TN: Salon, Hillside Select Vertical, ZH, Bernabeleva

SALON, HILLSIDE SELECT VERTICAL, ZH, BERNABELEVA - Our home (8/2/2017)

Last night we at long last held our Shafer Hillside Select tasting. For various reasons this had been put off or postponed for around 2 years. Some people had dropped out, others drank their only bottle, but last night 8 of us gathered to sample what might be the finest wine coming from Napa. I consider it to be the Lafitte of Napa for its history, consistency and quality. I don’t think there is another winery that can match it in Napa. It has gotten quite expensive over the years. I dropped off the list a couple of years back (probably a bad idea), but its hard to open $250 bottles. That said, many of their peers are twice that or more. I guess I made a mistake.

We started with a Salon to open and then drank the SHS non blind over about 2.5 hours. Breads and cheeses were served. There is about an ounce in each bottle (except the Salon) which will be fun to check out tonight. It was a great time with some new faces joining the older ones.

• 2002 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut - France, Champagne
  Stellar wine, but I had hoped for more given the producer and the vintage. Pale green/gold in color with a nice mousse and lots of tiny bubbles. On the nose there is a seltzer note, slight toast and a bit of citrus (lemon/lime?). On the palate, this has a lot of limes. Some acidity but not the cut I think of when I think Salon. It does have a finish that goes on forever. A couple sips left in my glass until the end of the night are about the same. A bit more fruit, less acidity but that is probably due to the warmer temps as anything. It still drinks young but at age 15, it seems clear this is not going to ever achieve the top heights that Salon can reach. Again, this is a great wine, but I had higher expectations. Still, a real treat to try and a great starter. (95 pts.)
  
  
  
• 2001 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select - USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District
  A Wow wine. This ended up being the groups WOTN. Pop and pour, this took a bit of time to open. Once it did, it kept getting better all night. Still not fully mature. Who knows how long it has left but decades for sure. Purple in color with a bit of clear/ruby at the rim. The nose has cassis and cedar. With air a slight coffee note comes out. Great texture. Not quite lush but in that vein with great depth and complexity. Nice acidity. Lots of fruit tightly layered with char and slight earth. The finish was initially hot but that went away with air. Delicious wine. Nothing to even nit pick about here after about 20 minutes of air. (100 pts.)
• 2003 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select - USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District
  This was probably the closest to maturity of any of the wines in the flight. Purple with a ruby rim. The nose has cassis and some cedar. Also a bit of roasted meats. Some found a bit of raisin but I did not. Very deep. On the palate, this is well balanced. Great texture. It is sweeter than the rest but I think it is fruit and not residual sugar. Long finish. Pretty close to mature but plenty of time left. (96 pts.)
• 2005 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select - USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District
  Not quite as good as a bottle a few years ago. I wonder if this was hurt by pop and pour (or not). Purple in color, ruby at the rim. The nose has cassis, toast, and a bit of green bell pepper. Some found that last one a bit distracting. I had no issue with it. There was an odd quality to this wine as at time it seemed under ripe and at other times over ripe. I do think some air would have made it more consistent but I am not sure where it might have settled down. That said, those are nit picks on a tremendous wine. It drinks “Bordeaux” like in a sense. Cassis, some sweet fruit, some bell pepper. Medium tannins. Long finish. I hate saying a wine is in an odd place, but perhaps this one was. Still, had it been on its own with dinner, it would have been great. #spoiled (95 pts.)
• 2006 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select - USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District
  This took some time to open up. The last sips were the best. Purple in color, ruby at the rim. The nose is nice with cassis, toast, and cedar. Perhaps a bit of graphite. On the palate, this is juicy with firm tannins. It comes across as seamless to me. Cassis with an underlying char. One person thought the finish was bitter, but I did not. Certainly not an all time great Shafer, it is a fantastic wine. Needs a while to hit maturity and then should have a long life. (96 pts.)
• 2007 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select - USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District
  What an awesome wine. The groups #2, but my WOTN. The only thing “wrong” with this wine is that will get better. That said, it is still a 100 point wine right now. Purple in color, clear/ruby at the rim. The nose is gorgeous with cassis, cedar, char and graphite. With air some roasted meats and dark cherries come out. On the palate, this is one of those wines that are powerful yet nimble. Cassis and black cherries with some spice and char. Firm tannins. A finish that lasts forever. Delicious right now as it evolves in the glass and better as it swirls in one’s mouth. Easily has two or three decades left. An example of why I think of SHS as the Lafite of Napa. (100 pts.)
• 2011 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select - USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District
  Probably the weakest wine of the flight, this is still a great wine. It was slow oxed for 24 hours before opening which probably helped it. Purple in color, ruby at the rim. The nose has nice cassis and cedar with a bit of celery (some called it bell pepper). On the palate, it is still full bodied but doesn’t have the weight of the others. This wine was certainly not helped being between the 07 and the 12. Some found heat on the finish, I did not. I did get another “Bordeaux” styled Napa Cab. I think it will be helped with some time in the cellar and could even improve with a decade of storage. (95 pts.)
• 2012 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select - USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District
  I liked this far more than the group I guess who had it in 6th (actually tied for 5th). The nosse has Cassis, chocolate and char on the nose. Also some spice. On the palate, it is a big wine with lots of up front cassis and tannins. It seems deep and hard to see the bottom. Delicious. Long finish. It does have a softness about it that makes it seem accessible and lacking the structure of the other wines. Many 2012’s have an open quality to them but I think they will age just fine. Time will tell but I think this has a decade or more until maturity and then a couple more after that. (99 pts.)
  
