A cool year, but ‘I’ve never seen such pretty clusters,’ says Shafer, who’s not a fan of this vintage. A really classic Cabernet nose: the first aroma is hay, then plum skin, then a rather washed palate. Hard, rather unforgiving tannins at end – very reserved and austere. This is an outlier. Of course we want freshness, but Napa should bring perfume, and a certain lushness. Those are the qualities that we expect from Hillside Select. Then again, terroir is weather, as well as rock and wind, so if this is what the vintage brings, then you should be true to it.