Shafer Hillside Select 2001 1.5L

2001 Shafer - Wine Advocate # 162 December 2005: Shafers flagship wine is the 2,000 case cuvee of Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon. Aged 32 months in 100% new French oak prior to bottling, it is one of the worlds greatest Cabernet Sauvignons. Like many of the top wines of the vintage, the 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select has closed down, but it reveals impressive potential. Its dense purple color is accompanied by an exquisite bouquet of charcoal, sweet oak, black currant liqueur, and graphite. Full-bodied and powerful, with superb intensity, length, persistence, purity, and texture, it should either be decanted for several hours in advance, or given another 2-4 years of bottle age. Drink it over the following 20-25 years. Shafer Vineyards, one of the most impeccably run wineries in the world, is a wonderful family operation that deserves all the success they have earned.