2008 Hillside Select® Cabernet Sauvignon
Release date: August 31, 2012
Suggested California retail: $230
“… 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
We are thrilled to offer 2008 Hillside Select, a 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from our rugged hillside vineyards in Napa Valley’s Stags Leap District. This release offers classic richness, youthful elegance and texture. The wine introduces itself with alluring, perfumy aromatics followed by flavors of blackberry, cassis, black cherry, dark chocolate, smoke, peppery spice and a touch of vanilla. The tannins are ripe and refined, holding out great promise for decades of cellar age.
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 15 months in the bottle). While enjoyable today, this wine will gain richness and maturity with up to 20 years of careful cellaring.
Growing season
The season started earlier than usual, when winter chill was still in the air, setting the stage for vines with smaller clusters, and fewer grapes, than in most other years.
The cold, ahead-of-schedule start was followed, however, by an ideal, lengthy spring and summer offering seemingly endless stretches of warm, sunny days and cool nights.
As the fruit matured, our vineyard team culled any fruit that wasn’t up to par, ensuring that only the best fruit would be picked during harvest.
A few days of heat warmed up our Stags Leap District vineyards in early September at just the right time to jumpstart a harvest of gorgeous, enticing fruit - ripe, inky, silky and bursting with flavor.
Winemaker’s Notes
2008 Hillside Select offers perfumy aromatic elegance and rich, focused flavors of blackberry, black cherry, dark chocolate, cola, cassis, juicy black and red cherry, black tea, with spice and warm toast. Ripe, silken tannins result in a pleasing, lengthy finish, smooth texture, and a refined structure which offers the potential for very long term aging.”
– Shafer winemaker Elias Fernandez
Hillside Select – A Complete Video Collection
John Shafer gives an overview of what it took to create his family winery and produce his first Cabernet Sauvignon. That first Shafer wine, sourced from his first hillside vines, set the tone for today’s Hillside Select.
Doug Shafer and Elias Fernandez go in depth on the specific techniques we
use to begin making Hillside Select in the vineyard.
Part 1: Pruning, planting cover crop, trellising
Part 2: Fruit thinning, leafing, berry selection
Part 3: Tasting, testing, harvesting
Doug Shafer and Elias Fernandez discuss the continuation of the winemaking process as the work moves into the cellar after harvest.
Part 1: Sorting, destemming, crushing
Part 2: Fermenting, pressing, barrel aging
Hillside Select® Tasting Notes
- 2008
- 2007
- 2006
- 2005
- 2004
- 2003
- 2002
- 2001
- 2000
- 1999
- 1998
- 1997
- 1996
- 1995
- 1994
- 1993
- 1992
- 1991
- 1990
- 1989
- 1988
- 1987
- 1986
- 1985
- 1984
- 1983
| 2008 | Perfumy aromatic elegance leads to rich, focused flavors of blackberry, black cherry, dark chocolate, cola, cassis, juicy black and red cherry, black tea, with spice and warm toast. Ripe, silken tannins result in a pleasing, lengthy finish, smooth texture, and a refined structure which offers the potential for very long term aging. | Drink now – 20 years. |
| 2007 | Our 25th vintage of Hillside Select offers aromatic elegance and classic Stags Leap District flavors of black fruit, mocha, black plums, cassis, juicy black and red cherry, black tea, with spice and warm toast. Ripe, silken tannins result in a pleasing, lengthy finish, smooth texture, and a refined structure which offers the potential for very long term aging. | Drink now – 18/20 years. |
| 2006 | The bottle opens to immediate aromatic beauty 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. | Drink now – 18 years |
| 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 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 – 18 years |
| 2004 | This is a classic Hillside Select striking a balance of dark, lush, jammy fruit with still-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 – 17 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 – 14 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 – 16 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 finish of chocolate and spice surrounded by the classic silky tannins of the Stags Leap District | Drink now – 12 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 – 5 years |
| 1999 | Still offers aromatic brightness and in the mouth plenty of raspberry, blackberry, cola and a richness of fruit; its liveliness is showing more mature notes 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 aging potential. | Drink now – 9 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 – 5 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 rich 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 – 12 years |
| 1996 | With more herbs, cedar and tea than its ’97 sibling, this one offers alluring aromatics and elegantly balanced fruit flavors. In the glass you’ll find deep color with a ring of brick at the edge, as well as a silky texture and maturing fruit, showing elements of black currant and dark spice with a long finish. | Drink now - 4 years |
| 1995 | Shows richness, composure and lovely, dark-fruit complexity. 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 – 3/4 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. Enduring, 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. 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 – 1/2 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. Deep 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 \ tea, herbs, spice, blackberries, 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 |
| 1986 | Developed aromas of earth and mature fruit. Complex bottle bouquet. | Drink now |
| 1985 | Mature color with restrained, mature medium/full-bodied flavors. Still some vibrancy and liveliness. | Drink now |
| 1984 | 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 |
| 1983 | Fully mature color and aromas. Nice acidity complements mature flavors and resolved tannins. | Drink now |
2008 Hillside Select® Reviews
“The estate’s 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is one of those rare wines that looks like it will be absolutely delicious pretty much at any point in its life. Super-refined and silky, the 2008 caresses the palate with layers of deeply expressive dark fruit. The 2008 is a wine of exceptional textural finesse and pedigree. … a wine built on polish and elegance.”
— Antonio Galloni, The Wine Advocate
“Muscular and tightly wound, yet beautifully focused and proportioned, dense and chewy, with rich layers of dried currant, blackberry, spice and licorice flavors.”
— James Laube, Wine Spectator
“Like those big monsters in ‘Where The Wild Things Are,’ a gentle giant. So rich and muscular and furry, but frankly an infant. Buy and cellar three years, or 20.”
— Jay McInerney, The Wall St. Journal
“Rich and fragrant, this wine has all the succulent depths of black currant fruit and layers of savory, chocolate-scented tannins that cult cabernets have tried to emulate and perfect …This is a vibrant 2008, one that reaches over the top while staying grounded, earthy and real.”
— Wine & Spirits
“As usual, a powerhouse wine with concentration, richness and tons of flavor; tar, licorice and spice box plus rich plum and berry fruit are all present in quantity; stunning now, but let this blockbuster calm down for a few years.”
— Anthony Dias Blue, The Tasting Panel
Click here to read reviews on CellarTracker.com
