1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select Stags Leap District

Beginning with the '98 vintage, Shafer is bottling its Firebreak sangiovese considerably later. "This wine was always very tight in its early months in bottle," explained Doug Shafer, "so now we're aging it for 20 to 22 months in barrel rather than 12 or 14." Don't miss the 1997 Hillside Select cabernet, one of California few superstar reds that can actually be found in the marketplace.

The 1998 growing season featured uneven ripening, according to Doug Shafer, but the cabernet sauvignon fared better than the merlot, as the crop level was lower due to shatter during the period of the flowering. The harvest was even later than that of '99, as there was no burst of heat that might have hastened ripening. Maceration times were reduced for the winery's reds, as there were a lot of green seeds in the grapes in '98.

This winery has come a long way since the late 1980s; their Hillside Select cabernet is now routinely a California classic and highly collectible. According to Doug Shafer, their flagship wine is made entirely from vines on the property. The estate looks for parcels that set and ripen evenly; the selection is made in the vineyard, rather than later on. The fruit is fermented at a warmer temperature than Shafer other cabernet, but total time on the skins is just seven to ten days. "The tannins are already soft here," points out winemaker Elias Fernandez, "so there's no need for extended maceration." Fernandez describes the '97s as lush wines made from thoroughly ripe fruit; the '96s, he says, have more masculine tannins even if they display forward fruit. As a vintage, 1997 is likely to be longer-lived. Shafer currently produces about 30,000 cases of wine annually, with more than 80% of their production coming from their own vines. As more of their vineyards come into production, Shafer may ultimately become a net seller of grapes.

The Shafers are major vineyard owners, with 160 acres that include their own Stag Leap District ranch as well as holdings in Oak Knoll and Carneros. Fully 85% of their wine is from their own vines. The remarkably sweet, rich Hillside Select cabernet, which is aged in mostly new French oak for nearly 30 months and is typically bottled with alcohol in the 14% range, is from vines on the hillsides around the winery, which the Shafers hasten to point out is a relatively cool spot rated between Region 1 and Region 2 (a measure of accumulation of heat, in terms of degree days). "On the east side of the valley we get long hours of sunshine into the evening," Doug Shafer explains. The Shafers also harvest later than most of their neighbors, and in recent years have been able to make a wine that avoids the offputtingly herbaceous, leafy elements that plague so much Stags Leap cabernet. Au contraire Since overacidification and sterile filtration were discontinued here several years ago, the Hillside Select has been one of California's richest cabernets.