Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1995
(Sonoma County, California) - [WA 94] [WS 92]

About the Winery:
Silver Oak Cellars is a family-owned, California winery dedicated to producing only Cabernet Sauvignon. Silver Oak was established in 1972 by Ray Duncan and Justin Meyer. It is currently operated by Ray's sons David Duncan, who serves as the President and CEO, and his brother, Tim Duncan, who serves as Executive Vice President. Silver Oak has two wineries; one in Oakville in the Napa Valley and one in Healdsburg in the Alexander Valley.

Winemaker Notes:
The 1995 Silver Oak Alexander Valley has a dark crimson hue with a garnet rim advancing towards its core. It’s still quite precocious aromatically, with notes of nutmeg, grilled meats, vanilla, hazelnut and crushed berries. It has a very nice, full-bodied weight on entry and is balanced and consistent from front to back, with flavors of pipe tobacco. There is harmony between tannin and acid in this wine. It finishes with a haunting and juicy, lingering closure. This wine is in an excellent spot and will likely still improve. Decanting suggested due to moderate sediment. Enjoy now through 2026.

Ratings & Reviews

94 Points - Wine Advocate:
"The 1995 Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley is performing far better after a year of bottle age. This dark ruby/purple-colored, seductive wine offers blazingly intense aromas of cigar box, smoky oak, and jammy black currants with a hint of Provencal herbs. Ripe and full-bodied, with low acidity, and a fleshy, succulent texture, it is a wine to drink over the next 14-15 years. Silver Oak wines are supple, explosively fruity, and deliver copious quantities of glycerin, extract, and richness wrapped in generous quantities of American oak. Critics have argued that the wine does not age particularly well, but that has largely been proven a myth. I doubt it will last as long as Chateau Montelena, Dunn, or other Napa Cabernets with a 30-40 year aging potential, but these wines have a broad window of drinkability, being delicious at release, and able to sustain their fruit and character for 15 or more years." - Robert Parker (Aug 1999)

92 Points - Wine Spectator:
"A touch of dill and coconut from oak give this a unique aromatic and flavor profile and there's plenty of rich, intense, spicy currant, plum and blackberry fruit to stand up to the wood. Hints of anise and cherry flow through on the finish, keeping the fruit in the forefront.--1995 California Cabernet retrospective. Drink now through 2012. 41,300 cases made." - James Laube (Nov 2005)