Put an oil driller-turn-skiier from Colorado with a Californian Catholic monk who had been making wines for the religious order together and perhaps you'd nail it with the perfect recipe for creating California's OG Cab Sauv.

Chicago Bulls legend and current Golden State Warriors NBA coach Steve Kerr calls it his "girlfriend", whilst fellow NBA star LeBron James can't stop tweeting about it. Even NFL's Peyton Manning thinks its only befitting to hand cases of it out as door gifts, whilst Oprah keeps it for house pour. And that's just to name drop a couple of folks who are in love with the wine. There's also veteran actor that every guy wants to be Matthew McConaughey, guitar maestro Carlos Santana, and many more. To that end, there can only be one wine they're referring to - Silver Oak.

And that's at least some of the most eclectic things about the Silver Oak story and success today, now forever etched as one of California's best known Cabernet Sauvignon, and really the one that put the grape on the map coming out of the US, convincing every other winegrower in the country that this was the path to success.

So how did it all happen?

Justin Meyer and Raymond Duncan.

We first go back to the 1970's. Raymond Twomey Duncan was by that time a successful entrepreneur, and really quite the Renaissance man. He had founded Duncan Oil, which succeeded in exploring oil and gas reserves over in Durango, California, and after which he had decided to pursue his passion for skiing by establishing the Durango Mountain "Purgatory" Ski Resort, which was also wildly successful. And in all fairness, entrepreneurship seems to run in the Duncan family's veins - numerous Duncan's had struck gold in a wide array of ventures, which would almost make it seem like they were all born with that proverbial Midas touch. That's not to say any of it was easy - but they were really good at finding opportunity.

Into the 70's, Duncan had been invited to visit Napa Valley by his close friend Jack Novak, whom he had met and befriended in college, and had now become a Napa Valley wine pioneer with his Spottswoode Winery in St. Helena. This first visit by Duncan to Napa Valley proved formative to his subsequent wine ventures, as he had not only gotten to see first hand the wine industry blossoming, but had also chanced upon a report put out by Bank of America which foretold a serious rise in interest in Californian wines from the everyday American consumer. This convinced Duncan to start investing in acquiring land in California's Sonoma County, and in particular, Alexander Valley. Much to Duncan's surprise, California would soon become a significant part of his life.

Two men with wildly different lives came together to create California's first cult Cab. Pictured Left: Greystone Cellars where Justin Meyer worked under the Christian Brothers, today the Culinary Institute of America. Pictured Lower Right: Purgatory Ski Resort, established by Raymond Duncan.

Yet, that wasn't all. California was also home to another figure key in the Silver Oak story - Justin Meyer. Born Raymond Meyer, Meyer would join the Christian Brothers, a religious order wherein he would take on the name Justin. It was with the Christian Brothers that he would come to learn winemaking from Brother Timothy, at the Greystone Cellars (today replaced by the highly prestigious Culinary Institute of America), also in St. Helena. Brother Timothy was another pioneer in the California wine scene, and was responsible for the Christian Brothers' sizeable alcohol production operation - the Christian Brothers had ran 6 wineries and was one of the largest brandy producers in the world at one point. Through his work with the Christian Brothers, Meyer would not only serve as a Spanish teacher, but would also make strides in helping to raise the winemaking community in California. Meyer had over time built a great reputation for himself as a wine maker, educator, researcher, writer, judge and community leader. 

And so as Duncan began making his way through wine circles in California, he would come to find Meyer through a mutual friend. As the story goes, Duncan having heard that Meyer had recently left the Christian Brothers (to marry his wife Bonny), would broach the idea of starting a winery in California where Duncan would put up the capital and Meyer could focus on the winemaking. Nevertheless Meyer would apparently decline the offer at first, yet would end up calling Duncan the first thing the very next morning to tell him that he had changed his mind!

The Silver Oak Winery.

Having acquired several plots, Duncan had already found a possible location for this joint venture - a 258 acre property in Oakville that was at the time a dairy farm that was no longer in use. And so in 1972 Meyer would thus begin clearing the land and started the herculean effort of planting vines proper. They would call the wine "Silver Oak", a cross between the Silverado Road in Napa Valley and the Oakville appellation. Having honed his craft across a wide array of wines during his time with the Christian Brothers, Meyer would conclude that it would be best to simply focus on producing just one wine - and it was Cabernet Sauvignon that he was most curious about. It was Meyer's belief that Cabernet Sauvignon would eventually become the flagship wine of Napa Valley - a truth that whilst is wholly embraced today, had nevertheless completely ran counter to mainstream belief back then.

