Silverado Vineyards

Diane and her husband Ronald struck out on their own in Napa Valley when they purchased over 300 acres in the Stag’s Leap District in 1976. The two had long been familiar with the Valley and, with the purchase, moved to Napa.

What should be noted is that while Diane and Ronald were creating one of the jewels of Napa, they were also intimately involved in the Disney Empire. Ronald was named President of The Walt Disney Companies in 1980 and CEO in 1983. He left his position as CEO in 1984. Yet under his direction, Disney founded both Touchstone Pictures as well as the Disney Channel.

Meanwhile, Diane was busy helping to maintain the Disney legacy. Her persistence was key in getting the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall built in Los Angeles. She has also for many years been pushing forward with the Walt Disney Family Museum to be opened in San Francisco.

But then there is Silverado Vineyards. Next to Diane’s family heritage and the heights of corporate power in which Ronald worked, Silverado looks pretty puny. In fact, in the world of Napa Valley wine, Silverado Vineyards ranks as one of the great modern success stories: a non-corporate winery that has been able to continually increase production not on bought grapes, but on well-tended, pristine, estate vineyards. And all the while the reputation for Silverado Vineyards has never wavered.

Ronald and Diane had the integrity and good sense to not lean on the Disney name to make their mark. They made their real mark on the back of their Stag’s Leap District Limited Reserve Cabernet and Limited Reserve Chardonnay. Both of these wines set the early standard for the lavishness and dramatic style that is now understood to be the Napa Valley signature. Today’s trendy wineries were not even heard of when Silverado was helping to create the modern Napa Valley reputation, upon which later wineries would depend for the prices they now get. But it gets even better. Silverado’s wines have not lost a beat.

You get the impression that the owners of Silverado Vineyards have been surrounded by quality all their lives, leaving no choice but to put their own project on a path of quality. The temptation is to assume a winery associated with Disney would be “Mickey Mouse” in quality. Nothing could be further form the truth, unless you recognize that both Disney and Silverado are icons that built their reputation on producing the best there is in their field.
 

Your order will be fulfilled by Winetasting.com.
This vendor is located at 2545 Napa Valley Corporate Drive, Napa, CA, 94558.