Silverado Vineyards was founded in 1981 by Lillian Disney and her husband Ron Miller, Walt Disney’s son-in-law. The estate sits above the Silverado Trail in the Stags Leap District, farming volcanic hillside and valley floor blocks that the family has cultivated for more than four decades of single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.

History of Silverado Vineyards

Lillian Disney, daughter of Walt Disney, and her husband Ron Miller purchased the Silverado Trail property in the 1970s and established the winery in 1981. The founding came at a moment when the Stags Leap District was gaining recognition as one of Napa Valley’s great terroirs for Cabernet Sauvignon, following the district’s performance in the 1976 Judgment of Paris.

The family built the winery on a hillside bench above the valley floor with views across the Stags Leap palisade cliffs. The estate has remained in family hands through four decades of Napa Valley boom, bust, and global acclaim, a distinction that sets Silverado apart from most wineries of its size and reputation.

Silverado Vineyards is one of the few major Napa estates still owned by the founding family. The Disneys have farmed the same hillside and valley floor blocks on the Silverado Trail since 1981 without outside investment or corporate ownership.

Terroir and vineyards

Silverado Vineyards farms multiple distinct blocks across the Stags Leap District and wider Napa Valley. The Killian Vineyard on the estate hillside produces small-lot Cabernet from volcanic ash soils on a south-facing slope. The Miller Ranch block on the valley floor, planted on deep alluvial soils near the Napa River, yields the more plush, generous character in the SOLO Cabernet blend.

The combination of hillside and valley floor farming within the same AVA gives Silverado unusual range: the hillside blocks provide structure and tension while the valley floor fruit adds volume and approachability. Winemaker Jon Emmerich has refined the single-vineyard program over many harvests.

The wines of Silverado Vineyards

Cabernet Sauvignon drives the program. The SOLO Cabernet is 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon from the estate and is the flagship, built for aging with 22 months in French oak. The SOLO tends toward classic Stags Leap character: firm tannins, cassis and black cherry fruit, and a long, mineral finish.

The Silverado Cabernet Sauvignon is the entry tier, a more accessible wine that blends estate and Napa Valley fruit. Silverado also produces Merlot, Sangiovese, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay. The Merlot from the estate is a consistent standout and frequently overlooked in a region dominated by Cabernet conversation.

Food pairings with Silverado Vineyards wines

The SOLO Cabernet, with its structure and length, is built for the most serious table preparations. Dry-aged bone-in ribeye, prime rib roasted to medium-rare, or roasted venison loin bring out the wine’s mineral core and extend the finish. The wine’s tannins need fat and protein to soften, and the fat in well-marbled beef provides exactly that chemistry.

The estate Merlot is more flexible at the table. Braised short ribs, duck confit, or a mushroom-stuffed pork tenderloin all work beautifully. The Sangiovese, an unusual choice for a Napa estate, wants Italian preparations: osso buco, pasta with bolognese, or a bistecca alla fiorentina. The Sauvignon Blanc is the perfect warm-weather pour alongside grilled fish, goat cheese salads, or oysters.

Silverado Vineyards: common questions