2017 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

Silver Oak is timeless. Always indulgent, always a perfect snapshot of the Valley, it’s a wine that has symbolized Napa Cabernet for five decades now—and to understand why, you don’t have to take a trip back in time and imagine what Napa was like when Silver Oak first made its name: All you have to do is take one sip right now. 

Silver Oak’s 96-point 2017 Napa Cabernet is everything you want Silver Oak to be. Deep ruby, showing bold aromas of blackberry, blueberry, coconut, espresso, and toasted vanilla bean, it’s opulent yet perfectly poised on the palate, with a flawless balance of supple tannins and refreshing acidity.

Silver Oak has helped drive American interest in fine wine since the 1970s—a fact that can explain their ascent but doesn’t scratch the surface of what has kept them at the top for nearly 50 years. In fact, their impeccable quality seems to be on cruise control only because of a restless desire to improve.

The team’s replanting regimen stretches a quarter-century into the future, and in 2015 they acquired their own cooperage in Higbee, Missouri. That means every drop of Silver Oak Cabernet is aged in an American oak barrel that’s been in their control since it was raw lumber.

Now, after two years in their custom-made barrels and another three years in bottle, the wine is drinking beautifully, hitting all the gorgeous notes that we have come to expect from Silver Oak. 

“We have yet to make our best bottle of wine,” Silver Oak's Matt Duncan often says. It’s his forward-looking family’s mantra, and it may be true—but it’ll be pretty tough to beat the outstanding 2017.