Silver Oak Cellars, Alexander Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Silver Oak is one of the most renowned names in Californian wine. Founded in 1972, by Raymond T. Duncan and Justin Meyer, to raise the standards of California wine, the pair rather uniquely, deiced to focus on just one grape variety, Cabernet Sauvignon, which they thought thought best suited the soils of California's North Coast. And forty years on they have certainly been proved right.

"Bright, full red-ruby. Musky blackberry, tobacco, tar and chocolate on the nose, plus a note of dill. Plum, raspberry and tobacco flavors are intensified by sound acidity, with the musky quality carrying through in the mid-palate..." Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

"Built around creamy mocha, cedary oak and dill flavors, with dried currant, sage and underbrush notes. Full-bodied and balanced, this smoothes out on the finish, where it gains a black licorice and mineral edge. Decant." Wine Spectator

Winemaker's notes...Our 2006 Alexander Valley, a blend of wine from several different vineyards, is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. We blended the vineyard lots in early 2007 and transferred the wine to 50% new and 50% once-used American oak barrels for aging. Blending prior to barreling allows us to achieve a balance of the wine's natural elements, such as fruit and tannin, before they are influenced by oak. The wine was then aged in barrel for approximately 25 months and another 15 months in bottle to harmonize its components before release.