Silver Oak is a much loved iconic family-owned Californian winery dedicated to producing truly premium classical Cabernet Sauvignon. Silver Oak was established in 1972 by Ray Duncan and Justin Meyer and is currently run by Ray’s sons David Duncan and Tim Duncan.
Silver Oak has two wineries, one in Oakville in the centre of Napa Valley and one in Geyserville in the Alexander Valley. The Duncan Family also established Twomey Cellars back in 1999, named after Ray Duncan’s mother, where they produce top notch Pinot Noir, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc. Twomey has its own wineries in Calistoga and Healdsburg. In 2017, the Duncan family added yet another boutique winery to the portfolio with the purchase of the Ovid Winery located on Pritchard Hill overlooking Napa Valley and the Silverado Trail.
The Silver Oak fermentation cellar
The 2018 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon vintage undoubtedly belongs in a top quality echelon reserved for only the finest of the past two decades. It was absent of the challenges that plagued many of the previous years growing seasons ranging from drought to low yields and heatwaves. According to the leading critics, the best wines show balance, poise, freshness and a transparency between vineyard and appellation. To these characteristics I would add weightless fruit intensity, power and concentration that succeeds without obscuring any sense of terroir or place.
Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, Sonoma County, 14.4% Abv.
The amazing thing about the 2018 Sonoma and Napa Valley 2018 reds is that when you put your nose in a glass, you can almost smell the freshness and vibrant acidity lurking beneath their voluptuous fruit complexity. This beautiful Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is no exception boasting striking high notes of violets, purple blossoms and lilac over rich, dense black berry fruits with a strong vein of blue berry crumble and sweet cherry tobacco. The palate is just as enticing boasting a wonderfully dense core of black berries and black cherry fruit concentration tightly interwoven with notes of graphite, stony minerality, kirsch liquor and black plum extract. With the harmonious density and superb fruit – acid balance comes a certain youthful charm, but undoubtedly, this is another vintage from Silver Oak that merits burying in the cellar because time will definitely reward the patient! A real 5 star stunner! Drink from 2026 and over the next 30+ years.
Twomey Cellars, Silver Oak and Ovid are three of California’s most iconic wineries brought together by their joint ownership under the Duncan family. The now iconic Silver Oak brand was established in 1972 by Ray Duncan and Justin Meyer and is currently operated by Ray’s sons David Duncan, who serves as the President and CEO, and his brother, Tim Duncan, who serves as Executive Vice President. The cult winery Ovid located on Pritchard Hill overlooking Napa Valley and the Silverado Trail is the most recent acquisition that was purchased in 2017 and continues to craft iconic and highly collectable wines under the ongoing stewardship of talented winemaker Austin Peterson.
Twomey Cellars Anderson Valley Pinot Noir 2017, 14.3% abv.
I visited California in 2017 and of course who could forget the strong winter rains that brought a welcome relief to many years of drought. After a late March budbreak, good flowering conditions followed setting up a healthy crop size. After an intensely hot summer with two extended heatwaves, the harvest was a fairly brief two week affair and slightly later than recent previous vintages. The warmer, more inland location of the Ferrington Vineyard coupled with its sandy, gravelly soils guaranteed fruit flavour and opulence while the more coastal Monument Tree Vineyard with its cooler clay soils retained moisture well allowing the fruit to be picked several weeks later. Blended together, these two vineyards made for an expressive Pinot Noir with its own unique Anderson Valley elegance, freshness and intensity. The wine was aged for 13 months in 100% French oak with 31% of new barrels.
A wonderfully deep seductive purple plum garnet colour, the Anderson Valley is always my favourite Pinot Noir in the Twomey range alongside the Bien Nacido and Russian River cuvees. Beautifully perfumed, the 2017 has fine lifted aromatics of crushed rose petals and sweet cherry blossoms along side alluring notes of demerara sugar, wet grey slate, pithy black cherry and wild fraises de bois fruit notes. The palate is fresh and pure with its usual elegance and translucence that always make it such a stand out wine. There is also a wonderful underlying depth and concentration all packaged up with a seamless texture, suave graphite mineral tannins and plenty of finesse. The finish bristles with notes of black cherry, sun raisined cranberries and red bramble berries from the forest floor making this another impressive release from Twomey Cellars. Drink now and over 8 to 10+ years.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon 2016, Alexander Valley, 13.9% Abv.
