Mark of Consistency: Shafer Hillside Select

The 2023 vintage will be Shafer Vineyards’ 45^th, which is an incredible achievement in longevity by Napa standards. Since the beginning, they’ve been rocks of consistency, making them one of California’s true icons. Part of that success has been having Elias Fernandez as part of the equation for over 40 years. In fact, in all this time, the only other people who can claim the title of Winemaker at Shafer shared a last name: Shafer!

Among classic Napa bottlings, none can claim more 100-point scores from Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate than Hillside Select. Even Spottswoode, after 40 years, is still a couple short. And because of the Shafer family’s devotion to quality, Fernandez’s prodigious winemaking talent, and one of the best located vineyards in California, not only are the new releases still Stags Leap benchmarks, but even the oldest bottlings are still going strong. Today’s Hillside Select offer travels nearly three decades into the past and features bottles, mags, 3-liters, and even some incredibly rare 6-liters, including FIVE perfectly scored vintages. These are all from a single consignor, beautifully stored, and in their original packaging (including a mag in OCB, which was a new one to us).

You’ll probably never come across another selection of Hillside Select as deep as this one, so suffice to say that if you see something you like, snag it quickly, because we don’t know the next time it’ll resurface.