2001 Shafer - Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon - USA - California - Napa - Stags Leap District - Red

This was truly a fantastic wine. Soft and supple. Decanted for 2 hours. Very soft on the palate, leather like. Powerful aromas abound. I will be buying many more bottles. Wow!

Perfect balance and 2 minute finish. Stunning.

From barrel this wine was special and from bottle it remains so. John Shafer told me that he thought this was the finest wine he had ever made. The 2001 has a deep red color with thick, slow moving, and heavily pigmented legs. Gobs and gobs of sweet chocolaty fruit pervade the wine?s scents and flavors. Ostentatious, sexy oak wraps itself around an intense core of powerful fruit. While this wine is a bit monolithic right now, secondary characteristics of truffle, beef blood, and fine balsamic vinegar become discernable with airing. Tannins are almost an afterthought given how much concentration this wine displays. Oily textured with more than enough acidity to keep the wine light on its feet. 100% Cabernet. This wine is just a joy to drink now but will likely achieve full maturity at the ten-year mark.