Our property has been the site of grape growing and winemaking since 1880, during Napa Valley’s first boom as an American wine country. Napa’s pioneer vintners not only filled San Francisco’s wine cellars, but shipped wine across the country and earned gold medals at the 1889 Paris Exposition.

Even during Prohibition (1919 – 1931), when all wine production was essentially outlawed in the U.S., our property continued without interruption as the site of grape-growing (and we’re told a bit of secret wine was made here) by Batista and Maria Scansi, immigrants from Carlazzo, Italy.

John Shafer, a Chicago publishing executive, purchased our site in 1972 and spent the mid-1970s planting the hillside estate to Cabernet Sauvignon. In 1978 John transitioned to full-scale winemaking, making the winery’s first Cabernet Sauvignon. In 1983 John’s son, Doug Shafer, joined the winery as winemaker. The following year, Elias Fernandez joined the winery, initially as assistant winemaker.

During the following decades this team created Hillside Select and forged the trademark Shafer style of elegance, richness, and balance. In 1994 Elias earned the title of winemaker and in 2002 was named Food & Wine’s “Winemaker of the Year.” The following year he was fêted at the White House as a leader in the Latino community. Countless other honors have followed.

Today, Elias Fernandez is celebrating 40 harvests on this property. Shafer Vineyards is known as one of Napa Valley’s most celebrated historic wineries, year after year producing wines that create delicious, memorable moments wherever they are poured around the world.

As the current stewards of this land, we take inspiration from nearly 150 years of our passionate and gifted predecessors, who saw the rich promise of this site, cared for it meticulously, and preserved its beauty and power for future generations.

Hillside Select is sourced from a collection of 14 small vineyard blocks planted within an eons-old amphitheater-like structure of rock and volcanic soil that surrounds the winery. Thanks to scant soil nutrients and moisture, yields at harvest are meager and the berries are small, about the size of blueberries. This Stags Leap District site’s combination of rugged, arid soil and climate results in lush Cabernet Sauvignon fruit with dark color and intense, classic flavor.

This 25th vintage of Hillside Select offers aromatic elegance and classic Stags Leap District flavors of black fruit, mocha, black plums, cassis, juicy black, and red cherry, black tea, with spice and warm toast. Ripe, silken tannins result in a pleasing, lengthy finish, smooth texture, and a refined structure which offers the potential for very long term aging.

Critical Acclaim

RP100
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
One of the perfect wines from Shafer is the 2007 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select. Think it over – in the first decade of the 21st century, Shafer scored three perfect scores and two 99s – that’s about as high a praise as I can give any producer in the world. Opaque purple in color, the 2007 has a stunning nose of sweet crème de cassis, black cherries, licorice, and toasty oak, a multilayered, full-throttle personality, and a texture that builds and builds. Great purity, fabulous fruit intensity and a richness without heaviness characterize this massive, prodigious effort from Shafer. It’s still very young, despite this vintage, which seems to be maturing precociously. I don’t believe this wine will hit its stride for at least another 5-10 years and drink well for at least 2-3 decades.
WE97
Wine Enthusiast
In keeping with the voluptuous approachability of the 2007 vintage, this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon is simply fabulous now for its flood of the ripest, sweetest blackberrries, cherries, cassis and chocolate imaginable. Especially noble is the tannin structure, firm and soft, dry and sweet, a combination of opposites. The depth is vast, and the spicy finish goes on for a long time, suggesting the wine's concentration.
JS97
James Suckling
This won't be out until next year and will mark 25 years of Hillside Select. Nice aromas of mint, mineral, dark fruits, and delicious currants. Full bodied, with a soft beginning that just builds and builds. This is muscular and toned, very impressive. Save your money to get plenty of this. Thought provoking wine.
WS92
Wine Spectator
Impressive for its richness, elegance and grace, this is spicy and supple, with full-bodied plum, currant and black licorice notes, gaining momentum and ending with a silky aftertaste of loamy earth. Drink now through 2020. Tasted twice, with consistent notes.
W&S92
Wine & Spirits
Lusty richness drives this vintage of Hillside Select, from vines John and Doug Shafer planted in the 1970s on a series of knolls tucked under the Stag’s Leap escarpment. It has the site’s trademark tannins, as soft and savory as a bittersweet chocolate cake. The dark cherry-scented fruit is hidden behind the oak and the tannin for now, needing a decade to show its detail. For the cellar.