The rating for 2007 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon is 100 points from Robert Parker and the tasting note - Deep purple-black colored, the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select exudes beautiful notions of violets, dark chocolate, black olives, spice cake and cedar chest with a core of crème de cassis, blackberry pie, plum preserves and fragrant earth plus a waft of unsmoked cigars. Full-bodied, super concentrated and jam-packed with multilayered black and blue fruits, it has a rock-solid frame of grainy tannins and fantastic freshness, finishing long with tons of exotic spice and savory sparks. The rating for 2005 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon is 99 points from Robert Parker and the tasting note - One of the world’s great wines and profound expressions of Cabernet Sauvignon, is the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select. This wine spends more than 30 months in 100% new oak, and, year in year out, has been one of the most singular and profound examples of Cabernet Sauvignon in the world. It seems Shafer began to ratchet up performance during the 1990s, and the first decade of the 21st century has provided a treasure trove of either perfect or nearly perfect wines, including the 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007 and more recently the 2010, 2012 and, in all likelihood, the 2013. The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select (about 2,000 cases produced) is another one of those “wow” wines, but it does it with a sort of measured richness and restraint and extraordinary subtle character, like the Gary Cooper of Napa Cabernet Sauvignons – authentic, tall, straight-boned, but substantial and worthy of introspection. Inky purple, with a classic nose of creme de cassis, licorice, a touch of vanilla and forest floor, the wine hits the palate with a gorgeous display of measured, but substantial fruit, body and intensity. Not a component is out of place, and the wine remarkably pure and persuasive. Combine great winemaking with great viticulture and a special terroir, and this is the result. Readers are in the presence of genius when tasting this wine. The rating for 2006 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon is 92 points from Robert Parker and the tasting note - A slightly more compact version of the great Hillside, but nevertheless youthful, the 2006 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select has a dense purple color, some notes of damp earth, cedar wood, forest floor, red and black currants, and toast. Some austere tannins kick in in the finish, but the wine is full-bodied, ripe and rich. An outstanding effort, but not one of the monumental vintages for Hillside Select, it should be drunk over the next 20 years.