"It was kind of a reaction to my days at Christian Brothers, where we made so many wines it was hard to do them all right, and it was kind of in keeping with what I thought — that Cabernets were what Napa and Sonoma did best, so why not devote our attention to that." said Meyer at the time.

Silver Oak did Alexander Valley before it was Alexander Valley AVA.

It wasn't until January 1st 1977 that Silver Oak would make its inaugural debut of that first 1972 vintage, and with just a minuscule 1,100 cases made - a whopping 5 years since the harvest. But it was good, seriously good in fact! It would begin catching eyes when it won Gold at the California State Fair, this curiously labelled North Coast Cabernet Sauvignon. At the time, as the Alexander Valley AVA designation had yet to be created (with the fruit used in Silver Oak's earliest years coming from Duncan's Los Amigos Vineyard in Alexander Valley, which he shared with Novak of Spottswoode), Duncan and Meyer would thus have to reach out for the closest thing which had been the North Coast status. 

Beyond the quick buzz that came from that inaugural 1972 vintage, the long wait for it was more importantly indicative of several unconventional yet crucial choices that Meyer had made in his winemaking. In the fields he had allowed the fruit to hang for longer than was standard, allowing for the fruit to develop more ripeness and softer tannins, which made for a plusher wine (although eventually as winemakers around the world began pursuing opulent wines, Silver Oak never quite shifted all the way to the end of the scale that it seemed headed towards early on). Meyer would also opt to use American oak barrels instead of French oak as he had found his fruit's character softer, which he believed would be complemented better with the finer grained American oak, allowing for a less tannic wine. Meyer would comment "To my palate, American oak imparts less wood tannin than French oak. I like tannic wine about as much as I like tough steak." And thus Silver Oak would first receive barrels from the pioneering Beaulieu Vineyards (famed winemaker Andre Tschelistcheff, often called the Father of Californian winemaking, too preferred American oak to French ones), before eventually becoming the first in America to own an American cooperage.

It was in these American oak barrels that Meyer would establish the Silver Oak practice of extensive ageing - after the fruit was fermented in stainless steel tanks (with the fruit not up to standard sold off as bulk) to preserve the freshness, the resulting wine would then be proprietarily blended (done each year from scratch with no fixed formula on which parcels to draw from, except the estate fruit which is the core), and then barrelled in American oak where it would age for up to a whopping 30 months in barrel and then up to 2 more years in bottle before being released! Total that up and it is now immediately clear why Silver Oak's inaugural 1972 vintage only finally made an appearance in 1977. Yet by the time each bottle is released, the essence of the Cabernet was well and truly crystallised - a practice that Silver Oak still carries out till this day. This practice remains incredibly unusual as it meant that the winery would have to hold on to its wines for half a decade before they could make a dollar - and that meant that in the early days of Silver Oak, the winery sold no wine its first 5 years!

When all was said and done, with half a decade in waiting, Silver Oak's debut left one last surprise for wine lovers - rather than the benchmark price of $3 per bottle of wine, Silver Oak's all-Cabernet would go for $6. That might not seem like much, but keep in mind this was the 1970's, and all things considered, a 2x price tag on anything in any time period would surely raise eyebrows. Yet Meyer and Duncan were convicted that theirs was the first cult American Cabernet in the making - of course 50 years later in hindsight they were absolutely right, with Silver Oak's popular enduring steadily through the decades.

The original Silver Oak drawing in pen and ink by artist John Ferrell. 

Over the next three decades, Silver Oak's reputation would steadily grow - an outpouring of rave reviews from notable wine critics certainly helped, and the winery would expand from once having to fill its barrels into every single barn available in the Napa Valley area to first taking over the Franciscan Vineyards winery (where Meyer and Duncan would inherit 12,000 cases of ready to sell bottles of wines that they would sell for $1, having wanted to get rid of the wine asap, and in turn causing a huge buzz in town), and then eventually having their own winery built at the Napa Valley site. They would also begin acquiring numerous vineyards around California to support their winemaking, all adhering to the same ethos of being Cabernet focused.

