Joe, if you buy a current release HSS, you need to hide it for 10 years. Had a 93, I believe, upon release and thought it was an alcoholy fruit mess. Somebody brought one to a dinner in 2008 and it was the wine of the night. A week or so later, we were eating at an upscale BBQ restaurant and noticed they had a 2003 HSS on the menu for $190. We had to have it at the price. We had them decant it but it wasn’t until the end of the main course that it started to open up and come together. It was starting to sing with dessert, but it still needed time, guessing 7 to 10 years.
If you want to know what the wine is about, look for one at least 10 years old.
That is a hugely generous offer. Im very overwhelmed. I think it would be great but i dont have an equal bottle to share and would feel that I need to make up for the offer. If you would like to do something like that I would be all in as long as i can contribute. We could always work something out. And a few more peeps from the board would be great.
I have had many shs, not many since 01’, 02’ (which I believe had the same kind of controversy), but a large, aged sample size and they are great cabs. I would be curious to try newer releases but there is only so much you can drink.
I’ve never gotten into the relentless, just not my thing but the cabs are great.
I’m just surprised that the wine doesn’t cost more…
Actually, no. This is the single best advice given in this thread. If one want to afford it is a different story. There is always the finding that Joe could live without this wine and then my advice just saved him tons of money from buying three on the list when they do offer this year. The abundance of crop and the dropping off of list of others could quite create such a situation. There is no substute for tasting regardless of whom is paying.
Looking a few threads up I have seen that Joe is taking advice and it’s costing about $220 plus tax. No cheap amount mind you but Shafer Hillside could quite be eye opening to him, so well worth it. I would be curious yo hear his findings.
My philosophy of these things is to bring something you like/find interesting and don’t worry about the cost of the bottles. The good bottles are meant to be shared. Wine karma evens things out in the end.
I prefer to keep the group small, say 6 or 8. Offers a better opportunity to get to know each other, and the wines.
If Thursday 9/18 doesn’t work, I’ll be back in Chicago in October and could do Friday Oct 17th.
Would love to have you join, Jim. We actually met in Baltimore at an eRP event at Charleston many years ago.
I will say again that my preference is to limit it to 6 or 8 people. I’ve become less of a fan of mega-tastings unless they offer access to a whole lot of new stuff that’s hard to source. I know limiting it can sound kind of elitist, but smaller groups make for a better chance to get to know each other, and the wines. Between Joe, Jim, me and perhaps a friend or spouse each, we’re getting close.
Randy’s advice about these showing better with some age is spot on. I’ve found 7-8 tears usually does it. They don’t develop Bdx-like complexity but they do integrate with some time in the cellar. I could bring a 2002 and a 2004 to represent the newer style but with some age.
Nice outcome. Great plan in the works. This is one of the best qualities of this thing of ours—meet new friends and share some very decent wines.
Wine has a special way of bringing people together.
I just wanted to publicly thank David and Jim. We changed the dinner to another restaurant but same date. Both David and Jim brought several bottles with them of different vintages and a couple other bottles. I dont want to say too much but their generosity that night was ovewhelming and I sure did learn quite a bit about higher end cali cabs, not just the HSS. I believe that we all agreed that the 2001 Shafer Hillside Select was WOTN.
It was great meeting everyone there. I had a blast and hope someday I can return the favor.
The '92 HSS is still the best CA Cab I’ve had. Fortunately, I’ve been able to find it for $200, which makes it appreciably cheaper than the new releases.
I stopped buying after 2003. The style is now not to my liking. This is now, for me, too big, ripe, thick. No structure. This < for my taste. is no longer a food wine.n This used to be the best wine in the valley.
This was an itch I needed to scratch a while back too and satisfied it with local purchases that were cheaper than the mailing list. After having the 97, 01 and 02 I decided the large scaled style wasn’t for me, especially at the price and sold off my remaining btls. For my palate there are less chased CA Cabs like; Corison $75, Mt Eden Vineyards $32-$60, Smith Madrone $45 that represent a better value but also a more classic style. But go ahead and find a btl in your local and see what you think. Some local retailer will be getting an allocation. For a bigger CA Cab but still with focus try Pride at just under $70.