1989 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

Deep ruby-red. Spicy aromas of cassis, black plum, black cherry, roasted nuts and shoe polish. Fat and sweet, with good depth of flavor and harmonious acidity. Thick but ripe tannins coat the tongue. (ST) 90+

The 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa (89% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Cabernet Franc) reveals toasty sweet oak in the nose, bombastic levels of black currant fruit and spice along with a hint of mint in the background. Supple and full-bodied, with delirious levels of cedar and unctuously-textured fruit, this fleshy, gorgeously made Cabernet Sauvignon should drink well for 14-15 years. The Napa offerings from Silver Oak tend to be less herbaceous and more oriented toward Cabernet Sauvignon's black fruit spectrum than the Alexander Valley cuvees. They are every bit as exotic and ostentatious as the Alexander Valley cuvees, but more classic, tannic, perhaps longer-lived, and slightly less approachable. Silver Oak wines are supple, explosively fruity, and deliver copious quantities of glycerin, extract, and richness wrapped in generous quantities of American oak. Critics have argued that the wine does not age particularly well, but that has largely been proven a myth. (RP)

1989, the current vintage in release, is successful for Silver Oak. The 1989 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon offers beautifully pure aromas of blackcurrants, smoky, toasty, new oak, and licorice. Opulent and full-bodied, with excellent concentration of fruit, this rich, impressively-endowed Cabernet should drink well for at least a decade.