Sipping Fine Wine

9.3

1 of CA's oldest wineries, Far Niente, founded 1885 by John Benson. Winery flourished until Prohibition, when it was abandoned & fell into complete disrepair. Stately stone shell of a winery purchased in 1979 by Gil Nickel. A big wine! Tropical and stone fruit aromas with complex spice and oak notes. On the palate apple, peach and citrus flavors, creamy, with buttery toasty oak, fig/honey tones. Long finish ending with vibrant acidity & mineral character. Consistent. — 18 hours ago

Rob Brobst III

9.6

@Peter van den Besselaar @Jim Trobaugh @Stanley Barrios @Jim Trobaugh @John Van Trijp @Willem Jan Withagen @Freek Welter — 2 days ago

Andrea Watt

9.3

Drank this from a magnum at a paired dinner. Smooth and rich with lemon, pear, and a touch of brioche and jasmine. Round and warm. — 10 days ago

Mark

9.2

Deep ruby colors with delicious fruit and balanced tannins. Wonderful yeast aroma on the nose. Blackberry fruit with an after taste of current. Very enjoyable wine!!! — 24 days ago

with Jeron

Tom Garland

9.4

From MAG

2 hour decant. A striking purplish dark garnet color. On the nose: beautiful notes of dark fruit, pencil shavings, herbaceous, vanilla, cloves. Taste: creamy, polished, structured wine with blackberry, dark chocolate, minerals, bell pepper, leather, and a decent herbal/potting soil finish. Drinks surprisingly well with the decant at this age, and of course a few more years it will improve. YUM! — 5 days ago

with Brenda

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

The last of the 2002 in mags brought from the property. Delicious. I would have thought these would have been saved for their member parties. So, a nice surprise.

From The Cellar event at Pebble Beach Food & Wine. — 19 days ago

Doug Powers

9.5

Amazing older Napa Cabernet, redfruits (currants and cassis), this is amazingly fresh and youthful, structure is there, just a faint green note pops out in the super long finish, great wine (and clearly showing much more youthful than the 1986 Dunn Napa we opened in mid-March)!! Randy killed it in this vintage, planning to open a 1987 Howell Mountain Cabernet in the next few weeks, it should be fantastic!! — a month ago

with Jim

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

8.9

It has been 15 years or so since I’ve had a Silver Oak. Thought I check in. Nothing has changed, every vintage basically tastes the same. It almost like they add flavoring. 🤷‍♂️ One red you could not fool me blind. Short Rib was excellent.

At Pebble Beach Food & Wine 2025.

The ticket to this event has a pretty big price tag. But when you consider what a Napa etc. tasting or two and lunch would cost you, you are pretty much there and there is so much more than that. It ends up having great value. It’s wine, spirits and food candy land. — 14 days ago

Ericsson

9.2

Fourth best wine in 2024 according to WS exquisitely paired with Sharp Cheddar over dark chocolate. Cheers to that. — 9 days ago

Victor Hsu

8.9

Inky and dense, with aromas of violet and dark fruit. Multiple flavors hitting the palate, including blueberry and blackberry with a hint of earth supported by a tannic backbone. Still tight and a bit alcoholic; decanting improved things a bit but needs more time in the bottle. Good but not great. — a month ago