Meyer and his wife, Bonny, would help design the original Silver Oak Winery at Napa Valley, which was finally up in the early 1980's. Drawing inspiration from their own house (working with the very same architect in fact), they would also incorporate elements from the Greystone Cellars winery, where Meyer had first learnt the ropes of winemaking. Bonny was also credited with helping to come up with the "Silver Oak" name, and had even helped commissioned the building of Silver Oak's iconic vintage style water tower, which eventually she had incorporated into Silver Oak's signature bottle label. Meyer and Duncan were said to have been quickly onboard with the design as it reminded them of their favourite Bordeaux First Growth Chateau Latour.

Whilst vines had begun being planted by Meyer in 1972 in Silver Oak's Napa Valley vineyard, it wasn't till 1975 that the estate grown fruit would mature sufficiently to make its way into Silver Oak's wines (the early fruit came Duncan's Los Amigos Vineyard, which now forms Silver Oak's Alexander Valley Cabernet), and it was only by the 1979 vintage that Silver Oak would finally debut its Napa Valley Cabernet - two Cab's, one from Alexander Valley (only formally recognised as an AVA in the 1980's) and the other from Napa Valley, have thus been the modus operandi for Silver Oak. Today, Silver Oak hosts a much anticipated "Release Day" event (first Saturday of February for the Napa Valley Cab, and the first Saturday in August for the Alexander Valley Cab) where the wines are first made available to the public.

The Duncan family' wine ventures have since grown with the addition of Twomey, Timeless and most recently Ovid.

By the mid-1990's, Meyer had proven his point - California and Cab Sauv had become synonymous. He was thus ready to move along and would begin pursuing what resembled more closely to a tradition Bordeaux blend of Cab Sauv core, with the addition of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, and on occasion would add a tiny bit of Malbec as well. Today the Napa Valley Cabernet is close to 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and Alexander Valley label sits close to 95% Cabernet Sauvignon.

Having spent over 20 years laying the groundwork for America's first cult Cabernet, Meyer would eventually begin to transition the role of lead winemaker over to the now acclaimed Daniel Baron - Meyer would retire in 2001 and sell his part of the business to Duncan. Both founders Meyer and Duncan have since passed on. Today Silver Oak is managed by the Duncan family.

Silver Oak's Alexander Valley winery.

Since the 2000's, under the helm of Raymond Duncan's sons, David and Tim Duncan, Silver Oak has begun focusing heavily on green efforts - in turning a tragedy into a triumph, when the Oakville winery for Silver Oak's Napa Valley vineyards was destroyed in a flood and a subsequent fire, David would lead a groundbreaking rebuilding effort, turning it into world's first LEED Platinum certified commercial winery, the highest possible level of certification for a sustainable green building. The winery was resurrected using reclaimed stone from a 115 year old dismantled mill in Kansas, and is fitted out with over 1,400 solar panels, and even has a custom built membrane bioreactor that cleans out any wastewater produced in the winemaking process. In 2018, the Alexander Valley winery was also brought up to speed, and also achieved LEED Platinum certification.

And so with all that said, let's get into the age-old question that inevitably comes with Silver Oak - how does the Napa Valley Cab Sauv compare with the Alexander Valley Cab Sauv.

Let's find out! 

We got the chance to try this pair of Silver Oak's at the 2025 VinExpo held in Singapore which was absolutely stellar, filled with hundreds of amazing vendors from around the world. 

Wine Review: Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

We start with the 2020 vintage of Silver Oak's Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. This is 95.2% Cabernet Sauvignon, with 2.1% Merlot, 1.4% Cabernet Franc, 0.7% Petit Verdot and 0.6% Malbec. The Alexander Valley expression is aged in both new and first-fill American oak barrels for 25 months, before spending another 14 months in bottle before being released. It's staggering to consider that in mid-2025, the latest released vintage from Silver Oak is only just the 2020 vintage! 5 years of ageing before it makes it out of the winery!

