The six of us enjoyed a magnum of the 2006 Hillside Select with grilled Filet’s on Saturday. Decanted for four hours. Color was a dark purple (no bricking) and had the usual lovely nose of black and some red fruit. Not as bold as some of the 2000s Hillsides, taste was more Bordeaux-like and paired beautifully with the dinner. A great bottle.
4 Likes
I have had both the 05 and 06 recently - actually the 05 yesterday for Father’s Day and the 06 in the last year. Notwithstanding the general sentiment that Napa went through an over extracted phase in the late 90s and 00’s these wines were both powerful but elegant in their own Napa way. Very balanced and not a bit of heat despite the 14.9% ABV. What’s more interesting is SHS is 15.5% in more recent vintages. I have not tried a vintage anymore recent than 2010 - I found it needing a bit more time in the bottle when I tasted it in 2023.
2 Likes
I had the 04’ HS in 22’ and thought it still needed more time even with a good decant. It was slightly hot. The 07’ I opened in 23’ and same thing. The high alcohol definitely hits and I think these wines need more time before opening. I am still sitting on another 07’ and will give it 2 more years.
This might be one of the few ones where I can explicitly say the high alcohol impacts how I enjoy the wine.
1 Like
I don’t believe one can trust the alcohol listed on the label to be accurate. For years every vintage was the same 14.9% and it was assumed that this was allowing them to not disclose actual alcohol and using the +/- 1% allowance. Meaning those bottles were anywhere from 14% to 15.9%.
Now that the label reads 15.5%, I don’t believe this is a more accurate number than the old 14.9%. Looking at the info on the webpage, it claims that the brix at harvest were 24-26.
https://shafervineyards.com/product/2021-hillside-select/
But making that range convert to 15.5% is a challenge. Normal conversion rates are in the 57-59 range, with the full range being wider. The vinlab table at the link gives the alcohol range for given brix. One gets 15.6% for effective brix of 25.5 and the highest conversion rate of 0.61. So it is possible that all info as printed is true but it seems unlikely.
Thanks for the insightful reply. I just know that I always worry about the alcohol level in some of the California wines - especially ones that are labeled in the 15% range. I guess my only point is that I didn’t pick up any heat for the 05 yesterday nor the 06 I had 8 months ago. SHS is a big wine so it handles more alcohol and remains in balance would be my guess but to your point - unless you actually measure it who knows for sure? My vague recollection is that if it was above 14% the taxes were higher so there was historically some reason to try to achieve lower ABV. I am led to believe this has changed and is now 16%. Anyhow, there are always other reasons why wineries label their wines certain ways!
By your table Brix of 26 at highest conversion of .61 is 15.9% So maybe up to 15.9% but definitely below 16%.