A significant change in style (blame those anti-pleasure, puritanical and misguided food/wine fanatics) was instituted with the 1982 vintage. The heavy-handed addition of acidity began with this vintage and continued with the 1983, 1984, and 1985. Anyone who has had experience with the great classics of this century would be astonished to learn that the finished PH in this Cabernet Sauvignon is 3.24. What this means is that far too much tartaric acid was added, giving the wine a crisp, tart, compactness that keeps the taster from fully appreciating the fruit. Moreover, the wine's texture is effectively shut off from the palate because of the acidic armor, which makes everything appear compact and compressed. The only advantage to such ridiculous acidifications is that the color remains a fresh looking dark ruby - but who drinks color? The wine's youthful color is followed by a herbaceous, vegetal nose, and good, ripe, medium-bodied fruit, but the wine's acidity is akin to a chastity belt, keeping the palate from truly appreciating what the wine has to offer. The 1982 is the most herbaceous and vegetal of all the Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignons. It will keep for another 10-12 years, but it will never blossom into a great wine.

The herbaceous, straightforward, pleasant 1982 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select reveals dry, attenuated characteristics, a lean, austere mouthfeel, and notes of tobacco intermixed with vegetative undertones, red and blackcurrants, and a tight, clipped finish. It was made during the learning curve years, and it reflects that.