Twenty-seven years ago, Colorado oil man Raymond Duncan and former Christian Brothers monk, Justin Meyer, embarked upon a unique partnership to establish a single product winery -- a concept which was virtually unheard of at the time.
In the spring of 1972, Ray Duncan traveled through Northern California's wine country in search of vineyards in which to invest. There he met Justin Meyer, whose ultimate dream was to own a winery that would create only superb Cabernet Sauvignon. Ray now reminds himself, "Never go to the Napa Valley in the springtime or you will buy a whole lot more land than you should."
Justin Meyer got into the wine business by a very round-about route, having started out as a teacher-coach member of the Christian Brothers religious order. To his initial dismay, he was "drafted" from his high school teaching position to the Christian Brother's Winery. Once there, Justin set about to learn all that he could. He worked every winery and distillery job and added bachelor and master degrees in Viticulture and Enology from U.C. Davis to his original degree in Economics. Justin soon grew to love every part of the business.
After 15 years, Justin left the Christian Brothers order and winery to follow his own dream. In July of 1972 Justin and Ray Duncan became partners and set about realizing that dream.
In addition to the winery, Ray Duncan is an investor and guiding force in a number of enterprises. He is Chairman of the Board of Duncan Oil Company, a family owned oil and gas exploration business. In addition, he owns a working buffalo ranch in the northern mountains of Colorado, specializing in the sale of commercial buffalo, and is a partner in an art gallery that emphasizes western bronzes and paintings.
The goal of the Duncan/Meyer partnership was to plant vineyards and manage 750 acres of land that Duncan owned in the Napa and Alexander Valleys and to start a Cabernet-only winery. While the Alexander Valley land was planted with vineyards and fruit trees, the Napa Valley acreage was home to the Keig Dairy. Justin spent the autumn of 1972 clearing pasture land around the dairy and planting Silver Oak Cellars' first Napa Valley vineyards. He also planted a small parcel adjacent to his home and named it for his wife Bonny. Meanwhile, the Alexander Valley vineyards yielded the harvest that would be Silver Oak's first vintage. Fifteen tons of grapes were handpicked that fall and transported to the Christian Brothers facilities for crushing and storage.
Both Justin and Ray wanted their wine to be drinkable upon release and therefore wanted to bring their young wine home for aging. In order to convert the milk storage room into a wine cellar they had to apply for a bonded winery license. The time had come to give the fledgling winery a name. The winery's location provided the inspiration. Situated on Oakville Cross Road, between the towns of Oakville and the Silverado Trail, it was thus christened Silver Oak.
1973 and 1974 saw the planting of additional vineyards and two more vintages of Caberent crushed and barrel-aged in the old Oakville Dairy buildings. In 1975, Duncan and Meyer bought 280 acres of land in Lake County and planted more vineyards.
The bottling of Silver Oak Cellars' first vintage took place in 1975. Each bottle was hand-filled and corked under the old dairy awning. The first vintage saw the production of 1100 cases. A unique die-cut silver label was designed and, upon the release of the 1979 vintage, the first Silver Oak vintage with a Napa Valley appellation, a second label was designed in silver foil to clearly distinguish it from the Alexander Valley Cabernet. In the following 10 years, Ray and Justin bought and sold land in their quest for ideal Cabernet-producing conditions. In 1975, they purchased the Franciscan Winery from bankruptcy and Silver Oak's grapes were crushed and bottled at Franciscan from 1975-1981. During that time, demand for Silver Oak wine grew and they found themselves turning to other facilities for additional crushing and barrel storage capacity.
As a result, in July of 1981 they broke ground in Oakville, leaving standing only the milk storage room and milking barn. Construction was completed one year later. The 1979 vintage was bottled in the new Oakville facility. Demand for Silver Oak Cabernet grew to be so pressing that by the spring of 1987 a new addition of 9,000 square feet was added for crushing and bottling.
Growth, though controlled, continued. Production grew from the original 1,100 cases to 4,000 to 8,000 to 18,000 to 44,000. Additional crushing and barrel storage space was needed, so in December 1992, Ray and Justin purchased a recently built winery in the Alexander Valley. That, too, has been expanded. In autumn 1994, construction began on a new barrel storage room, which, when completed one year later, was immediately filled.
