2000 Shafer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select Stags Leap District

Napa Valley . As always it seems, Shafer's flagship Cabernet is a swaggering study in ripeness and maximum extract, and, even in this vintage noted for relative lightness, the wine again comes through true to form. Intensely aromatic with a wide-ranging mix of chocolate, dried berries, black olive and briar, it is a wine with little sense of restraint in the mouth. Very full-bodied and almost meaty in feel, it is driven by ripeness and oak but shows surprising layering to its full-blown flavors. At least five years of patience is clearly a must, but its better prognosis calls for ten years of age.

Full medium ruby. Black fruits, maple syrup and a roasted, chocolatey note of torrefaction. Supple and compellingly sweet; appears to possess less stuffing and density than the 1999, and is likely to evolve more quickly, but boasts a very firm mineral underpinning and lovely flavor definition. Finishes with substantial mouthdusting tannins and very good length.