  
  
• 2014 Viñedos Bernabeleva Vinos de Madrid Bernabeleva Arroyo del Tórtolas - Spain, Madrid, Vinos de Madrid
  I brought this back from Madrid about a month ago. After we finished the wines, I served this as we have been talking about the wines. It is from Gredos; a wine region about 45 minutes west of Madrid. It was cool for me to discover a new wine region and then to share it with other wine geeks who had not heard of it. This is basically a cool climate, high altitude Grenache that gets a lot of sun and wind. Ruby in color. The nose is nice with cherries, a bit of kirsch and slight salinity. On the palate, this is a very feminine take on Grenache. To me it is quite unique. There is a depth and tightness to the wine that seems so precise. Even after all those bigger Napa Cabs, I thought this held its own. Quite delicious. I know they said they struggle with getting enough acidity, but that did not seem to be a problem here. I think the crowd liked it too. (94 pts.)
  
  
  
• 1988 Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain Vendange Tardive - France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru
  Interesting wine. Probably a bit past prime from a .375. Light golden in color. The nose is gorgeous. For me it is 98 points on the nose. I could sniff it all night long. Lychees, and melon and peaches and slight sugary note. deep and complex. On the palate, it is not nearly that good. Still good and it turned out to be a fantastic food match for the carrot muffins brought by Robert (made by his wife Carrie). It is kind of a classic Gewurz from that era. A bit of lychee and apricot but ends with a bit of bitterness often found in Gewurtz at that time. I don’t get that much anymore but I used to see it a lot. It is sweet but not overtly. Long finish. The sweetness of the muffin "cured’ the bitter finish and this was a great end to the evening. (90 pts.)

Thanks to all for bringing a bottle. Maybe we can recreate it again in a few years. In the meanwhile, we should do this more often with other wines.
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Loren…Thank you for the great notes. Too bad you did not have a 2004…probably would have ranked third after the 2001 and 2007.

I had the 2001 at a shafer dinner a couple years back and it was one of the better wines I’ve ever had for my personal taste! Thanks for the notes

Thanks for the note on Bernabeleva, very curious to try it!

Any idea if this makes it to the US?

K&L and JJB tend to carry it. I got a case of the 2012 and am aging some of it, which may or may not be a great idea, but it’s one of my favorite Grenaches and it has some depths.