The 2016 vintage was of course the beginning of the end for the enduring drought that had plagued California. Ample rain in the winter months filled reservoirs and soil profiles allowing a strong start to the growing season. Warm weather in mid-February led to early budbreak which managed to avoid frost damage in spring time. The season was consistently warm throughout with two smaller heat spikes. Some cooler weeks in August followed bringing in plenty of coastal fog to protect the developing fruit. Ripening was steady and in balance resulting in a very healthy crop with intense flavours and concentration together with importantly a good fresh acidity backbone.
The 2016 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is comprised of 94.6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, 0.5% Petit Verdot, 0.5% Cabernet Franc and 0.4% Malbec. The final blend was transferred to American oak barrels where it was aged for 24 months, with 50% of the barrels being new. The colour is a dark opaque ruby red and displays wonderfully ripe, exotic aromatics of violets, earthy crème de cassis, freshly baked blueberry muffins, dried baking herbs, sage, spearmint and vanilla pod spice. With a little more coaxing out the glass, evocative notes of creamy oak spice and black currant crumble start to emerge to reinforce this wines opulence and depth. The palate is fabulously dense and creamy with plush stony graphite tannins, a broad plump fleshy mid-palate weight and breadth that finishes with delicious notes of black currant, black cherry and raspberry confit. Just beautifully constructed and fine-tuned with balance, power and focus. Drink this from release and over the next 20 to 25+ years.
(Wine Safari Score: 96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Ovid Proprietary Red 2016, Napa Valley, 14.8% Abv.
After the meagre yields from previous drought vintages at the Pritchard Hill estate, 2016 delivered normal crop levels. The last weeks of August brought a warm finish to the growing season and set the ball in motion for the creation of a wine with density and power, freshness and vibrancy. The 2016 proprietary red is made from a blend of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Cabernet Franc, 8% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot. The aromatics are indeed lifted and expansive from the start, displaying complex notes of graphite and violets, blueberry and mulberry, black bramble berries, saline cassis, and hedgerow spice. Lovely exotic notes of black salted liquorice, black currant and pithy black cherry melt on the palate that is luxurious and fleshy yet simultaneously vivacious, concentrated and beautifully fresh. It’s the attention to detail, the harmonious seamless flavours and the impressively fine grained tannins that steer this wine in a direction of greatness. The finish is long, hedonistic and intense and resonates with a super long, persistent mocha and espresso laden black fruited finish. Very classy indeed. Drink from release and over the next 10 to 15+ years.
(Wine Safari Score: 97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The wines are available to the UK trade on allocation through importer The Wine Treasury.
Silver Oak Cellars is an iconic family-owned Californian winery dedicated to producing truly premium Cabernet Sauvignon. Silver Oak was established in 1972 by Ray Duncan and Justin Meyer and is currently operated by Ray’s sons David Duncan, who serves as the President and CEO, and his brother, Tim Duncan, who serves as Executive Vice President.
Silver Oak has two wineries… one in Oakville in the centre of Napa Valley and one in Geyserville in the Alexander Valley. The Duncan Family also established Twomey Cellars back in 1999, named after Ray Duncan’s mother, where they produce Pinot Noir, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc. Twomey has its own wineries in Calistoga and Healdsburg.
After an amenable spring, drought conditions prevailed throughout the year leading to an early harvest in California, making this one of the main signatures of the 2014 growing season in Napa Valley. The best 2014s are fragrant, aromatically expressive, opulent and accessible wines that retain structural delineation, freshness and finesse. While 2014 yielded quite different red expressions to 2013, the wines show excellent medium to long term ageing potential.
Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2014, 14 Abv.
The wine that started it all back in 1972, the Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 has a delicate but complex sweet fruited nose with strata of wet tobacco, sweet leaf, black plum and a subtle macerated fruit cake opulence. The palate is majestic and very classy, finely poised, elegant but also self assured. The concentration is notable yet the structure seamless, almost weightless – zero gravity finesse! After the block buster 2013 Alexander Valley, we definitely have another full throttle lift off here as well. A truly grand gentlemanly expression of age worthy Californian Cabernet.
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Silver Oak Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2014, 14.2 Abv.
A legendary wine from an iconic wine region, this 2014 Napa Valley Cabernet shows a rather exotic piquant expression but with archetypal Cabernet notes of cassis reduction, saline oyster shell, sweet black cherry and an alluring cinnamon, vanilla pod oak spice. Full bodied and imposing, this wine is powerful yet finely symmetrical and super toned with beautifully precise sweet tannins, sweet tobacco hints and a long, concentrated creamy depth. Very fine harmony and finesse, this is a deceptively accessible Napa Valley cuvée but one with plenty of heart, soul and extract for the long term. It could even evolve into a real Californian classic.
Greg Sherwood MW 