Three dudes got together outside yesterday to have some big reds that were single blind for all and double blind to at least two of the three on any particular wine.
All knew a Silver Oak 2013 Alx Valley was in the mix, but only I knew about the Trader Joe’s Rutherford Platinum Select Cabernet 2018. There was an expectation of at least one Zin in the lineup too.
All three relatively experienced tasters ranked the Silver Oak as the lowest out of 6 wines, though all identified it as Cali cab.
All three tasters also called the TJs wine a Zin, but gave it a middle of the pack ranking. Quite impressive given that a Limerick Lane Bedrock 2015 and a Ridge Geyserville were in the mix!
The winner for all three was a Napa Bdx Blend from 2004 — jigones can hopefully fill in the gap here.
Major takeaways are that silver oak is trash, and a $14 TJs wine can be appealing even if it tastes nothing like the grape!
Interesting story/take. Would be nice to see the whole lineup and rankings.
I’ll say that a 1980 Silver Oak Alexander Valley i had in December was killer! Not quite apples/apples vs. a more recent release probably, but still worth noting.
HA…I’ve actually have had 7 bottles of the 13 AV in the last couple years(got a screaming deal, as well as the 12 Napa) and all have been totally acceptable “Silver Oak” style bottles. Not as great as they were in the 80/90’s…but still has that classic SO American oak spice with velvet smoothness. I enjoyed them…especially at my price point!
I would say your bottle might be suspect?
I’ve had lots of early 00s AV Silver Oak and while I’d buy different wines for the price, wouldn’t turn it down.
But my favorite SO experience was waiting tables and a 4 top walked in with a mag of Silver Oak. I gave them nice wine glasses, and the host in their group wanted to do the opening and pouring. He arranged the glasses into a circle and filled them nearly to their rims, being careful to revisit each glass as the bottle was almost empty, ensuring everyone got an equal pour.
In my opinion, the Silver Oak tasted nasty and came dead last by a long shot. We did this blind to see if my dislike for this wine was warranted. It was fully warranted. The bottle was not suspect. Every single Silver Oak from 2008 on has consistently been out of balance and worse than Caymus.
The winner was a 2004 Volker Eisele Cabernet/Merlot blend (50/50 I believe) that was purchased from Winebid, which was still youthful and delicious. Unfortunately, some of the old cabernet vines down in 2020 fires.
This is interesting, because we visited the AV tasting room 2 or 3 years ago, and I thought the 2013 AV cab was pretty darn good. Prefer it for my tastes to the Napa.
Every single Silver Oak from 2008 on has consistently been out of balance and worse than Caymus.
As someone who hates Caymus I don’t know that I would go that far. I had a 09 Silver Oak Napa that was really good on a pop and pour but day 2 was everything I hated about Silver Oak. I can’t remember the last Caymus I could even finish a glass.
Silver Oak AV is estimated at 70k cases/year (Silver Oak Cellars - The Napa Wine Project). That’s a pretty major volume for a premium wine, though I suppose in line with the Bordeaux production model for classified growths. I suppose it’s possible to have consistent style–especially if using a lot of new American oak*–and quality control over that volume, but I’m naturally skeptical.
I can relate. I was at a party and was served 2012 Caymus Special Selection. I took a sip, gagged, and spit it out right in my host’s face. I stormed off muttering to myself how in the hell do they expect me to finish a glass of this garbage?
I can relate. I was at a party and was served 2012 Caymus Special Selection. I took a sip, gagged, and spit it out right in my host’s face. I stormed off muttering to myself how in the hell do they expect me to finish a glass of this garbage?
The 2012 and beyond was a true downfall for Caymus. Not sure what they did but vintages prior to that have been fine and sometimes very drinkable but my disliked started with that 40th anniversary bottling.
In the early days of this hobby (pre September 11), I would see lots of people at SFO with a 3 pack of Silver Oak heading home. Even then, when I wasn’t in the know, all I can say to myself was suckers. They were buying a name, when they should have been buying quality; and by quality I mean all the small wineries that we discuss regularly on this board.
It’s really that extreme vanilla taste that I get from Silver Oaks that makes me stay away. Not a bad wine, but just can’t get over that crazy amount of oak.
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