Loren,

I enjoyed your notes on the HSS. I’ve had the pleasure of the 2001 on a number of occasions and love the wine. I think it’s a brilliant example of Hillside Select. What I find fascinating about HSS tastings is the difference in size of some of the wines. For instance, at the time, the 2001 HSS was considered a massive wine. It comes in around 14.5% abv. The 2007 is in at 15.5%, and I think that’s probably a conservative listing. I’ve had the 2007 a couple of times, and enjoyed one a few years after release. It’s so massive, but just explosively aromatic and complex. Both are incredible in their own ways. I think I’d rather have a case of the 2001, though.

Thanks for the note, and the Bernabeleva sounds fascinating… Here’s the note from K&L site - they had one bottle left so i grabbed it.

Where to start? This is inspiring Garnacha. Garnacha for Grenache haters. Garnacha for lovers of Burgundy or traditional Barolo, perhaps. Hailing from a high elevation (1100 meters at its height) vineyard of decomposed granite (otherwise known as sand) located an hour and a half or so west of Madrid (in fact, many Madrileños vacation here to avoid the sweltering summer heat), this wine is so bright, so high toned and pretty, intensely flavored yet precise (no baby fat here) that you may want to guzzle it down now with a nice meal, even though the structure is likely there to improve in bottle for at least a decade, probably longer. Young winemaker Marc Isart likes to call this “his Chambolle” given the wine’s beautiful aromatics and delicacy. A random listing of other interesting facts about the wine: minimal top soil in the north facing vineyards, use of demi-muids and foudres, some whole cluster fermentation, minimal use of sulphur. I’ll take this over 99.99% of Chateauneuf du Pape - maybe even Rayas. (Joe Manekin, K&L Spanish Wine Buyer)

The only thing “wrong” with this wine is that will get better.

I love this line.

Loren,

Its hard to find them in the states…I saw a few at a local retailer here in NYC.

Btw, I saw your posts earlier on the winery visits of Gredos. Thanks a ton!

Quick question, how do you stack Bernabeleva’s wine style against Comado G, 4 Monos?? Similar, very different?

thanks so much for the notes on the Bernabeleva wines, Loren. Just tried the 16 vintage of the Tortolas bottling and I agree with your take on it as a feminine take on grenache. It was obviously young and somewhat closed but very delicate… would love to age a bottle or two to see how if it does evolve in the Burgundian style that I heard they’re going for with the wines.

Great event with nice notes Loren. Love the starter bubbly although as you discovered, it needs some more time.

I’m happy to get the update on the 07` as I bought a 6 pack and have yet to open one thinking they need 5-10 more years for me to start the journey of sorting out drinking windows.

the Bernabeleva base offering, ‘Camino’ de Navaherreros Garnacha, is a very good wine for the price as a cellar defender

Will have to try the Camino de Navaherreros. I had their Vina Bonita (which is their top cuvee) a couple weeks ago, and was totally wowed…

• 2015 Viñedos Bernabeleva Vinos de Madrid Bernabeleva Garnacha de Viña Bonita - Spain, Madrid, Vinos de Madrid (7/17/2018)
  This is a wow wine. Striking in so many ways. Color is very light, transparent ruby-garnet - and captures light like a precious gem. Nose is elegant - wild strawberry, warm soil, dried flowers. In the mouth, it’s the most elegant, lithe Grenache I’ve ever tasted - delicate wild strawberry, more dried flowers, leaf matter, assertive acid, thrumming baseline of cinnamon/clove, crushed rocks, super refined tannins that caress like raw silk, and an impressive, attention grabbing finish. Layers of pretty dark fruit start to appear after a couple hours - blackcurrant and huckleberry. 94+

Day 2, has closed up a bit, exhibiting a firmer profile, with more aggressively grippy tannins and less fruit. Would recommend drinking soon before it shuts down, or waiting 10+ years… (94 pts.)

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