#96 Top 100 Wines of the USA (2024 edition - 2021 vintage) ~ James Suckling
#42 Top 100 World Wines (2022 edition - 2018 vintage) ~ James Suckling
#24 Wine Spectator Top 100 (1997 edition - 1993 vintage) 
#40 Wine Spectator Top 100 (1995 edition - 1991 vintage)
98+Points by Robert Parker, James Suckling & Jeb Dunnuck.
Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select displays a deep garnet-purple color, bursting from the glass with scents of blueberry pie, crème de cassis, black cherry compote and chocolate box plus nuances of cedar chest, clove oil, lavender and menthol. The richly fruited, full-bodied palate has a lively skip in its step, featuring gorgeous ripe, velvety tannins and fantastic freshness to support all the spicy black fruit layers, finishing long and perfumed. 
 
Shafer Vineyards is a family-owned wine producer in the Stags Leap District of the Napa Valley. It is particularly known for its Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon, regarded as one of the very finest wines in California. With the first wines appearing in 1978, Shafer Vineyards is one of the founding estates of – and a benchmark in quality for – the Stags Leap District AVA.
Shafer has around 57 hectares (140 acres) of vines in the Stags Leap District, spread out across several vineyards. The Hillside Estate vineyard has shallow, free-draining soils tha produce small, intensly flavored berries. The best blocks are used to make the Hillside Select, a plummy, cherry-laden wine with ripe tannins that will age well for a decade or more.
Shafer's other vineyards, including the Borderline and Ridgeback & Schoolbus sites, provide fruit for the other Cabernet Sauvignon wines, while the La Mesa vineyard is planted to Syrah and Petite Sirah for Shafer's Relentless cuvée. The Red Shoulder Ranch in Carneros is planted to 27ha (66 acres) of Chardonnay, which is fermented in stainless steel and makes a zesty, complex wine.
Shafer began life in 1972 when John Shafer arrived in Napa with the hope of growing his own wine. He bought a plot of land in the Stags Leap hills, and terraced and replanted the steep vineyards. The first vintage of Cabernet was 1978, and Shafer's wines have gone on to great critical acclaim. John's son Doug Shafer took over the winemaking reins in 1983.