Silver Wines – A Low Key Tasting Room with Beautifully Crafted Blends – Santa Barbara Urban Wine Trail #8

Another post in my Santa Barbara Urban Wine Trail Series. See the summary article here for general Wine Trail info or to read about the 27 other wineries!

As it was still well before normal closing hours on a Sunday afternoon when I finished at the Grassini tasting room, I decided to check out another Urban Wine Trail winery. This is very easy to do in the Presidio Neighborhood of the trail as it is home to seven participating wineries. I wondered next door to Silver Wines as they were open till 6pm and seemed pretty low key, which was exactly what I was looking for. I ended up finding not only a relaxed spot, but also a super passionate wine maker who was serving up some of the most unique and delicious wines that I have had the pleasure of tasting in Santa Barbara! Silver Wines is now one of my favorite wineries in Santa Barbara.

Silver Wines host their tastings in an intimate and welcoming space that reminds me of a rural cottage, with a softly painted interior and lots of windows for ample natural light. When I arrived the only other patrons were a couple wrapping up their tasting at the bar. I took a seat a few stools down and let my host know I wanted to taste their wines with my urban wine trail membership card. She punched my card and started to pour me the first wine they had open.

At Silver Wines they do not have a set tasting menu, instead they open up a flight of wines from their menu, allowing the tasting to vary a bit from day to day or even intra-day. As my host started to pour my first tasting, I found out that I was again lucky to have the owners as my hosts, Thi and Benjamin Silver. While a few other people came and went while I was tasting, I basically had the full attention of these two wonderful people to guide me through their wines.

On this day they had the follow wines open for tasting:

1. 2009 Chardonnay
2. 2010 Mon Premier Amour Pinot Noir
3. NV 724 Reddick
4. 2010 Saviezza
5. 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon
6. 2009 Syrah
7. NV Fifty Cask Tawny Dessert Wine

One thing to note when I looked at the wine list was that all the wines have been aged for more than is typically seen at a regular wine tasting. I was excited to see what these older wines had in store.

I started with the 2009 Chardonnay. This was the wine that I was most surprised to find to be aged this long and served in the tasting. The wine had an enticing smell of sweet candied citrus and slight wood flavors. This chardonnay was on the sweeter sight but had musty oaky flavors along with spices and herbs as well. It was one of the more complex chardonnays I have ever tasted. If I was tasting it blind, I never would have guessed it was a chardonnay from Santa Barbara. It was so delightful that I was compelled to purchase a bottle, which I try not to do on my tastings as it would cost me a fortune visiting all 38 wineries and buying each wine I found to my liking. But this one was so interesting I had to buy a bottle. I thought it was a good deal at $30, especially for a nicely aged wine like this.

Next was the 2010 Mon Premier Amour Pinot Noir, named for the love Benjamin has for the vineyard from which these grapes came. It had super ripe, almost rotten, strawberry smell, which carried over to its taste. I say a rotten strawberry, but somehow I truly mean it in a good way. That's the idiosyncratic nature of wine. The oak it was aged in gave it some nice spices that complemented the ripe berry quite well. The wine was so smooth and supple, having aged very well so far.

The 724 Reddick wine was a hodgepodge of a blend of various wines from various years aged for various amounts of times (estimated to include wine from 2010-2013). This was one of my favorite red blends I have tried so far on my tasting adventures in Santa Barbara, especially for the price (also $30) and especially for a blend of mostly (if not totally) Italian varietals, which I like but don't usually love outside of Sangiovese. This wine I loved. It was super oaky and had well balanced tannis, acidity and fruit for being a five to eight year old wine. The flavor profile changed significantly as it was moving in my mouth. From oaky to sweet, to licorice and milk chocolate to dark red fruits. It was complex, varied and crazy good. You have to try it for yourself!

It is hard to follow that up, but the 2010 Saviezza tried. I expected to really like this sangiovese based blend and was not disappointed. It had a very subtle nose of berry jam and oak. It was on the sweet side and the aging had softened all its rough edges into a smooth and oaky finish. There was still nice black pepper and herb notes as well. It was tasty, but did not have some of the big fruit I really enjoy from younger sangiovese wines.

As I was tasting these wines, I was able to have a nice conversation with Benjamin about his story of getting into the wine industry and his style of wine making. His passion for wine and for delivering high quality and unique products genuinely came through during our chat. The wines that he is currently releasing and selling to customers are cellared by him until he thinks they are in tip top drinking shape. From tasting the wines I did, I think he is a pretty good judge of readiness.

It is refreshing to have a winemaker that is selling wines that are different and delicious and ready to drink now. I don't like the usually process of having to have to buy wines that are mediocre with promise, then hold them for 3-8 years hoping they will get better. And then hope that I will choose the right time to open them. I think that should be part of the winemaker's job: Not to sell the wine until it is great to drink. And that is what I got at Silver Wines, wines that were great to drink.

After the Saviezza, I tried the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon. Again this wine was very smooth, and had not lost any of its big fruit or edginess that make Cabs so powerful and delicious. The wine was full of black current and red dark fruit flavors, balanced with a baking spice and vanilla finish.

Next was the 2009 Santa Barbara County Syrah. It smelled intense and I thought it smelled of candied plum with vanilla. It was sweeter and had a higher acidity than the other wines I had tasted so far. There was a really delicious red flower flavor (I couldn't quite pick out which exactly, but it generated a clear red flower image in my head when I tasted it), along with some nice umami. It was interesting to drink and would pair amazingly with just the right dish.

Last up was the Porto style dessert wine, which I was lucky enough to get to taste as they happened to have it open. I was served my taste in a special port glass with a small chocolate (my favorite kind too! Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate!). I was blown away with the depth of this dessert wine. It really tasted like it was a Port Wine from Porto! (And I would know, I spent a bit of time there attempting to drink my weight in Port) It was very complex and I found caramel, candied yams with marshmallow, smokey oak and dark red fruit flavors. It is one of the best red dessert wines I have tasted outside of Portugal.

Overall I loved my visit to Silver Wines. They had a low key vibe and yet served some of the best quality wines that I have had in Santa Barbara. This is the place to find great wines of which you can actually afford to buy a few. Which I did: one chard, one Reddick and one dessert wine! The tasting experience was also top notch. They offered me water and little crackers before I started my tasting and then they gave me some chocolate to enjoy with the port. An amazing experience. The best thing about Silver Wines might be the passion of Benjamin in making a unique and high quality product and giving it to the customer when it is at its peak. This is one of my new favorite wineries and one of the best wine tasting spots in Santa Barbara! Come visit Thi and Benjamin at Silver Wines and see for yourselves!

- Visited on October 14, 2018.