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Manage Subscriptions1994 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
Cabernet Sauvignon
- USA
- California
- Napa Valley
Community Tasting Notes 82
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JC597 Likes this wine: 89 points
February 17, 2024 - This bottle had been meticulously stored before I bought it at auction. Cork was fully intact and well-preserved. Unfortunately, this wine - in 750ml format, at least - has simply reached the end of its drinkable life. With that being said, it still has some upside for those who enjoy experiencing and comparing aged Cali cabs from the 90’s. Some bricking around the edges. Nose was pleasant, with slight floral notes and mild vanilla. Sweet, somewhat tart entry (my wife disagreed with my take on the tartness). Not a very long finish. Tannins are all but gone. Fruit emerged more after an hour passed - raspberry/strawberry preserves blunted by old oak essence. Decanted with quite a bit of fine sediment remaining in bottle. Drink now or forever hold your peace. Compared to a glass of ‘92 Beringer Private Reserve I had several months ago, the ‘94 Silver Oak is likely 5 years past what most would consider to be the end of its prime. I have a ‘97 SO Napa and ‘07 SO Napa from the same auction and am interested to compare those two to the ‘94 effort at this point in time.
1 person found this helpful Comment -
vinopunk Likes this wine: 92 points
December 31, 2022 - One of the better high-end California cabs I've had. Better than the only other Silver Oak I've tried, which was a 2003.
2 people found this helpful Comment -
jta@cyprs.com Likes this wine: 95 points
February 5, 2022 - Inadvertently found the bottle in a bin with younger wines. I was stunned by how fresh the Napa was. The color was deep garnet and there were no orange tints. Classic Silver Oak nose with lots of dark fruit, including blackberries and currents, that matched the oak well. The taste on the open was equally fresh and young with soft tannins. An hour later, it is still a joy to drink.
2 people found this helpful Comment -
rocknroller wrote: 91 points
October 6, 2021 - Medium dark red color. PNP, followed a glass over 3 hours and then revisited later. What a long strange trip this was. Boy was this wonky to start. It smelled old and tired, rather stewy and vegetal with those old wine notes and brown sugar on the nose and had me wondering if it was heat damaged or just dead. It was nothing you wanted to be smelling anyway. The palate seemed fair to start, the fruit came off more as baked red fruits and soft tannins with not a lot else but some wood notes. We just let it sit in glass for the next 2+ hours. Slowly, very slowly, I kept saying it’s getting a little better. It really wasn’t until we were packing up about 3 hours later that it began to show a purity to the fruit and an elegance that was nowhere to be found before. So I vac’d it and said, we’ll see what it’s like tomorrow I guess. It was a solid 90pt wine at that point, though I thought I might be delusional. Although, all three of us had the same opinion. It was 48 hours later before I got a chance to try it again. It was really in fine shape, just a remarkable 180 degree about face from where it started.
Crushed savory spices, dried wood and cherry on the nose. The palate is quite tangy, red cherries, dried earth, cigar and subtle eucalyptus on a medium bodied framework with fairly resolved tannins. Not extraordinarily complex, but really quite nice in the end. Not the first time this has happened, but dramatic nonetheless. Always give these old wines a chance to come around. You may be thoroughly surprised and duly rewarded for your patience. 90+ to 91pts.1 person found this helpful Comments (2) -
Dapenalaw@aol.com wrote: 81 points
December 25, 2020 - Allowed to breathe for 2.5 hours. Needed one more hour. Preserved well.
Pro Reviews 4
Add a Pro ReviewWineAlign
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By Michael Godel
11/18/2017 (link)(Silver Oak Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon red) Subscribe to see review text.
Vinous
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By Stephen Tanzer
Horizontal Tasting of Napa Valley’s 1994 Cabernets (Jul 2015), 3/1/2015 (link)(Silver Oak Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon (napa Valley) Napa Valley) Subscribe to see review text.
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By Stephen Tanzer
May/June 1999, IWC Issue #84 (link)(Silver Oak Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley) Subscribe to see review text.
RJonWine.com
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By Richard Jennings
8/13/2007 (link) 92 points(Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley) Dark red violet color; sexy cassis, raspberry, black fruit and vanilla nose; nice sweet cassis and cherry, but relatively simple on palate; medium finish
Wine Definition
- Vintage 1994
- Type Red
- Producer Silver Oak
- Varietal Cabernet Sauvignon
- Designation n/a
- Vineyard n/a
- Country USA
- Region California
- SubRegion Napa Valley
- Appellation Napa Valley
- UPC Codes 055751027509, 451307667500, 717888120224, 785214290750
Community Holdings
- Pending Delivery 1 (0%)
- In Cellars 1,581 (56%)
- Consumed 1,232 (44%)
Food Pairing
Who Likes This Wine
More About This Wine
Articles
- ProducerSilver Oak
- VarietyCabernet Sauvignon
- CountryUSA
- RegionCalifornia
- SubRegionNapa Valley
- AppellationNapa Valley
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- Wine1994 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (add)
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- ProducerSilver Oak
- VarietalCabernet Sauvignon
- CountryUSA
- RegionCalifornia
- SubRegionNapa Valley
- AppellationNapa Valley