Deep Cover: Hillside Select. Behold the glory! “One of the world’s most prodigious Cabernet Sauvignons” per Robert Parker.

Well, that’s it. We really can’t top this one. Time to clock out and take an early Christmas vacation.

Once again, Elias Fernandez has proven himself a master of winemaking. Scores galore, as usual. We’ve come to expect nothing less than the quad 99s given here as standard issue each vintage.

The perfect 100? It takes time, and perfection at youth can be too hard to read, methinks. But this surely has the stuffing to get there.

All of Shafer’s wines are top-notch. But this, one of the most collectible, in-demand releases, year after year, is the alpha dog of the lineup. Utterly sensational as always. At our price - the best anywhere. Everyone should pile up.

When John Shafer moved his family from Chicago to Napa Valley back in 1972, he probably didn’t realize what a force his winery would become. Shafer launched Stags Leap District into stardom, and his Hillside Select bottling was one of the first “cult” Cabs in Napa. And to this day, it lives up to the hype.

Aside from a heap of superlatives, expletives, and excessive fangirling, there’s not much we can say about this wine that isn’t covered in the lengthy notes from the pros below.

However, we must mention one thing. Quantities are VERY limited.

99 Points – Wine Advocate “All Cabernet Sauvignon from specific hillside blocks on the estate, Shafer’s 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select spent 28 months in 100% new French oak. It’s a big, ripe wine, weighing in at 15.5% alcohol, but it remains harmonious from front to back. Deep, intense aromas of black cherries and cassis are accented by dried spices on the nose, while the full-bodied palate is rich and textural, showing tremendous intensity and length on the finish. Based on how previous examples have aged, this vintage should drink well through 2050.”

99 Points – Vinous “Elias Fernandez, in his usually understated manner, has engineered quite a feat at Shafer over the last few years in gradually bringing added vibrancy and freshness to these wines without saying much. Then again, the wines speak for themselves. Today, the style at Shafer is very contemporary and quite different from the image many consumers have about the wines. Readers who have not tasted Shafer in some years owe it to themselves to do so. The art of reinvention is very much alive here. The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is insanely beautiful. It’s also one of the very finest wines I have ever tasted here. Bright, pliant and resonant, the 2021 offers a beguiling mix of Cabernet Sauvignon aromatics, generous fruit and gentle structure. The stylistic shift at Shafer has been remarkable - the 2021 is a great example. Red-toned fruit, blood orange, menthol, pine and sweet spice build into the eternal finish. Drink 2026-2041.”

99 Points – Decanter “Aged 32 months in 100% new French oak. It is quintessentially Stags Leap, with grapes grown on Shafer’s famous Hillside estate vineyard, roughly 25ha, with very shallow volcanic tufa soils. It’s a barrel selection of the very best blocks. Such a beautifully balanced wine with tremendous staying power and expressive Stags Leap ironstone minerality with heady sagebrush and conifer notes with white pepper and walnut husk. The wine has an impressive depth of red-toned fruit on the mid-palate framed by tannins that practically dance across the palate, exuding length, tension, and power. Huckleberry and black cherry fruits, black truffle, dried violets, graphite, and salted dark chocolate are all framed by racy acidity, which keeps everything fresh and lifted. The 2021 releases mark Elias Fernandez’s 38th vintage as Shafer’s winemaker. He was hired by John Shafer in 1984, two weeks out of UC Davis. Drink 2024-2050.”

99 Points – James Suckling “Incredibly ripe, delicious and structured, this age-worthy, collectible wine puts a lot of power in a velvety, refined package. Deep, concentrated black cherries, blackberries, dried blueberries, espresso and creme de cassis are wrapped in a full body and fine-grained, supple tannins strong enough to call for further aging of at least a few years. Best from 2030.”