All Cabernet Sauvignon from specific hillside blocks on the estate, Shafer's 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select spent 28 months in 100% new French oak. It's a big, ripe wine, weighing in at 15.5% alcohol, but it remains harmonious from front to back. Deep, intense aromas of black cherries and cassis are accented by dried spices on the nose, while the full-bodied palate is rich and textural, showing tremendous intensity and length on the finish. Based on how previous examples have aged, this vintage should drink well through 2050.

Now that the dust has largely settled following the 2022 sale of Shafer Vineyards to Shinsegae Property, a Korean firm, readers should be reassured that wine quality remains high. I visited with Managing Director Matthew Sharp and Winemaker Elias Fernandez during my August 2024 trip to Napa and came away impressed with the current and forthcoming vintages.

Sharp has a background in wine sales—he was the winery's commercial director from 2016–2022—and has overseen the acquisition of additional vineyards since his promotion to General Manager and now Managing Director. Controlling fruit sourcing is obviously a focus, and Shafer Vineyards now owns approximately 250 acres of vines. The largest parcel remains the original property, purchased by John Shafer in 1972, but there are 90 acres in Carneros (source of the Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay) and the more recently acquired Wildfoote Ranch (Stags Leap District, 2022) and Altimeter Vineyard (Atlas Peak, 2023).

Fernandez joined Shafer Vineyards in 1984 and was named winemaker in 1994, giving him a string of 40 vintages at the property. He's the long-term institutional memory, seemingly able to remember details of past growing seasons with remarkable acuity. Other winemakers in the Stags Leap District community speak of him and his willingness to offer counsel with reverence. On this visit, we tasted the 1994 and 2004 Hillside Selects, plus the current release 2021 and barrel samples of the 2022 and 2023. To this taster, those earlier vintages are at peak; the newer stuff seems capable of achieving similar 30-year lifespans.