Silver Oak and Catching Up

It was more than nice to get away for a short time, but not nice coming home to 100+ degree temperatures, large storms with high winds, lengthy power outages and more storms.

There are more than several notes that are starting to get dated so I'll try and catch those up a little.

The first is a 2003 Silver Oak, Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon that was consumed a couple of weeks ago.  Silver Oak is a long time producer from Napa Valley, but this is grapes from Sonoma.  The unusual thing about Silver Oak is that it uses 100% American oak for its barrels instead of French oak or a mixture of the two.  That does make it stand out in a crowd.  There is more tannin, a more vanilla taste, a strength that one doesn't get from French oak.

Lots of good fruit, dark cherries, currants and graphite in this wine.  Good acid and unusual strength from the oak - robust comes to mind.   Long, delicious after taste here.  One other interesting fact about Silver Oak is that it is a couple of years behind the curve in releasing wines.  They tend to release the wines when they are ready to drink, after aging them longer in the barrels and then in the bottle before letting them go to market.  As a result of releasing when the wines have more age on them Silver Oak is the second leading premium cabernet in restaurant sales in the U.S.

Good wine and interesting because of the oak.  The Frisbee behind the bottle has nothing to do with the wine, but has a lot to do with the dogs.

14% alcohol and $70.