The 2019 Napa Valley Cabernet from Silver Oak is a beautifully structured, medium- to full-bodied wine showcasing the elegance of California fruit with Old World refinement. Deep ruby in color, it opens with complex aromas of Bing cherry, black raspberry, dark chocolate, tobacco, sage, and cedar, complemented by subtle notes of currant leaf and sandalwood from carefully seasoned American oak.

Decanter | D 96
Published: Dec 21, 2023
Drink: 2024-2038

The 2019 Silver Oak Napa Valley Cabernet shows a deep, ruby colour. It is a beautifully compact wine that delivers complex and nuanced aromas of Bing cherry and black raspberry with tobacco, currant leaf, and cedarwood laced with dried sage. Focused and linear on the medium to full-bodied palate, showing expressive dark berry character and exotic oak spices with a firm backbone of fine-grained structured tannins. Cool raspberry, cherry, and blackberry fruit are perfectly represented, and the lengthy finish is crisp, lively, and energetic. No doubt, this is one to cellar. Exhaustive oak seasoning experiments led by winemaker Nate Weis resulted in the discovery that the American oak they age Silver Oak in when seasoned for 24 months and toasted for 90 minutes, marks the point at which the oak imparts more vanillin character and delivers better tannin integration. By contrast, the 2018 vintage was aged in American oak, seasoned for 16 months and toasted for 60 minutes. Weis explains that their experiments showed that underseasoned American oak imparts a dill character, while overseasoning results in coconutty notes, but finding a sweet spot delivers that vanillian quality winemakers look for in French oak. Taste the 2018 and 2019s side by side if you can, and note the subtle differences and shift to a more savoury profile in the 2019 vintage, with a very precise integration of oak tannin. It will be exciting to follow their progression in the cellar and see how subsequent vintages shape up in healthy and challenging harvest years.

James Suckling | JS 95
Published: Jan 19, 2024

So elegant, supple and silky, this vintage is a dream to drink now, but should also have plenty of life ahead of it. Aromas of blueberries and dark chocolate meld with luxe black fruit, mint and cocoa on the palate. A blend of 77% cabernet sauvignon, 18% merlot and dashes of cabernet franc and petit verdot. Drink or hold through at least 2030.

Silveroak.com

Our Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon artfully combines the classic elegance of the old world and the ripe fruit of California. It displays an opaque garnet color with a bouquet driven by fruity aromas of blackberry liqueur and hoisin sauce. It also offers the savory components of sage and molasses. These complex aromatics are complemented by sandalwood and nutmeg characteristics indicative of American oak aging. This is a well-structured wine with a compact and rich mid-palate buttressed by silky tannins and generous acidity. Given proper cellaring, this wine will provide drinking pleasure through 2037.

Shaped by cool marine mornings and luminous, dry days, Napa Valley’s patchwork of mountains, benchlands and valley floor is a timeless home for Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s a place where purity of fruit meets natural structure—hallmarks that have defined the region for generations. 

For nearly 30 years, we’ve hand-picked 100% of the fruit for our Napa Valley Cabernet from within the growing region. At the heart of it is Soda Canyon Ranch, the backbone of our Napa Cab and a guiding thread in its character year after year.