2018 Silver Oak Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley California USA

Winemaker Notes

California Cabernet Magic
The allure of California’s premier wine region proving irresistible, Silver Oak Napa Valley was first produced in 1979, just seven years after our inaugural North Coast vintage. Upon visiting, one needn’t be an expert to perceive Napa Valley’s power as a wine place. The tight, linear valley is framed by tree-covered mountains on two sides, focusing the panorama’s inherent energy and intensity in way that produces wines of similar attributes. A sprawling river of vines flows broadly across the valley floor before swelling up the rocky benchlands. Up on the mountainsides, vineyards become more sparse, little specs of brightness amidst the darker forest green. There’s undeniable grace here, but also palpable magnitude. Sourcing from vineyards across these diverse locales, our Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon both harnesses and reflects the region.

Typicity & Expression
A true benchmark, the Silver Oak Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon every year is a glorious rendering of the flavors and textures that have made Napa Valley the epicenter of American winemaking. Ultra-classic notes of cassis and blackberry are the wine’s calling cards, rendered with the opulent, pulpy ripeness characteristic of Napa and burnished by heady suggestions of tobacco and spice. These warm flavors are woven into a fine, intricate structure with palpable density. Tannins are beefy, but fine-grained, sweet in their chewiness. Polished and buffed to be drinkable upon the release, the wine’s concentration and brawny structure give it the musculature to age for decades.

Vineyard Program
Our Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from vineyards representing a range of geographies and microclimates throughout Napa Valley. Since 1999, Soda Canyon Ranch has served as our wine’s backbone, often accompanied by fruit from our Jump Rock Vineyard, as well as Navone Vineyard, a partner grower of more than 40 years. Soda Canyon Ranch’s dependability and versatility stems from its unique location at the intersection of four sub-AVAs: Atlas Peak, Oak Knoll District, Stags Leap District and Coombsville. This site boasts a diversity of volcanic soil formations, ranging from rocky, shallow deposits where Cabernet Sauvignon thrives to more fertile, clay-bearing soils that nurture Merlot. Fruit from this site provides a “chewy” textural component to the blend. The Atlas Peak and Oak Knoll District AVAs house vineyards that also play critical parts in the blend. Recent vintages have even furthered our explorations of the valley, yielding small amounts of incredible fruit from the hills above Rutherford, Diamond Mountain, and Mt. Veeder with promising results.

American Oak
At 80% new and 20% once-used oak barrels, our Napa aging program employs significantly more new oak than Alexander Valley. Napa’s warmer climate produces more fruit-forward wines with bigger structures and higher alcohol. The higher proportion of new oak helps to shape and polish these intense wines. Over two years in barrel is required to harmonize the marriage of oak and wine that is the signature of our Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.