1986 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon 1x750ml

Robert Parker 90

Another impressive showing for this consistently stylish, authoritatively powerful wine, Shafer’s 1986 Hillside Select exhibits a deep ruby/purple color with minor lightening at the edge. The fragrant aromatic profile includes scents of blackcurrants, chocolate, hickory smoke, and herbs. Thick, jammy, ripe flavors are full-bodied, layered, and delicious. This wine comes across as youthful, but powerfully assertive, well-knit, and balanced. Drink it over the next dozen years. The tasting notes for this section are from two single blind tastings, one conducted in May, 1996, in California, and the other in June, 1996, in Baltimore. [Robert Parker, 08/01/1996]

Anticipated maturity: 1996-2008

Vinous 92

There is a lot to like in the 1986 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select from Shafer, one of their very best early wines. Super-ripe, rich and concentrated, the 1986 shows all of the elements Shafer would go on to capture to an even greater degree in the years that would follow. On this night, the 1986 is simply drop-dead gorgeous. This early peek at Hillside Select is fascinating. [Antonio Galloni, 06/23/2013]