JAMES MOLESWORTH Silverado Vineyards Charts Its Future

Silverado Vineyards is located prominently on the Silverado Trail, its winery facility perched atop a hill overlooking its 216-acre estate.

There’s history and also a potentially bright future here for the wines, with newly installed Alison Rodriguez handling the winemaking.

The vineyard itself was planted in 1968, the third vineyard site developed in what would become the Stags Leap District AVA in 1989. Harry See, who had made his fortune with See’s Candies, was the original owner. His vineyard became a source for numerous plantings in Napa Valley and there is still a See clone Cabernet selection in use today. Ron and Diane (née Disney) Miller and Diane’s mother, Lillian Disney, bought the estate in 1976, with Silverado Vineyards debuting its first wine in the 1981 vintage.

Diane, the oldest daughter of Walt Disney, died in 2013; Ron in 2019. Their children carried on the estate until early 2022 when they sold to vintner Bill Foley. Foley has been active in building his wine portfolio, with the acquisitions of Ferrari-Carano is 2020 and Chateau St. Jean in 2021 added to a list of brands that includes Cabernet producers Merus and Kuleto, along with Chalk Hill, Sebastiani, Chalone, Firestone, Lincourt, Foley Sonoma, Guenoc, Langtry and Clifford Bay.