For 50 years now, quality has been the essence of Silver Oak.

The winery has few peers when it comes to their obsession with delivering top-tier wine. Thats why, even among the many iconic and influential California Cabernets we offer, Silver Oaks Alexander Valley Cabernet stands out: Its one of the top-rated bottles on Wine Access overall, and the 2018 boasts an incredible 4.44 out of 5 from our members. Thats the kind of number we see for wines four times the price.

Saturday is Silver Oaks famed release day. Cab lovers will be jamming the roads around 915 Oakville Cross to claim their share of the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley, grown in one of the finest vintages in California history. ALWAYS one of the states most hotly anticipated winesand always one that tops the lofty expectationsyou can claim yours right here, right now.

Shipping is included on two bottles or more.

A beautiful and deep purple in color, the 2019 is rich on the nose, with aromas of blueberry compote, fresh cherries accented by alpine herbs, mint, tobacco, toasted vanilla, and cocoa. Silky on the palate, showing black plums, blackberry, and cocoa-dusted cherries on the forefront, with accents of sage, dill, clove, espresso, and rum-soaked fruitcake. This wine is beautifully constructed and destined to add complexity in the cellar.

When we spoke with Silver Oaks Matt Duncan and got on the topic of consistency, he invoked the wines that have inspired his family. You dont think about the vintage with the great estates of France, he said, and thats the reputation weve aimed for. Its hard to argue that Silver Oak hasnt earned it, and the more you learn about the estate, the more you realize that its got nothing to do with luckand everything to do with their fanatical drive to get better every vintage.

Their commitment shows in their Alexander Valley winemaking facility, which turned out its first vintage in 2017. In the wine business its rare for an established winery to be able to build a cellar for one wine. Sure, you renovate, you improve, but you dont start anew, Matt told us. But Silver Oak had a unique opportunity, and they built a winery 100% dedicated to producing their Alexander Valley bottling. Not a drop of another wine has ever seen the inside of the place.

The virtues and features of the new facilitywhich earned not just LEED Platinum Certification but is the first winery and largest structure to earn the Living Building Challenge certificationare too numerous to name, so well detail one: their far-sighted water recycling system, which collects water used in the winery, purifies it via a membrane reactor, then pumps it back in so the team can use it again.

Its far more than an environmental feather in Silver Oaks cap or a way to lower their water bill in always-too-dry California: It freed up two acres that would have been needed for a drain fieldtwo acres of prime Alexander Valley land that are now planted to Cabernet Sauvignon.

Wine Access Tasting Note

Dark purple with ruby highlights. Blueberry compote and fresh cherries on the nose, paired with alpine herbs, mint, tobacco, licorice, toasted vanilla, almond extract, and cocoa nibs. A seductively silky palate with full, ripe tannins and a rich fruit profile. Black plums, blackberry, and cocoa-dusted cherries on the forefront, with accents of sage, dill, clove, espresso, and rum-soaked fruitcake. A long finish of sweet herbs accents the wine's signature toasted oak. Drink now2040.