2003 Alexander Valley  $59.99 1997 Alexander Valley  $149.99 1996 Napa Valley        $129.99 1995 Alexander Valley  $124.99 1994 Alexander Valley  $154.99 1993 Napa Valley        $129.99 1992 Alexander Valley  $104.99 1991 Alexander Valley  $119.99 1990 Alexander Valley  $104.99 1979 Bonnys Vineyard  $179.99 1985 Alexander Valley 3.0L  $699.99   all prices per bottle

Silver Oak, the story

Ray Duncan came to Napa Valley for the first time in the late 1960s to help a friend from his childhood work out a vineyard deal in the fledgling California wine industry. Ray was a savvy entrepreneur with businesses in Colorado, and he immediately saw an opportunity for growing grapes here. “It was an awakening,” he says. “I was fascinated by the potential of the area.” Within a year, Ray purchased 750 acres of pasture, orchards, and vineyards in Napa and Alexander Valleys. 

In 1972 Ray formed a partnership with winemaker Justin Meyer, and the two men created a winery that shattered conventional wisdom and changed forever the standards of quality for Cabernet Sauvignon. After nearly thirty years, Ray and his family purchased Justin’s original share of Silver Oak Cellars, making the Duncans sole owners, though the founding philosophy and practices remain precisely the same. The family is committed to making nothing less than the best Cabernet Sauvignon in the world.

In addition to Silver Oak, Ray and his family have owned and operated an oil and gas exploration company, a ski resort, and a buffalo ranch. His four sons fill major roles in the companies. Tim is Silver Oak’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing and David is Silver Oak’s General Manager. Sally, Ray’s wife, participates in all matters of design and hospitality in and around the winery

Silver Oak, the vineyards

Alexander Valley Vineyards

In 1972 Silver Oak's Alexander Valley vineyards produced the harvest—fifteen tons of hand-picked fruit—that would become Silver Oak’s first vintage. A critical reason for the success of this wine, and every wine made has always been that they create the final blend before aging it in American oak barrels and then bottles. Over the course of four-and-a-half years, the wine’s flavors, aromas, and textures have an opportunity to meld with one another and the wood’s delicate qualities to create the kind of graceful cohesion found only in the world’s most elegant wines.

At Silver Oak Cellars they understand that nothing is as important to their Cabernet Sauvignon as their vineyards. The winery was founded by grape growers with a keen sense for choosing the properties where Cabernet Sauvignon thrives. Today they farm about 200 acres in Alexander Valley and they spend a great deal of our time and resources to ensure the success and sustainability of these vineyards.

Miraval Vineyard

The core of every vintage of the Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is an 88-acre vineyard located in the heart of the appellation. Its gentle slopes and loamy soils consistently yield wines of depth and concentration, with rich cassis and blackberry aromas.

Red Tail Vineyard

On a 40-acre expanse of mountain vineyards located on Chalk Hill Road, is grown Cabernet Sauvignon vines that reliably produce wines of black cherry aromas and firm acidity, ideal characteristics to resonate with the luscious wines from the Miraval Vineyard.

Rivers Edge Vineyard

Alongside the Russian River in Alexander Valley, in gravelly, well-drained vineyards, we grow 40 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes with delicate floral and strawberry notes and exceptionally soft tannins.

Geyserville Vineyard

The 20-acre vineyard surrounding their Alexander Valley winery grows on serpentine soils that allow for very low yields, but over the course of the growing season the fruit here develops a black-pepper spiciness that adds excitement to the final blend

Napa Valley

Napa Valley Vineyards

At Silver Oak Cellars we understand that nothing is as important to our Cabernet Sauvignon as our vineyards. Our winery was founded by grape growers with a keen sense for choosing the properties where Cabernet Sauvignon thrives. Today we farm about 100 acres in Napa Valley and we spend a great deal of our time and resources to ensure the success and sustainability of these vineyards.

In 1972 Silver Oak’s founders cleared the land around the old Keig Dairy in Oakville and planted our first Napa Valley vineyards. During the following years, we bought and sold vineyards and fostered long-term relationships with independent growers from the city of Napa all the way north to Calistoga. We also built winemaking facilities at the dairy site, and in a revolutionary move that is still rare in California today, we dedicated every resource of the Napa Valley estate to the production of a single wine

Soda Canyon Vineyard

In 1999 Silver Oak purchased 100 acres of rolling hills just south of Napa’s Stags Leap District, with tightly spaced Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot vines on rocky, well-drained soils. The wines from this property show lush blackberry and cassis flavors and remarkably soft textures. Based on these tremendous results, we expect that in the future this vineyard will produce the core of our Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

We continue to benefit from long-term partnerships with independent growers from the south end of the valley to the north. Each vintage, we evaluate the wines from roughly a dozen properties and use only those that meet the high expectations of Silver Oak.

Past Reviews:

"...a multi-layered, fabulously rich, intense wine with full body, a velvety texture, and oodles of fruit, glycerin, and soft tannin in the finish" 

The Wine Advocate.

"Shows wonderful complexity and density of flavor, with layers of smoky currant, coffee, plum, cherry, cedar, dill and oak. A beautifully orchestrated wine, young and oozing with fruit flavors. The tannins are smooth and supple and the flavors go on and on."  The Wine Spectator.