2003
HILLSIDE SELECT® CABERNET
SAUVIGNON REVIEWS
“… shows some graphite and
pain grille notes intermixed with
crème de cassis,
licorice, camphor, and some spice box. Full-bodied, powerful, with fabulous fruit, silky tannins, and an intense mouthfeel,
this is a gorgeous wine to drink over the next 20-25 years.”
| – Robert M. Parker, Jr., The Wine Advocate |
“… a powerful 100 percent cabernet sauvignon from the hillside blocks John Shafer planted in the 1970s. The 2003
vintage is about as potent as they come, its austere mineral structure managing to hold all the richness of tannin and
crushed berry fruit. Layers of flavor begin to take shape with air, from chocolate cake to blackberries and a hint of strawberry – a
complex impression that lasts.”
“Complex, fragrant, appealing aromas of rich cassis and blackberry, crushed stone minerality, tobacco leaf and subtle
dark chocolate. Full bodied, rich and mouth-filling with firm, fine-grained tannins and deeply extracted black fruit enhanced
by warm spice and a subtle minerality from the volcanic soil of Shafer’s hillside vineyards. This stunning, iconic
wine leaves an impression on the palate for a full minute, and will gain additional character and complexity over the
next 20 years.”
| – Steve Pitcher, Wine News “Top
Ten Cabernets of the Year” |
“A big, rich, bold and expansive style, with tiers of dense currant, mineral, earth, black cherry, anise
and cedary oak flavors that are intense and concentrate … young and rambunctious.”
| – James Laube, Wine Spectator |
“Full-bodied cult Cabernet rich with flavors of mocha, cassis, blackberry, and spice with gorgeous white flower aromas.”
“Aromas of black raspberry, currant, cocoa powder, cedar, graphite, violet, licorice and sweet oak. Lush
and very sweet but with lively mint and naptha notes lifting the flavors of black cherry, dark berries and dark chocolate.
Finishes with a firm edge of tannins and acids and yet this wine gives early pleasure.”
| – Stephen Tanzer’s
International Wine Cellar |
“The very definition of decadence.”
| – Robert Whitley, Copley News Service |
“…rich, intense, spicy, cedary, very ripe black cherry, cassis and dark berry fruit aroma with notes of cigar
box and dark chocolate; full body; big, rich, textured, cedary, ripe black berry and black cherry fruit flavors with excellent
depth and concentration; firmly structured … very highly recommended. Certainly one of the top wines of the vintage …”
“Our highest rated Cabernet Sauvignon of the last ten years, Shafer Hillside Select outpoints the 2003 vintage with a wine
that has all the depth, size and focus we have learned to expect. Its outgoing black-cherry fruit scents gain complexity
from notes of boysenberry, loam, cola and caramel, … plush, viscous yet balanced and full of energy across the palate,
the wine has proven that it can age despite its size and forward flavors.”
| – Connoisseurs’ Guide to California
Wine |
“A superb, singular red wine, with ample dark fruit, complexity and flavors that unfold with each taste.”
| – Peter M. Gianotti, Newsday |
