in our cellar. It’s gorgeous. Deep color with soft tannins and luscious fruit typical of our hillside vineyards. Aromatics offer a blend of currants, vanilla and mineral in the mouth and a long finish. This was our first vintage to perform berry selection in the vineyard ensuring that the fruit we harvested was the best of the vintage. That work shows here. | Drink now – 6 years |
| 1997 | Just when we thought this one would never grow up, we find it moving past primary fruit with elegant characteristics of cedar, tea and tobacco. Even so, expect the ’97 to remain lively for a few years to come as it still offers big mouthfeel, dark color, with flavors of chocolate and black fruit. A long finish of mocha, vanilla and spice is tied up with the classic tannins of the Stags Leap District | Drink now – 8 years |
| 1996 | With more herbs, cedar and tea than its ’97 sibling, this one offers ripe aromatics and elegantly balanced fruit flavors. Uncork this vintage and you’ll find deep color in the center of the glass with a ring of brick at the edge, with a silky texture and maturing fruit, showing elements of black currant and dark spice with a long finish. | Drink now - 5 years |
| 1995 | At 14 years of age this Hillside Select still shows such richness – lively, lovely, dark and complex. Powerful, elegant and composed, with velvety brick color and maturing Cabernet flavors. Rich with great depth of flavor and a lingering finish. | Drink now – 4 years |
| 1994 | From one of the watershed years where a great vintage and winemaking experience came together. Showing delicate, complex layers of tea, cedar, tobacco and leather. This is bottle bouquet in a delicious phase. | Drink now – 4 years |
| 1993 | A very complete wine in a more subtle way than 1994; this one almost seems like it belongs in a line-up of our Hillside Selects from the late 1980s. Showing mature color with a brick-red rim; oak toast, plums and nice earth/mineral notes in the nose. Bright, refined fruit that has pleasing depth and finesse. | Drink now – 2 years |
| 1992 | More showy than its 1991 sibling. This was our first wine produced without sterile filtration. Enjoying the full pleasures of age in its aroma and flavor profile; balanced and structured with tannins that have reconciled with the fruit. Some amber at the edges of the glass. A smooth, seamless wine. Long finish. Showing bottle bouquet. In terms of ageability this vintage benefited from the kind of masculine tannins we didn’t see again until 1999. | Drink now – 2 years |
| 1991 | This was a fantastic vintage with lots of hang time. In the cellar we’d learned how to produce our wines with less human manipulation. Dense color in the center of the glass with red/orange at the edges, dense flavors, juicy fruit, great length, and richness. Complexities are still developing. . | Drink now – 2 years |
| 1990 | Beautiful color with flavors and aromas of blackberries, tea, herbs, spice, cedar and developing mushroom. Mature and balanced with a silky texture and pleasing finish. | Drink now |
| 1989 | A complete, complex wine. Mature Cabernet aromas that lead to complex herbal, tea and cedar flavors and soft tannins. Still sweet with nice length. | Drink now |
| 1988 | Medium dark color, floral notes in the nose. Medium bodied, mature Cabernet flavors and moderate tannins. | Drink now |
| 1987 | Bigger, more substantial than 1985 or 1986. Mature, herbal aromas. Complex Cabernet Sauvignon flavors balanced by soft tannins. | Drink now – 5 years |
| 1986 | Developed aromas of earth and mature fruit. Complex bottle bouquet. | Drink now – 3 years |
| 1985 | Mature color with restrained, mature medium/full-bodied flavors. Still some vibrancy and liveliness. | Drink now – 3/5 years |
| 1984 | Pleasantly surprising in our most recent tasting. From a warm vintage this Hillside Select is still showing sweetness (not dried out) with nice color, herbal aromas. The only year that wasn’t 100% Cabernet Sauvignon (7% Cabernet Franc added). Medium body, mature flavors. | Drink now - 2 years |
| 1983 | Fully
mature color and aromas. Nice acidity complements mature flavors
and resolved tannins. |
Drink now |
2006 Hillside Select® Reviews
“A candidate for one of the top ‘wines of the vintage, it reveals beautiful aromas and flavors of grilled meats and herbs intertwined with extravagant amounts of blackberry and cassis fruit, licorice, and charcoal. Extremely full-bodied, pure, deep, and layered, this is another prodigious Hillside Select that should evolve for 25-30 years.”
– Robert M. Parker, Jr., The Wine Advocate
