Brand story
Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley 2019
Silver Oak was founded in 1972 by Ray Duncan and Justin Meyer on a single premise that was unusual at the time: make only Cabernet Sauvignon, and release it only when it is ready to drink. Every bottle is aged in American oak rather than French, and held in barrel and then in bottle for years before it leaves the winery — a discipline that turned an idiosyncratic choice into one of the most recognisable house styles in California. The Duncan family still owns the winery, and the Alexander Valley property in Geyserville was rebuilt in 2018 as a LEED Platinum, solar-powered facility surrounded by the estate’s own vineyards.
Alexander Valley sits in northern Sonoma County, cooler and more maritime than the Napa benches, with the Russian River drawing fog down the valley on summer nights. That rhythm of warm days and cold nights ripens Cabernet fully while holding its acidity, and the resulting wine is the softer, rounder of the two Silver Oak bottlings. Aged in American oak from the winery’s own cooperage in Missouri, it carries the sweet vanilla and coconut-tinged spice that is the house signature, wrapped around dark fruit and a supple, approachable frame. The 2019 growing season followed a wet winter and stayed mild and unhurried through summer, with no heat spikes to rush ripening — conditions that gave fully ripe fruit while keeping acidity intact, and the wine its evenness of shape.
