Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
-
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine & -
Suckling
James -
Guide
Connoisseurs' -
Spectator
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
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.
Only shipping discounts can be applied to this product, other promotional discounts do not apply.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
One of the world’s great wines and profound expressions of Cabernet Sauvignon, is the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select. This wine spends more than 30 months in 100% new oak, and, year in year out, has been one of the most singular and profound examples of Cabernet Sauvignon in the world. It seems Shafer began to ratchet up performance during the 1990s, and the first decade of the 21st century has provided a treasure trove of either perfect or nearly perfect wines, including the 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007 and more recently the 2010, 2012 and, in all likelihood, the 2013. The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select (about 2,000 cases produced) is another one of those “wow” wines, but it does it with a sort of measured richness and restraint and extraordinary subtle character, like the Gary Cooper of Napa Cabernet Sauvignons – authentic, tall, straight-boned, but substantial and worthy of introspection. Inky purple, with a classic nose of creme de cassis, licorice, a touch of vanilla and forest floor, the wine hits the palate with a gorgeous display of measured, but substantial fruit, body and intensity. Not a component is out of place, and the wine remarkably pure and persuasive. Combine great winemaking with great viticulture and a special terroir, and this is the result. Readers are in the presence of genius when tasting this wine.
-
Wine & Spirits
The texture is often what sets Hillside Select apart from other Napa Valley cabernets, the gentleness of its tannins managing to maintain the wine's shape and contour without flattening out. It appears to be seamless, sleek in the best sense of the word-a luxurious wine that feels authentic. Part of that is the cool, foresty mushroom flavor at the heart of the tannin; another part the beautiful balance between the tannins and the layers of dark fruit. A fine vintage of Hillside Select, this glows with the contemporary ripeness of Napa Valley cabernet without overreaching.
-
James Suckling
Menthol, eucalyptus, and dark fruits with sweet tobacco jump out of the glass. Full bodied, with a soft velvety texture and lots of sweet, juicy fruit. Makes you think and relax. Hard to not to drink this but you should wait a few years if you can.
-
Connoisseurs' Guide
Nothing short of bombastic and simply brimming with very ripe currants and extravagant oak, Shafer's flagship is again a wine of admirable richness and size with little regard for subtlety or restraint. It is gloriously full and close to unctuous in feel yet is never less than remarkably balanced for the big-bodied wine that it is, and, it is on the strength of balance combined with its extract and depth that this one guarantees five to ten years of improvement.
-
Wine Spectator
Generous ripe plum, black cherry and currant flavors are supple and focused, complex and balanced. Full-bodied and focused, ending with a long, layered finish that picks up anise, cedar and mineral notes. Cabernet Sauvignon. Tasted three times, with consistent notes.
Other Vintages
2019-
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James - Vinous
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Suckling
James -
Wine Cellar
International -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert -
Panel
Tasting -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Panel
Tasting -
Spirits
Wine & -
Spectator
Wine
-
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Panel
Tasting -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine - Decanter
-
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert - Vinous
-
Spectator
Wine -
Guide
Connoisseurs'
-
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Guide
Connoisseurs'
-
Parker
Robert -
Panel
Tasting -
Guide
Connoisseurs'
-
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine & -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Guide
Connoisseurs' -
Spirits
Wine & -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine & -
Spectator
Wine -
Guide
Connoisseurs'
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine -
Spirits
Wine & -
Guide
Connoisseurs'
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
Shafer Vineyards has produced classic Napa Valley wines for more than 40 years.
Shafer’s wines, including its signature Cabernet Sauvignon, Hillside Select, are found in collectors’ cellars and on wine lists in top luxury hotels and restaurants throughout the world.
The vineyard and cellar teams, led by winemaker Elias Fernandez, cultivate more than 200 acres of Shafer-owned vineyards, sources for the winery's celebrated Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay, TD-9, One Point Five, Relentless, and Hillside Select.
The winery has a decades-long commitment to sustainability. Beginning in the 1980s Shafer embraced farming techniques that eliminate insecticides and herbicides, and carefully conserve water resources. In 2004 Shafer became the first winery in the U.S. to go 100% solar.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
Legend has it that quick and nimble stags would escape the indigenous hunters of southern Napa Valley through the landmark palisades that sit just northeast of the current city of Napa. As a result, the area was given the name, Stags Leap. While its grape-growing history dates back to the mid-1800s, winemaking didn’t really take off until the mid-1970s after a small but pivotal blind tasting called the Judgement of Paris.
When a 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon won first place against its high-profile Bordeaux contenders, like Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Chateau Haut-Brion, international attention to the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley escalated rapidly.
The vineyards in this one-of-a-kind wine growing region receive hot afternoon air reflecting off of its eastern palisade formation. In combination with the cool evening breezes from the San Pablo Bay just south, this becomes an optimal environment for grape growing. While many varieties could thrive here, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot dominate with virtually no others, save for a spot or two of Syrah.
Stags Leap soils—eroded volcanic and old river sediments—encourage well established root systems and result in complex, terroir-driven wines. Stags Leap District reds have a distinct sour cherry and black berry character with baking spice and dried earth aromas, and supple tannins.