2000 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select

The 2000 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is another beautiful vintage from a challenging year. The brilliant winemaking and great terroir of the Hillside Select overcame the vintage deficiencies. A touch of herbaceousness is a rarity in a Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon, but one can taste it in the 2000. It adds complexity as opposed to any distraction. Somewhat similar in style to the 1993, with a certain austerity, but deep, tarry red and black currant fruit and plush medium to full-bodied texture, this wine seems to have reached full maturity, where is should be drunk up over the next 5-10 years.

Ruby-red. Deep, slightly medicinal aromas of black cherry, mocha and menthol. Smooth and round on the palate, with noteworthy sweetness and texture for the vintage. Coolish flavors of black cherry, currant and tobacco. This can't match the best recent vintages of this bottling for depth and flavor authority, but it neatly avoids the green cast and drying tannins of so many 2000 Napa Valley cabernets.

The 2000 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is another beautiful vintage from a challenging year. The brilliant winemaking and great terroir of the Hillside Select overcame the vintage deficiencies. A touch of herbaceousness is a rarity in a Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon, but one can taste it in the 2000. It adds complexity as opposed to any distraction. Somewhat similar in style to the 1993, with a certain austerity, but deep, tarry red and black currant fruit and plush medium to full-bodied texture, this wine seems to have reached full maturity, where is should be drunk up over the next 5-10 years.||Shafer’s Hillside Estate Vineyard consists of 54 acres all on steep, amphitheater-like, rocky outcroppings and knolls. It receives the full benefit of southeasterly sunlight, and enjoys the afternoon breezes that blow up from the San Francisco Bay channel. An unusual geographic feature, this vineyard is basically a box canyon. The top soil is virtually non-existent as the bed roots that go into the white tofu volcanic soil base rarely extend more than 18 inches before hitting bedrock. This no doubt is a significant reason for the intense flavors achieved by the Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon, and why it is able to spend 32 months in 100% new French oak without a woody taste. eRobertParker.com.December, 2014