Shafer Hillside Select 2022, the Stags Leap District Cabernet that made Shafer famous.

Hillside Select is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from 14 steep, rocky hillside blocks on the Shafer estate in the Stags Leap District. The 2022 spent 28 months in new French oak and nearly four years at the winery before release, and it marks winemaker Elias Fernandez's 38th vintage. 2022 was a hard year in Napa, with an intense early-September heat spike that stalled ripening, so freshness and selection mattered. Antonio Galloni of Vinous (96 points) calls it "very clearly one of the wines of the vintage," praising its silky polish, balance and finesse. James Suckling went to 97 points and Jeb Dunnuck to 96, the latter noting "a non-2022-like level of freshness and purity." Galloni suggests drinking it from 2026 to 2040, and Dunnuck sees two decades of life ahead. 15.5% ABV, 750ml.