1994 Shafer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select Stags Leap District

Father-and-son team John and Doug Shafer craft very rich, deeply fruity wines with notes of currant, tobacco, brown spices, earth, chocolate and sweet oak. For Cabernet, the Hillside Select bottling, remarkably consistent over the past decade, is a flamboyantly ripe and full-flavored example of the Napa Valley expression of the varietal. Shafer's single Merlot bottling, produced in large quantity, is reliably lush and round, with more personality and soil character than most examples of this variety. Also consider their serious Chardonnay production, especially those from Carneros.

Father-and-son team John and Doug Shafer craft very rich, deeply fruity wines with notes of currant, tobacco, brown spices, earth, chocolate and sweet oak. For Cabernet, the Hillside Select bottling, remarkably consistent over the past decade, is a flamboyantly ripe and full-flavo... more