2003 HILLSIDE SELECT®
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
Released: August 31, 2007
Suggested California retail: $200.00
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.
“When I released my first Cabernet Sauvignon, the 1978 vintage, everyone remarked on its
softness and asked how much Merlot I’d blended in. ‘None,’ I replied; it was
100% hillside-grown Cabernet. In later vintages, when that wine became our Hillside Select Cabernet
Sauvignon, I realized tasters had identified the supple, velvety tannins that are the hallmark
of Stags Leap District Cabernet.” – John Shafer
Winemaker’s notes
“Shafer’s hillside vineyard produced a 2003 harvest of small, dark berries loaded
with ripe, immense aromas and flavors. The aromas are rich and perfumy and the youthful wine
fills the mouth with rich cassis, blackberry, toasty vanilla, mocha, herbs, and a seamless integration
of soft, ripe Stags Leap District tannins. The wine feels expansive and juicy in the mouth and
the flavors linger long after the glass is empty.” – Elias Fernandez
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.
“Its dense purple color is followed by aromas of camphor, black currants,
licorice, crushed rocks, and white flowers ... full-bodied, powerful and enormously endowed … Impeccable
balance, purity, and length suggest it will drink well for 20 – 25 years.”
| – Robert M. Parker, Jr., The Wine Advocate |
