The first wine of a new era, the 1989 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is the finest produced since the debut vintage in 1978. It still reveals a deep ruby/plum/garnet color to the rim as well as notes of graphite, cedarwood, blackcurrants and forest floor. Medium-bodied with excellent richness, soft tannins and an authoritative finish, it was a revelation in a vintage I generally do not find appealing.

This has turned out to be one of the finest wines from this austere, tough-textured vintage. Although it exhibits some hard tannin in the finish, it is not excessive. This is a youthful, subdued, impressively-endowed wine with a multi-layered, cassis fruitiness, good spice, excellent purity (a characteristic of all the Shafer Hillside Select Cabernets), and fine balance and length. While it will remain a narrowly-constructed wine, it is not light or insubstantial. This is an authoritatively-flavored, rich, structured California Cabernet Sauvignon that should hit its peak by the end of the century and last for another 20 years. A sleeper!