Last year when I visited California, I tasted through the excellent range of wines at Silverado Vineyards.
Link to that tasting is here…
Owned by Walt Disney’s daughter Diane and husband Ron Miller, the ex-quarterback of the La Rams, some fabulous wines have been produced in their Stag’s Leap District winery in Napa Valley along the Silverado Trail over the years. Sadly, Diane passed away around 4+ years ago aged 79 but the estate continues to make some superb high quality, moderately priced wines, none better than their Silverado Solo Cabernet Sauvignon.
This certainly is top Cabernet country with illustrious neighbours like Doug Shafer, famous producer of the Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon. The Silverado ‘Solo’ single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is situated in the Silverado vineyard with a 15 degree slope over 12 hectares which was replanted in 1988-89 solely with the UCD30 Silverado clone, one of the ‘heritage clones’. The wine was aged in all French oak, 60% new, for 18 months.
2013 was a fantastic vintage in California, making for bracing red wines packed with freshness, elegance, power and intensity at lower than normal alcohol levels in many cases.
Tasting with Silverado President Russ Weiss
Many of the top producer’s wines are long sold out, but if you see them lurking in wine merchants or on restaurant lists, indulge yourself. When I tasted the Solo 2013 back in March 2017, I new this wine was set for greatness, but I just did not realise how good it would turn out. So with this vintage set to be aged for many years to come by collectors, I thought it necessary to re-taste and re-score!
Silverado Solo Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, Stags Leap District, Napa Valley, 14.2 Abv.
The stellar 2013 Solo has a saturated dense purple colour to the rim. Wonderfully defined, precise nose of graphite, black berry spice, dried herbs, incense and black inky cherry pith with pretty violet fragrance and cedar spice nuances. Very bold, quite taught, plenty of broody depth and just superb classical Cabernet typicity. But these 2013s are built to thrill, full bodied yet classically mineral and tight, intensely concentrated, powerful but with the most tantalising saline, briney, maritime freshness and dusty Cabernet minerality. Wonderful balance and harmony but the volume is certainly turned to 10. You just can’t expect a vintage of this quality with sublime intensity more than once a decade max. Fill your cellar is the trumpet call!! Drink from 2020 to 2040+
(Wine Safari Score: 96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Greg Sherwood MW 