1994 Shafer, Hillside Select, Stags Leap District, Case of 6 btls

Hillside Select has been Shafer's flagship since John Shafer planted his first Cabernet Sauvignon vines back in 1978.

The fruit comes from a cluster of small blocks tucked into an amphitheater of volcanic rock behind the winery in the Stags Leap District, where topsoil is almost nonexistent and the vines have to fight for everything they get.

That stress is the whole point, smaller berries, more concentration, and a wine that can handle 32 months in 100% new French oak without ever tasting like a barrel.

1994 is remembered as one of Napa's great modern vintages, and with more than three decades now behind it, the Hillside Select has settled into a long, graceful maturity, showing real depth and secondary complexity while still holding plenty of structure for the years ahead.

Wine Advocate | 97 Points

"Shafer's 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select—the first vintage for which Elias Fernandez was officially named winemaker (he has been with the winery since 1984)—continues to impress every time out. It shows a touch of brick at the rim, while the nose delivers gorgeous cigar-box aromas of cedar, vanilla and tobacco, with black cherry fruit still hanging in there. It's full-bodied, soft and voluminous in feel on the palate, with a long silky finish. It has nowhere to go but down from here, so I would recommend drinking remaining bottles over the rest of this decade (large formats can probably hold longer)."