Taste the Wine that made Silver Oak Famous

The Wine That Made Silver Oak Famous

2004 Bonny's Vineyard Cabernet Tasting

Saturday November 14th 2009
11am - 8pm

Only 12 bottles come to NC and they are exclusive to Winestore.

What's the big complaint about Robert Parker? Lots of people are probably motivated by little more than jealousy, but many believe that there is something inherently wrong with one man having so much power in the marketplace. Query many of those folks a bit more and you find that they wouldn't mind owning that sort of power; they just don't like what Parker does with his power. So they aren't being honest: it's not that one man shouldn't have power, it's that THIS man shouldn't have that much power.

Sounds like sour grapes to me. Parker's affection for big, unctuous red wines is legendary and despite the fact that he tastes tens of thousands of wines each year, he knows exactly what he's looking for and if he likes something, it's undeniably cut from that loud and powerful cloth.

Not everybody wants wines of such intensity; but Parker's success is proof that plenty do and if they are looking for one of the famous names among these powerhouses, they could do worse than purchase Meyer Family Bonny's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.

The eponymous Meyer family includes Bonny Meyer, for whom the Bonny's Vineyard is named. Bonny's Vineyard was, as you probably know, the most sought-after wine in the Silver Oak stable. Bonny's late husband Justin Meyer had named the vineyard for her, and it was the jewel in the crown that Justin Meyer crafted at Silver Oak. In 1991, he stopped making a single vineyard wine, insisting that silver Oak's worldwide popularity made it too troublesome to continue to make a 400 case production wine, with every customer assuming that they could buy access to that limited production wine.

Justin's son finally talked the family into returning to a Bonny's Vineyard Cabernet in 2001; Justin Meyer passed away suddenly in 2003 and never saw the release of the wine. The 2004 is the second release of that wine, and the Meyer family thinks it's not as big and full-throttle as many of Napa's most famous and Parker-awarded wines. Perhaps they're right; the alcohol is only 14% and that's modest these days. But perhaps it's a matter of context. The 2004 Bonny's isn't shy and that should suit the lovers of the big, unctuous red wine style, the ones who remember the Silver Oak Bonny's of old, just fine.

Hapy Tasting and we'll see you on Saturday,

Doug Frost, MS MW
Master Sommelier & Master of WIne