Unforgettable Memories of a Father and a Love of Silver Oak
We are constantly amazed by the Bottle Stories we hear from our fans. The opportunity to be a part of people’s lives and their special moments are what drive us at Silver Oak. This beautiful Bottle Story came to us from Texas, where Caroline shares her earliest wine memory in memory of her dad.
Thank you, Caroline, for sharing your Bottle Story.
It’s weird to say this about a wine since I haven’t been of drinking age that long, but Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon has been in my life since I was a little girl. Every holiday, birthday celebration or fancy night out, there was always Silver Oak.
I remember the first time I had Silver Oak. Appropriately, it was my 21st birthday and both my parents were visiting me in Oklahoma City, where I went to school. My parents treated six of my friends to a steakhouse dinner accompanied by several bottles of Silver Oak. We continued celebrating at a local bar, where we kept the Silver Oak party going. (I don’t think anyone had ever actually ordered Silver Oak at the college bar in Norman, Oklahoma, so of course they were thrilled!) Throughout the night, my dad would grab a random friend of mine and say, “Want to try the best wine of your life?” and my friend would come to me and say, “Your dad is so cool and that wine was so yummy!”
Even now, when I’m out with my friends, I love ordering Silver Oak and talking about my dad. My friends who never had the chance to meet my dad feel like they knew him after drinking his favorite wine and hearing stories about him. I’m creating new Silver Oak memories and I collect the corks and write the date on them so I can remember the occasions on which we drank the wine!
Every time I see a bottle of Silver Oak, I feel connected to my dad.
About a year after my dad passed away, I moved from Dallas to Nashville to write music and “find myself.” The first song I wrote was about my dad. It’s called “Only Love” and my favorite verse is “I meet you every night beneath the Silver Oak.”
Every time I sang the song at a writers round, I’d get an image of me sitting with my dad under a beautiful Oak tree drinking our favorite wine. Definitely my happy place!
Of them all, this is my favorite story: In April of 2014, while living in Nashville, my coworkers and I traveled to Napa for the Live in the Vineyard event. I run Kidd’s Kids (the charity my father started) and we were the beneficiary.
During the weekend we had some downtime, so we scheduled some winery tours. Of course, Silver Oak was at the top of the list. My coworkers all worked with my dad so they knew how he loved Silver Oak and, since it was my first trip to Napa, I was ecstatic to see the vineyard.
The first morning I woke up in Napa, I knew the day was going to be special. The moment I walked into the vineyard at Silver Oak, I got teary eyed. My dad’s presence was everywhere. But here is where it gets a little weird. My dad was a huge fan of Ben Folds. He even had the lyrics to one of Ben’s songs tattooed on his bicep.
The tour started and as we entered the first room, Ben Folds was BLARING from the speaker. I looked at my coworkers (who knew the connection) and we all busted out laughing. I had full body chills because it was seriously such a God wink. It was like my dad was saying, “WELCOME!”
That weekend, I bought the cutest burgundy hat at Silver Oak that I wear all the time. It’s my lucky hat because good things always happen to me when I’m wearing it.