Silverado Vineyards

In 1981, Ron and Diane Miller and her mother, Lillian Disney, established Silverado Vineyards to make wines from the historic sites of their estate. For years, they had sold their fruit to neighboring wineries who were building global reputations for excellence. It was time, they decided, to create their own wines, their own expressions of the Napa Valley they loved and admired.

The winery takes its name from the historic vineyard which surrounds it. The vineyard borrowed its name from the abandoned mining town at the top of the Napa Valley. Here, over a century ago Robert Louis Stevenson stayed and wrote, “The beginning of vine planting is like the beginning of mining for precious metals: the winegrower also ‘prospects’.” Four generations of Millers are still ‘prospecting’ for wine, making something beautiful from the land under their care.

A gem in the heart of Stags Leap District, Silverado Vineyards has embarked on its fourth decade of producing estate-grown, produced, and bottled fine wines. The third and fourth generations of the Miller family continue the founders' legacy.

Silverado Vineyard was one of the first four in Stags Leap District to plant Cabernet in the 1960s. The winery owns five other storied vineyards across Napa Valley’s top AVAs: Miller Ranch in Yountville, Mt. George in Coombsville, Soda Creek/Borreo Ranch, and both Firetree and Vineburg in Carneros. The estate is comprised of over 600 acres. Forty percent of the land is preserved, and 360 acres are sustainably farmed and certified Napa Green. 

Winemaker Jon Emmerich is tasked with evoking a sense of place in the estate wines produced from these contrasting and historic vineyard sites. In 2020, Jon celebrated his 30thanniversary with the winery, and his counterpart, associate winemaker Elena Franceschi celebrated her 25th anniversary. Together, they have grown Silverado Vineyards’ reputation for quality and consistency.

South of Yountville, a quiet lane runs East towards the Napa river, crossing Hopper Creek on its way. It skirts land of subtle contours with rich alluvial soils. It was here that David and Sarah Dunlap settled in the mid-1870s to plant plums, pears and wine grapes. Almost exactly one century later, Ron and Diane Miller made this their Napa Valley home.

The plantings flank the banks of the Hopper creek where we have done considerable work to ensure that native plants dominate and the water runs clean as it makes its way between the town of Yountville and the Salmon spawning grounds in the Napa River. We are very proud that both the California State Assembly and the United States House of Representatives have cited our efforts for Land Stewardship here on Miller Ranch.

• AVA: Yountville
• First Planted: 1890s, by David and Sarah Strong Dunlap
  Current Plantings: 1994–1995, by Ron and Diane Miller
• soils: Cole Silt Loam, Yolo Loam, Clear Lake Clay
• grape varieties: Sauvignon Blanc Clone: UCD 1; 79 acres, Sémillon Clone: Juliana; 2 acres

Silverado Vineyards has been implementing sustainability efforts since its founding in 1981 - protecting the air, water and land in Silverado's care and supporting the community that surrounds the winery. Key initiatives include energy conservation via solar power, conserving water through innovative irrigation processes and remaining stewards of the land on the winery's estate. These ongoing measures have reduced the winery's carbon footprint by nearly half since 2008. Silverado continues to apply pioneering technologies to improve efficiencies and further develop their use of green energy toward a goal of becoming carbon neutral in the next decade.

Sustainable Winemaking – A 380,000KwH photovoltaic array produces 36% of the winery's energy needs. Efficiencies in lighting, cellar cooling, building controls, and water treatment have reduced our electricity demand, reducing our carbon footprint by 40%.

Sustainable Farming – Silverado Vineyards farms 360 acres on six Napa Valley vineyards in the Los Carneros, Yountville, Coombsville and Stags Leap District appellations. 100% of the estate is certified Napa Green. Napa Green is the only certification that monitors best practices in the vineyard and the surrounding habitat. We are monitored and audited by a third-party administrator, Fish Friendly Farming. We were among the first twelve estates in the Napa Valley to earn this certification. 

Habitat & Biodiversity – The 360 acres we farm represent 59% of our total estate. The remaining 248 acres are in their original state of oak woodland, coniferous forest and California chaparral. Of this, 70% is preserved in land trust easements exclusively for open space and agricultural use in perpetuity. 

One important element of our sustainable farming is insuring that the estate is welcoming to a number of birds, who act as part of our ecosystem in managing insect populations. In addition to protecting their natural habitat, we have a total of 22 owl boxes and 75 bluebird boxes. Other birds present on the estate include herons, mallards, buffleheads, kingfish, widgeons, egrets, Canadian geese, coots and wild turkeys. The estate is home to a wide array of other wildlife, including bobcats, mountain lions, foxes, otters, turtles, beavers, and deer.

Water Use and Fish-Friendly Farming – In 2013, Silverado Vineyards participated in the First Beta Group for a system to quantify the water available to our vines by measuring the water they release as vapor. Measuring the breath of our vines allows us to realize our long-held goal of precision irrigation. The result has been an improvement in grape quality as we reduce our water use. 

Silverado Vineyards is a founding member of the Oakville to Oak Knoll River Restoration project. Working closely with the Napa River Flood Project and our northern neighbor, Rutherford Reach Restoration project, we are returning keystone species such as the North American beaver to the Napa River. The result of these longstanding community efforts is a healthy diversity of over 31 species of fish, including increasing runs of steelhead and Chinook salmon. 

Our sustainable practices have resulted in the following recognition: 

• US Congressional Recognition for Excellence in Water Quality Improvement 
• California State Legislator Recognition for Dedication to Environmental Stewardship
• California Sport Fishing Protection Alliance for Excellence in Water Quality Improvement and Protection