2017 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley- USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley (1/17/2022)
Wanted to try this, as it’s on paper the very opposite of what I tend to enjoy. And also, Silver Oak has this polarizing figurehead in the wine nerd community, where those in the know holds it up as an example of everything that’s wrong with modern winemaking, the over-extraction and the use of American Oak etc, and at the same time on the other end, it’s still one of the best-selling producers and a highly appreciated wine by its fans. I wanted to see for myself where I’d fall in this spectrum (never having had one).
On the nose, rather woodsy. But also dark fruits. A classic Napa-style nose (although this is Sonoma) that I’ve smelt many times before. Can’t really tell by the smell that it’s American Oak, it just smells like any oak. On to palate: It’s certainly nowhere near as over-extracted and oaky as the critics say - yes, there is a prominent oak note, but it it’s on level with the majority of Napa cabs. And speaking of oak - it does not scream out in a typically American Oak way either. Perhaps a bit of dill, but none of the coconut notes. Honestly, to me, this could have been French, Hungarian, Austrian oak (not Schwarzenegger in speedos, you sicko!). Maybe the slight sweetness that AO tends to impart, would have been the only real giveaway. Further on palate; dark warm deep colored fruits that have been sitting out a bit on a hot summer day and kind of shrunk a bit. Pretty firm tannin structure. And at 14.2% ABV, not at all as large as many other cabs. It doesn’t show a Gauss-curve, or inverse, in its mouthfeel - pretty linear and rather well balanced. In the end I get a slight metallic or bitter note that stops it from getting a point or so more. This might go away with age or more decanting (I didn’t really decant very long). I have to say, I’m slightly surprised - in no way is this supposed to be held up as a horror example of what not to do.
Is it worth $80 to me personally? No, it’s not. I’m probably not its intended market anyway, but I would say it’s in the general price range of what a Sonoma/Napa cab is these days, so can’t really argue with that. I’d have it again with the right meal and crowd. (90 pts.)
Yes that is about the opposite of what I would expect you would like. Adam maybe you should start a new label Bizzaro Frisch wines. They would taste just like Silver Oak and Meiomi Pinot.
That’s what I was kind of touching on in review, just in a more longwinded way. Although not my style, I’ve had a tons of Napa cabs that have been far more egregious on the sweetness/oak/extraction scale. Not sure it deserves being held up as a horror example, when the SQN I drank 2 months ago was much worse than this.
Adam, that’s pretty much the same take on Silver Oak that I had the most recent time I tasted any of their wines, during a December 2015 visit with friends to their Napa Valley tasting room. The oak was certainly there but not overdone, and I found none of the obvious dill notes that I recalled from tasting their wines years ago. I preferred the Alexander Valley bottlings over the Napa Valley ones, perhaps because they were aged in a lower percentage of new oak. As with you, it’s not the style of wine I prefer, but the wines I tried were pleasant enough.
I admit to regifting it when someone sends a bottle our way…I’m quite happy when someone enjoys it…just not me. BUT…and this is a very big BUT…it’s vastly overpriced for what it delivers.
I’m not sure how it will have held up but it used to be a really good wine, a least through 2010 or so. I remember buying some bottles around release and there was a guy there who had read Parker. He asked why anyone would buy the Alexander when the Napa was the same price and rated higher. I replied that I had tasted both and I liked the Alexander better, and he looked puzzled. I bought both, but liked the Alexander Valley from that vintage better both young and old.
At least when I visited the Napa Valley tasting room in late 2015, both the Napa Valley and Alexander Valley bottlings were aged in American oak - Napa Valley in 100% new barrels and Alexander Valley in roughly 50% each new and once-used barrels. Interestingly, Silver Oak’s sister winery, Twomey, used exclusively French oak on their wines. Don’t know if any of these things may have changed since then.
FWIW, I’m not much of a Bourbon fan and hate beer aged in Bourbon barrels, but found the sweet vanilla component in the Silver Oak wines I tasted during my visit to be more subtle and integrated. I had not always found that to be the case in the past but the American oak character didn’t stand out nearly so much in the wines I tried there (vintages ranging from 2006-2011).
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