Silver Oak's success can be traced to their underlying belief: That wine should taste good when consumed, and that this taste expectation should be delivered whenever a consumer buys a bottle of wine. In 1972, this wasn't the prevailing experience for Cabernet Sauvignon consumers, as the trend among serious producers was to make wines for long maturing periods which were generally very tannic tasting upon release. This led to Silver Oak's extended aging program.
The Silver Oak's method is one of singleness of purpose. They produce only Cabernet Sauvignon which is aged in oak barrels for up to 30 months. All new barrels are used for each vintage of Napa Valley. For the Alexander Valley wines, one-half new and one-half once-used 57 gallon barrels are utilized. Fire bent (toasted) American oak from Kentucky and Missouri are used and each bottle is aged for twelve to eighteen months to develop bouquet. Additionally, Silver Oak has a re-release program to make older vintages available for sale at the winery only.
Justin Meyer refers to himself as a winegrower. In 1994, Justin hired Daniel Baron to become Silver Oak's winegrower of the future.
Daniel Baron was born in New York in 1949, came to California in 1968 and began to work in the Napa Valley vineyards in 1970. He completed a M.S. degree at U.C. Davis in 1978. In 1981, Daniel traveled to Bordeaux and worked in Pomerol, St. Emilion, Medoc and Barsac during the harvest. He then spent a full year living and working at Chateau Petrus in Pomerol. In late 1982, Daniel returned to the Napa Valley and began managing Dominus Estate, a premium winery specializing in the production of a single Cabernet Sauvignon based wine.
In June 1994, he was hired by Justin Meyer to become the winegrower for Silver Oak Cellars. Daniel began by supervising Silver Oak's Napa Valley wine production for the 1994 and 1995 vintages. Beginning in 1996, he took on the additional responsibility of supervising winemaking in Alexander Valley. In his role as winegrower, Daniel works closely with Justin Meyer.
The 1994 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon was released August 1, 1998. The press release on this wine states "The 1994 growing season in the Alexander Valley will be remembered as one of the longest and most favorable in recent history. Rainfall was ideal for normal vine growth and the summer was generally quite mild. There was a heat spell in mid-August, but September, the crucial month for grape ripening, turned unseasonably cool. The result was a very desirable long and slow maturation of the berries, which allowed their tannins, aromas and color to reach maturity simultaneously with their acids and sugar. The harvest concluded on October 24th. The wine was fermented in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks at a maximum temperature of 86 degrees F. It was blended in January, and spent twenty-six months in new and once-used fire bent 58 gallon American Oak barrels, and another fifteen months aging in bottles before release."
The 1994 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. The 1994 growing season in the Napa Valley was also one of the longest in recent memory. At Silver Oak "we began picking on September 14th and concluded harvest on October 25th. The prolonged harvest allowed us to make the wines at a measured pace and thus maximize the extraction of colors and flavors. All wines were fermented in stainless steel tanks at a maximum temperature of 86 degrees F. The wine was blended in December and spent close to three years in new fire-bent 58-gallon American oak barrels." Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot were blended for the first time in a Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon. The 1994 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon was released January 30, 1999.
From the beginning, Silver Oak Cellars has maintained a sense of family in its operations. As Justin Meyer says, "The people of Silver Oak are more than colleagues -- we are family in the best sense of the word. While each of us has our own responsibilities, we can often be found helping out wherever we are needed." Justin and Bonny Meyer's children have also been important members of the Silver Oak family since childhood. As youngsters they could be found helping their father in the vineyards or accompanying him through the winery. Today, Chad enjoys giving Silver Oak guests tours of the facility. Matt hopes to one day carry on his father's vision and legacy as Silver Oak's winegrower and Holly frequently delights the staff with warm chocolate chip cookies. Raymond Duncan's son, Tim, has worked for several years in Silver Oak's sales department.
All in all, fine wine and fine staff merge to fulfill the Silver Oak's pledge ---- Life is a Cabernet.