2015 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (6L) 6000 ml

Napa Valley might seem quiet this time of year, but the first Saturday in February is one of the biggest days on the California Cabernet calendar: It’s Silver Oak’s Napa Valley Release Day, wine lovers’ very first shot at the new vintage of Silver Oak’s iconic and opulent Cabernet.

Once a year for three decades, Cabernet fans have been camping out, sometimes for two nights, to lay claim to their share of Silver Oak’s Napa Cabernet. Which is why it’s such a tremendous honor that Silver Oak—because they love how we’ve shared their story—has given Wine Access the 2015 Napa Valley Cabernet over a week before Release Day! 

From Robert Parker’s 97-point vintage, we’re thrilled to offer you their classic, unmatched Cabernet Sauvignon in standard 750 ml bottles and magnums and double magnums—rare bottles usually reserved for those dedicated to camping outdoors in February. Alluring aromas of just-picked black fruits—plum, cherry, blackberry—plus vanilla, rose petals, and clove leap from the bottles of these wines, which have been resting in the Silver Oak Cellar for over four years. On the palate, the 2015 exudes the Silver Oak signature of just-picked plum and wild berries, edged out by classic Napa minerality and a dusting of spice.

While they last, these bottles are yours for the taking: classic, beautifully crafted Cabernet Sauvignon from one of California’s finest sites, that will beef up the cellar of any California Cabernet collector—but, we won’t be able to hold onto these bottles once Silver Oak’s release goes live, so don’t wait to stock up. 

Visiting with Silver Oak’s Matt Duncan just after harvest with a glass of the 2015 Cabernet in hand, we got on the subject of Release Day, an event that has snowballed ever since Silver Oak’s Napa Valley Cabernet crept into the iconosphere in the 1980s.

Matt told us about the days when the Silver Oak fan base grew bottle by bottle by word of mouth and positive press (not to mention the cheeky Life is a Cabernet license plate holders). “There was no one to bring you your wine back then,” he said, so Silver Oak’s loyal fans turned up at the winery on the day the wine was released, “to make sure they could get the stuff they wanted.”

That “stuff” was the new vintage, which Silver Oak always debuts four and half years after harvest, much later than most other wineries. That famed aging regimen, two years in American oak (made completely under Duncan’s watchful eye at Silver Oak’s exclusive Missouri cooperage) and another 20 months in bottle, is all crucial to the Silver Oak style of Cabernet that is infinitely drinkable from the day it becomes available. On Release Day at the winery, Silver Oak fans also clamor for library wines and large format bottles—renowned artist Thomas Arvid draws the available vintages and bottle sizes on a chalkboard, and pares it down as supply dwindles.

No bottle means business like Silver Oak, whether you open this the night it arrives or in a decade. In fact, Matt and the folks at Silver Oak are so confident these wines will be great in ten years, they are pouring decade-old Cabs from their tasting room itself. As Matt reminded us recently, “The wines we’re making today are built to last at least 25 years, and we guarantee it.”

It’s that attitude, and commitment to producing nothing less than excellence, that’s made Silver Oak synonymous with “fine wine” over the last four decades, and why we jump at any and every chance to share their exquisite wines. 

We’ve tasted the 2015 Silver Oak Napa Valley Cab and (if you’re anything like us) these will be hard to cellar: From the first pour, robust and ripe black fruits overflow from the glass evoking flavors of plum, black cherry, and blackberry preserves accented with dark chocolate and vanilla. Super-plush across the palate, a gentle floral lift along with creekbed minerals and an emerging herbal note support Silver Oak’s telltale finish—a velvety combination of ripe fruit framed by firm tannins that indicate the Duncan guarantee is no joke.

This year’s release is bound to whip Cabernet fans into a frenzy, because it comes from a year of spectacular quality and limited quantity. Spring rains that came before the picture-perfect growing season made for a smaller yield, so the 97-point vintage wasn’t quite as bountiful as everyone had hoped. 

Not too long ago, showing up at Release Day was more or less the only way to guarantee your share of Silver Oak—especially magnums, double-magnums, and other rare large format bottles. But in 2020, you don’t have to make it to 915 Oakville Cross Road to claim your bottles of Silver Oak Napa Valley from the 97-point 2015 vintage. You just need to be right here, right now, to place your order with Wine Access. But don’t wait long—once Silver Oak’s army of fans arrives, our supply will be wiped off the board until next year.