Top Shelf Wine of the Month - March

This month's Top Shelf selection comes from one of my favorite (sometimes forgotten) pioneer of Stag's Leap:  Silverado Vineyards 2007 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.



Click to go to Silverado Vineyards Web Site



The Miller family began the journey establishing Silverado Vineyards in 1981. “It was beautiful land, and it was land that was working,” says Diane Miller of their first vineyards, purchased in the 1970s. Diane and Ron sold their grapes to some of Napa’s best vintners, who made award winning wines from them year after year. Encouraged, they struck out on their own with the goal of making the best wines the estate could produce at a fair price. This has remained the guiding philosophy over the years. The winery’s name, Silverado, comes from the abandoned mining town at the top of the Napa Valley. It is an appropriate symbol: three generations of the Miller family are still “prospecting” for wine, staying true to the idea of coaxing something precious from the soils we are privileged to care for.

Winemaker Jon Emmerich is only the second winemaker to join the team at Silverado Vineyards.  "This is a great wine growing property. Each one of the vineyards has its own distinctive flavors and character. We work to make better use of the land, to farm it better, to help each block express exactly what and where it is. I believe that’s how to make wine." JE

 

The wines at Silverado Vineyards have changed and evolved over the years.  At one point in the early part of 2000, Silverado was at an all time high in production, 160,000 cases a year.  Things have certainly changed.  Refocused & a commitment of producing some of California's best wines, the Miller family cut production by two thirds.  Today they are focused on producing 100% estate wines from particular sustainably farmed vineyards throughout the Napa Valley.  I am sure you will be pleased with this decision once you taste the wines.

 

 

 

 

Sliverado Vineyards produces the following wines:

 

Miller Ranch Sauvignon Blanc 2009 Napa Valley:  Intense aromas of lime, grapefruit and orange spiked with ginger and quinine. On the palate, juicy flavors with bright fresh picked tangerine flavors than linger on the finish.

 

Estate Chardonnay 2009 Napa County:  Consistent with Silverado’s retro-California style of Chardonnay, this wine has aromas of citrus, vanilla, pineapple with floral undertones and a crème brulee note to the oak and malolactic component. A light to medium body with vanilla, citrus and apple flavors round out the moderately long finish.

 

Mt George Merlot 2007 Napa Valley:  Oak aromas of vanilla, cedar, and sandalwood are well integrated with the aromas of bright raspberry fruit, sweet baking spices and freshly picked herbs. Full bodied with well mannered tannins and a balanced long lingering finish.

Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 Napa Valley: 

85% Cabernet Sauvignon 10% Merlot 3% Petit Verdot 2% Cabernet Franc

58% Stags Leap Vineyard 36% Mt. George Vineyard 6% Oakville Station



2007 Estate Cabernet



The grapes were harvested at an average degree brix of 25.0. Fermentation was conducted in small stainless steel tanks where the wine spent an average of 18 days on the skins. After draining and pressing the must, the wine was put into 59 gallon oak barrels to undergo malolactic fermentation. Forty-eight percent of the barrels were new oak, of which thirty-six percent were French oak and 12 percent were American oak, overall blend – 85% French oak, 15% American.

Dark cranberry in color with a hint of baking spices in the nose. At first sip there’s a sweetness of ripe plum with a touch of vanilla and oak. Finishes mid-palate with focused acidity and ends with an explosion of fruit pie flavors.

Wine Advocate - "Medium to full bodies, with a nicely layered mouthfell that builds incrementally, the wine has superb purity as well as accessibility"  92 Points

These wines are worth looking for....