Silver Oak Cabernet and the American Wine Style

Silver Oak Cellars has been around for over 50 years, that's pretty long by California standards. It's not just that the winery has been here for a half century, but the effect they've had on California wine drinkers. They make a Napa Valley Cab and an Alexander Valley (Sonoma County) Cab and neither has changed much in those 50 years.

The founders were Ray Duncan and Justin Meyer. Ray was fairly new to the wine business and had just purchased an old dairy farm in Napa. Justin Meyer worked at Christian Brothers Winery, but left the monastery to get married and join his new partner. Silver Oak started with the 1972 vintage with a Cabernet labeled as North Coast, as there were no Napa Valley or Alexander Valley appellations at that time.  After that first wine had aged nicely, it was entered into the 1977 California State Fair wine competition, where it won a gold medal. That was a year after California wines beat the pants off of the French at The Judgement of Paris.

Love Silver Oak Cabernet or hate it, and there are strong opinions on both sides, the wine set a standard for Napa and maybe the rest of the state. The lovers call it elegant and age worthy; to the detractors it's oaky and dry. The wine is aged in (gasp) American oak rather than fancy French barrels. Most of the oak barrels are brand new, so yes, it imparts a definite flavor on the wine and the flavors of American oak are different from French oak. That's not to say one is better or worse. It's just that, obviously, premium French wines use French oak, so what were these upstart Americans doing?

I worked at a Napa winery about 15 to 20 years ago. My first year there I was hit with the question, "Are we doing anything special on the Silver Oak release weekend?" What? Well, it turns out it's a pretty big deal in Napa and the thought was since there will be lots of well-heeled and maybe famous people in town we should do something to bring them and their credit cards up our way.

In this day of overripe, low acid, no tannin for aging, red wines from Napa, there are still a few of the old guard around. Silver Oak believes they are doing the best they can and they are proud of their accomplishments.

I used to buy a bottle or two of Silver Oak once in a while and save it for a special occasion a few years later. I would occasionally get in a discussion with someone about which was better from a particular vintage, the Napa Valley or the Alexander Valley. They are now a bit expensive, with the Napa wine retailing for $175, the Alexander Valley Cab for $100. When the 1972 was released at $6 some people were shocked at the price of Napa's first luxury wine brand.

Justin Meyer, winemaker, and partner Ray Duncan
image from silveroak.com