Interested in the board’s take on this long-standing winery. ![[stirthepothal.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/f/f40faec63ca1018898a40805efbf9f0066a3d205.gif "[stirthepothal.gif]"){kind=small}
Why?
The first “fine wine” I was introduced to in the late nineties was Silver Oak. I remember thinking, “how can anyone pay this much for wine?” at the time. While I don’t drink it now (I have 2 bottles, gifted to me, in my collection), I’m fascinated by how popular this wine is, yet the wine cognescenti continue to decry the wine as “Silver Joke”. I’m interested in an honest assessment from this board…simple curiosity!
I am not a fan. Mind you I haven’t had it in years, but my last two experiences included a bottle that was corked and another bottle that was 10 years old (mid 90’s bottling) that was absolutely devoid of fruit or any other flavors – DOA.
I admit that I liked it when I first started drinking wine but I no longer have any interest. I’ll add that my palate has shifted and I drink far less Cabernet than I used to.
I haven’t had one in a long, long time.
I remember having a bottle maybe 20 years ago with a bunch of experienced wine lovers and remarking that I felt guilty for liking it so much. That seemed to sum up the group’s feeling – a guilty pleasure because the wine was so luscious and smooth.
I have had a good number of bottles from the late 70’s through early 90’s all in the past two years and, especially for the price, I thought they were very enjoyable (even if a bit simple). The last vintage I can say I really liked was 1992. I haven’t had much from more recent vintages but from what I have had I am not looking to add any to the cellar.
I always sort of thought Silver Oak is to men, what The Prisoner is to women.
John, if so good, why so long without another bottle?
It sure sold well down in San Diego. I always assumed that was for several reasons; first and foremost, it’s a trophy wine for some folks, one to brag about. It’s also incredibly non-threatening to the average wine drinker, with the fruit and oak all turned up to 9.5 or so. Lastly, it was always easy to get, at the retail level. Any retailer worth their salt would carry it in San Diego, and I think a lot of Silver Oak drinkers thought it was a culty wine.
The Rombauer of Cabernet!
Its a soft bodied, low acid heavily oaked wine. It is technically well made and generally tastes pleasant but lacks the personality a wine-enthusiast (geek) might be looking for.
It’s a unique and fairly distinctive wine in its way. They use a lot of new oak from Missouri, which gives the wine a very strong candied/vanilla/creamy/oaky flavor and texture without adding a lot of tannins. It’s smooth, fairly soft (lowish acidity) and lush in texture. It almost tastes a bit sweet, although I don’t know if they intentionally leave a little RS in the wine (it wouldn’t surprise me). Very forward and drinkable upon release, aging does little for it. I can understand it’s popularity, but it’s not for me.
It’s the rich man’s Menage a Trois.
My experience is from vintages from 1978 through 1995 for the Alexander Valley, 1984 through 1992 for Napa, and just a few vintages of Bonny’s. My feeling is that SO takes a lot of undeserved flak (including some in this thread) from people who know more about it by reputation than actual tasting. Within the past few years I have had mid-80’s wines that did very well in blind tastings against top CA Cabernets like Cask 23 and Caymus SS.
I don’t think that SO would appeal to people who are really oak averse, but for people who like old-style Rioja (with the sweet oak, like some La Rioja Alta), or Ridge wines, there can be a lot of appeal. As Berry says it is a well-made wine, though I disagree that it lacks personality, at least with age. The 84/85/86 Alexander Valley wines all had distinct personalities and a lot of character and each one aged very well.
In my experience, the Alexander Valley was the most reliable of the wines. Some of the Napas were great but some seemed a little fruit-soupy with age. The Alexanders always aged gracefully for me. Some of the wines (particularly Bonny’s) had some pronounced green pepper aromas.
As to why I don’t buy it anymore, I stopped after 1995 due to pricing and I stopped buying any CA Cabernet at all after the 1997 vintage except for an occasional Dehlinger. I don’t know if the newer wines are different or not, but the 1995 Alexander was still very good several months ago.
I have to admit, I won’t take a bottle to a restaurant now because of the stigma attached to it. I have to drink it in private and wash my hands afterwards, but I still enjoy it a lot.
Don’t get the appeal, unless you’re trying to bag a cougar.
A thread on better Cab values would overload Todd’s server.
They have successfully positioned themselves as the steakhouse expense account splurge wine for non-wine-geeks. It’s quite a lucrative position to have cornered. And then Opus One has, to a lesser extent, cornered the “splurge plus” level.
I agree with Berry’s description in general, though it’s interesting to me that, unlike your Prisoner and Rombauer Zin type wines with big civilian crowd appeal, it’s not an especially fruity, ripe or lush wine. It’s actually on the leaner and less fruity side, with more cedar, dill and olive type flavors, and sometimes a rather drying finish (I think I’ve mostly had the Alexander Valley and may be describing that, not as sure if the same is true for the Napa).
It’s a wine I would happily have a glass of if offered to me, but probably don’t find enough value ($60 for the Alexander Valley, $80 for the Napa?) or interest to go buy for myself. It’s not really a wine that should inspire much hate, though.
Agree with this.
Totally disagree with this. It’s just a very different wine with age. If you are talking about 5 years or something like that, that might be correct but I don’t think that type of age does much for many Cabernet-based wines. You have to wait them out much longer. If you want a really nice one now, try the 1985 Alexander which (uncharacteristically) took a long time to soften but bloomed really nicely in the past 5 years or so.
I remember I once drank a beer in the ruth chris steak house bar while waiting for my wife to finish yoga at a nearby building and every table had one of those two wines on it. The bartender did not agree with me that it was funny.
Exactly, though to me it tastes a little less than pleasant.
A friend opened an older bottle of 4 July. We drank it opposite an 06 Hourglass. The SO drank as described above–pleasant, sweet, low acid. It did not do well against the (also heavily oaked and sweet) Hourglass.
I bought great wine in college in the early 80s but then didn’t have resources when I got married. Our first “expensive” wine was a '90 SO. I have a nostalgic soft spot for the wine but don’t care for it now, and haven’t bought since the '96 vintage.
Price and too many other wines to explore.
Oh, and guilt.