(96-97 points) I can't wait to taste this in bottle. Bright fruit, with currants and plums on the nose. A powerful and structured palate, with plenty of tannins and a long flavorful finish. This is precise, a combination of the 2006 and 2007. Barrel sample.

Inky in color, with an intense aroma packed with chocoalte, licorice, jammy plums, spice and earthy scents. Full bodied, powerful and concentrated, the wine ends with a palate filling, opulent, ripe, fat finish. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-tasting-note/?vintage=2008&wine=Shafer%20Cabernet%20Sauvignon%20Hillside%20Select

The ruby-black, unctuously-textured 2007 Hillside Select is a large-scaled wine, even by the standards of this extravagant cuvée. It bursts from the glass with ripe aromas of kirsch, cassis, blueberries, charcoal and subtle woodsmoke. On the palate the acids are fresh, and the wine's vast volume is nicely balanced out by mid-palate depth. This seems to bear a close kinship to the Rubenesque 2002 vintage, and is a real success in that paradigm.

Rich and fragrant this wine has all the succulent depths of black currant fruit and layers of savory chocolate-scented tannins that cult cabernets have tried to emulate and perfect. Since 1978 this series of rocky knolls under the Stag's Leap Escarpment have produced one of Napa Valley's signature red wines; the generosity and concentration come naturally. This is a vibrant 2008 one that reaches over the top while staying grounded earthy and real.

Another great Hillside Select from selected blocks in Shafer's vineyard. It's a perfect illustration of the “iron fist in a velvet glove” description of Stags Leap Cabernet, with perhaps more emphasis this year on the velvet than the iron. With smooth tannins and luxurious, oak-influenced blackberry and black cherry jam flavors, it's delicious now and will provide plenty of pleasure over the next 8–10 years.

Vanilla, toast, blackcurrants, graphite, earth and foresty notes are all present in the 2008 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select. It has great fruit, a medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, and quite a perfumed personality, but not quite the intensity and length of its predecessor. It could be one of those troublesome pairings where this just happened to follow an out-of-this-world compelling wine. The 2008 is certainly outstanding, just not one of the all-time greats.- RP