Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

This estate, created in 1972 by Ray Duncan, is located in Oakville in the Napa Valley. It produces Cabernet Sauvignon exclusively from two different regions, Alexander Valley in Sonoma County and Napa Valley. Through the unique production of Cabernet Sauvignon, the estate strives to provide each year a wine in accordance with their taste and style references, in search of perfection.

Because Silver Oak Estate only produces Cabernet Sauvignon from California's two best Cabernet microclimates, their wines are consistently recognized for being exceptional and complex. This wine is a very careful blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Following precise blending , the wine was then aged for 24 months in 50% new and 50% used American oak barrels from Silver Oak's own Missouri cooperage , known as The Oak. After bottling, each bottle was aged for an additional 15 months before release. This wine reveals notes of blackcurrant , blackberry , blueberry , toasted vanilla , raspberry , sage , spearmint , graphite , cigar box , black plum , leather and cedar . The palate is voluminous and rich, the tannins are supple but present and the finish is long with spices and black fruits.

In the United States, 90% of the wine produced comes from California. It was the influx of gold prospectors to California that boosted the California wine industry in the mid-19th century, particularly in the Sonoma and Napa region. At the start of the 20th century, there were 800 wineries. From 1919 to 1933 Prohibition destroyed the vast majority of the California wine industry so that by 1933, only 140 wineries remained producing wine. It was only from 1960 that the wine industry began to recover from Prohibition and California was primarily known for the production of fortified wines (in the style of Port). It was also in the 1960s that some of the most famous estates were created (Mondavi, Heitz Wine Cellars, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, etc...). In 1976, a significant event took place: the legendary tasting competition better known as the "Judgment of Paris". He sees the greatest French wines opposing the new American wines. This May 24, an unexpected result shakes the world of wine, since to everyone's surprise, it is the United States which wins. However, this competition remains relatively unknown to the general public. Today, there is no doubt that the United States produces great wines. Even though California largely monopolizes the reputation of American wines with its excellent Zinfandels, the state of Oregon produces some of the best Pinot Noir in the world and the state of Washington offers excellent Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet-Sauvignon.