Tasting Notes

Colour: Dark Ruby

Aroma: It opens with an immediate waft of finely ground graphite, almost alittle bit metallic and rocky, with also some greenness in the form of green bell peppers. It's incredibly terroir driven, really precise and naturalistic, at such great definition. Going closer to the core there's more on rose petals, along with red fruits of raspberries and cherries, as well as red licorice. It's fresh and lifted, yet elegant in its definition. Incredibly aromatic!

Taste: Medium-bodied here with some gentle yet fresh acidity. It's incredibly lush and with great concentration these freshly crushed cherries and raspberries, as well as red fruit preserves. It's a little bit leafy with some eucalyptus. More on red licorice as well. It's again lifted and with great concentration in what is an incredibly plush and supple body. It's structured and taut, coming through really vibrant, clean and in great definition, almost chiselled in its outline yet still rich in the body.

Finish: More on those red fruit preserves of strawberries and raspberries that carry through wholly, still incredibly structured and also supple. The tannins are firm and polished, leading into a clean finish with rose petals and red talcum powder in aromatics.

My Thoughts

A really beautiful and perfectly executed wine. On the nose, it's immediately really terroir driven with these graphite scents, yet at the same time incredibly precise and well defined. It feels so naturalistic, as if you were walking through a valley in the crisp morning air. That all comes through even before the gorgeous red fruits and florals begin to emerge, superbly integrated, really fresh and elegant. On the palate, the body feels so intentional and once again perfectly orchestrated. It's well-defined and precise with these clean yet svelte outlines, yet within it's supple and rich, with these immaculately concentrated red fruit notes. Such great tautness whilst allowing all that vibrance and liveliness to shine through. It feels almost chiselled, with none of that over the top ripeness, heaviness of bulkiness - completely plush and supple at the core, with clean outlines. All these red fruit preserves carry through completely into the clean finish, still keeping that structure and concentration, yet here opening itself up to all these beautiful rosy aromatics that linger on the finish.

What a marvellous wine that's simply so perfectly executed!

Wine Review: Silver Oak Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

And then we come to the Silver Oak Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon - this comes out of the winery twice the price of the Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, and hence the usual comparisons. This is 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot and 1% Malbec. It's aged for 25 months in only new American oak barrels, with an additional 20 months of ageing in bottle before it's released. We have the 2020 vintage of the Silver Oak Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon here for comparison.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Deep Ruby

Aroma: Really floral at the open, with heaps of rose petals, red talcum powder, and then the red fruit preserves of raspberries and dark cherries. There's a touch of graphite here, as well as that green bell pepper, although not as prominent. The aromas here are really perfumed and lean darker toned and richer.

Taste: Medium-bodied here, the body is really lush and rich, filled in with all these red fruits of raspberries and dark cherry preserves. It again leans darker and richer, garnished with some of that floral rose petals, with also a lightly powdery and chalky quality that cusps the body.

Finish: It's really lush and rich into the finish, alittle more opulent and again leaning darker toned than it's Alexander Valley sibling. More of those red fruits of raspberries and dark cherries, with a side of red licorice, that pulls through. Some more of those perfumed rose petals. The tannins here are soft and fine, yet still nice firmness. A light rosy powderiness that lingers on the sturdy finish.

My Thoughts

The Napa Valley expression comes through really lush and plush, velvety in fact, with this completely seamlessness. It's really supple and sensual, with its flavours leaning darker toned and richer. It's just that much more opulent and richer, yet certainly not over the top or weighty. The tannins here are really soft and lax, yet still provide ample structure and firmness. Here there also seems to be more of a powdery chalkiness as opposed to the clean and defined graphite that we saw in the Alexander Valley Cabernet. It also opens up incredibly perfumed and floral, again really beautiful and sensual, also enveloping the nose and transporting you to the clouds.

Between the two, the Alexander Valley expression feels more balanced, and with also better precision and definition, with the terroir really showing itself, yet with the Napa Valley expression we see more roundedness, richness and suppleness in texture, that's just pure velvety.

And so if you're looking for a solid everyday wine that's versatile for any occasion, as well as being really drinkable and vibrantly expressive - that's the Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon for you. You can go bottle after bottle with this!

But if you're looking for something more sensual, more plush and richer, really a date-night or celebration sort of wine, or something with a really great presence and luxurious feel to it, with a luscious and juicier body - that's the Silver Oak Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. This one's an occasion wine!