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Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2019

Reviews

96 -Decanter -

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.

95 -James Suckling -

91 -Wine Spectator -

Technical Details

Blend 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot
Winemaker Nate Weis
Country US
Region California
Sub Region North Coast
Appellation Napa Valley
Farming Method Precision Viticulture
Oak 100% American oak barrels
Aging / Cooperage 25 months
Alcohol 14.8%

Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2019

Name: Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2019
Brand: First Bottle
SKU: 1008653
Price: 149.95 USD
Availability: InStock

Proprietary Blends | California

DC96, JS95, WS91

SPECIAL: Ground shipping included on 3+ bottles!

Precision Viticulture

Multi-Bottle Discount

$175.00

$149.95

750ML

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“So elegant, supple and silky, this vintage is a dream to drink now, but should also have plenty of life ahead of it…”

James Suckling said that in his 95-point score, and you know he’s not one to mince words. This is a Napa classic that has dominated the Cabernet Sauvignon category for over 30 years, and the 2019 vintage is everything you love about Silver Oak, cranked up to 10. Lush, hedonistic Cabernet with a finely tuned, succulent structure. It feels impossible to not drink right now… but if you can muster it, grab two or more bottles for a gorgeous price drop, and stow one away for at least a few years (10 or more, if you can stand it)!

As the story goes, Silver Oak started with a handshake in 1972, when two friends, Colorado entrepreneur Ray Duncan and winemaker Justin Meyer, partnered up to start an iconic winery crafting some of the valley’s finest Cabernet Sauvignon exclusively aged in American oak barrels. The 2019 vintage takes a very precise blend of 76.61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18.13% Merlot, 2.56% Cabernet Franc, 2.32% Petit Verdot, and a whisper of 0.38% Malbec. Winemaker Nate Weis had been performing extensive oak seasoning experiments, and discovered with the 2019 vintage that when the American oak they use for aging is seasoned for 24 months and toasted for 90 minutes, it imparts the most expressive vanillin characteristics without being overly herbal (underseasoned oak) or coconutty (overseasoned oak).

All of this effort and testing has led to one of the most profound vintages of this iconic producer’s Cabernet. It is mouth-coating and warm with plump, sun-baked blackberries and blueberries that give way to dark chocolate shavings, rich garden soil, fresh cedar clippings, cigar box, olive tapenade, and a lift of mint toward the everlasting finish. Juicy and savory in equal measure, it is a deeply expressive and velvety Napa Cab that delivers ample character and impossibly smooth tannins. One bottle is a must, but if you can swing two or more, even better!

FOOD PAIRINGS: We’re fully in barbecue season (thank heavens) – and this pristine and classic Napa Cab is practically begging for a slow-smoked brisket with all the fixings.

About The Producer

Silver Oak began over a handshake between two friends with a bold vision: focus on one varietal, Cabernet Sauvignon, aged exclusively in American oak and worthy of cellaring for decades to come. Raymond Twomey Duncan, a Colorado entrepreneur who began investing in California vineyards in the late 1960s, and Justin Meyer, a winemaker and former Christian Brother, began in a Napa Valley dairy barn in 1972, producing only 1,100 cases of their inaugural vintage. Over the next two decades, Silver Oak grew in popularity. Our Napa Valley and Alexander Valley Cabernets sold quickly upon their release from the winery and became a sought-after staple on restaurant wine lists around the country. After selecting Daniel Baron to succeed him as winemaker in 1994, Justin retired, selling his share of Silver Oak to the Duncan family in 2001.

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