Visiting a winery should involve more than slugging down the current releases and moving on to the next notch in the tasting tour belt. You should at least buy a t-shirt, or a hat!
Only kidding. But I’m serious about getting more out of the experience of visiting a winery, and was pleased to witness a wonderful opportunity for wine education when I visited the new Silver Oak Cellars earlier this week.
Silver Oak has been completely rebuilt since it was destroyed by fire in 2006. This iconic Napa Valley winery has been a prime destination for tourists ever since it opened its doors in 1972. Wine enthusiasts came to taste the Silver Oak Cabernets, of course, for Silver Oak specialized in Cabernet and had embraced since its inception the unique practice of holding each vintage for close to five years before release.
Founders Justin Meyer and Ray Duncan believed a Napa Cab should be ready to drink upon release, so they aged their Cabernets at the winery before allowing the public to have at them.
The other prime tourist attraction at Silver Oak was the huge, opulent, tasting goblet, the first of its kind used at a California winery. They became so popular they were sold separately in six-packs.
The new Silver Oak has added another wrinkle, hiring Chef Dominic Orsini for special events and public food/wine pairings (reservations required). Of course, the food and wine pairings will no doubt be immensely popular. But they serve another purpose in the sense that visitors will take away an idea of what the winemakers and winery staff think are good matches with the Silver Oak Cabernets and Twomey Pinot Noirs and Merlots that are offered for tasting during a winery visit.
Everyone, including me, is hungry for this type of information. And it reminds us that wine’s primary function is to complement a meal. Not that we don’t occasionally enjoy a glass of wine on its own!
8