Keeping Up with Silvia Cellars

On a recent blue-sky day, I took the winding, hill-flanked roads up into Lake County, past forests and pear orchards and vineyards, to meet Silvia Cellars proprietors Antonio and Julie Silvia. We’ve brought several of their bottles to you over the years, and the wines just keep getting better, so I knew I was in for a treat – in terms of conversation, too, because when a native Sicilian (Antonio) and a native Texan (Julie) get talking… there are lava tanks, old-school corks, not selling your soul, and kitchen confidence. 

Their 43-acre property – 15 acres planted to Cabernet – is near the close-knit farming town of Kelseyville, an hour northwest of Napa in the up-and-coming Red Hills AVA. The Cabernet from their estate isn’t ready to taste yet – it’s resting in bottle on a traditional timetable – but I was excited to see the place, and get a sense of the next frontier in Northern California reds. 

One indicator of the potential: legendary vineyardist Andy Beckstoffer, who’s shaped much of modern Napa, has been investing in Red Hills and seems poised to extend his uncanny track record here. Just off of Highway 29 – the tail of the famous highway that moves hordes of visitors through the rarified air of Yountville, Saint Helena, and Calistoga – I pulled over next to a small ranch house and transferred into Antonio’s truck. When we got up to the middle of his vineyard, we could see the graceful, rounded edges of Beckstoffer’s Amber Knolls Vineyard in the distance, carved into the dark, forested side of the Mount Konocti volcano that rises to 4,300 feet above sea level.

The view of the volcano from the Silvia vineyard is spectacular, and this proximity is profound for Antonio. He grew up on Mount Etna, Sicily’s largest volcano, in a family that has been making their own wine since the 1880s. The Red Hills property reminds him of home. Antonio came to the United States in the ‘90s as a musician, somewhat running away from the family expectation that he become a doctor like his parents. He’d started medical school, but it didn’t feel right. Visionary music producer Rick Rubin invited him to play bass on an EP. Then California life unexpectedly led him into the wine business – you meet a fellow Italian (in this case racecar driver Mario Andretti) and wine is often not far away. 

Twenty five years ago, Antonio created Wine Team, an export alliance that puts small, family-run California producers on the map in international markets like Mexico, Denmark, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The Silvias now divide their time between Kelseyville, Napa, San Diego, and traveling the world for work. 

Their own Silvia Cellars brand is where all that learning comes home. Their day job has given them nuanced philosophies in winemaking and business, as well as access to top-notch fruit. In their hideaway at the top of the vineyard, they poured me three Silvia Cellars wines delineating a vivid emotional style and celebrating the farming prowess of their colleagues: the scintillating 2022 Napa Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon currently featured in our Signature Series, the refreshingly well-priced and creative 2022 North Coast Cabernet, and the glorious 2023 Sonoma County Chardonnay.

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Antonio and I walk the lower section of the vineyard, and he explains that he produces most of his wine at the Brutocao Cellars facility in Mendocino County. They’re one of his export clients, and feel like family. He’s also getting the small winery here at his property certified organic; the vineyard is already certified biodynamic, but this extra step will allow the estate wine itself to be labeled organic – which is rarer. He is enthralled with this land... 

We have a forest. We have all kinds of animals – it’s a zoo. We have a bobcat, we have a fox… you’ve got to keep the land as raw as possible. I have vineyards in Sicily, in Mount Etna, and those are totally like the old days – no spray, no bad fertilization, everything natural, everything recycled. In Sicily, we cannot add water to the vines, we cannot put any chemicals. This is actually the law – I love it. 

And I was in love when I saw this land. You come here at 6 a.m., it's so cold down here. And up there at the top at 6 a.m. it’s warm. And then it switches. 

The berries look like they’re fully sized up, but on the smaller side?

Yes, because it’s 337, the particular clone. Let's put it this way: Screaming Eagle uses 337. This is one of the top Cabernet clones, and kind of hard to grow because it’s a very small berry, so it doesn’t amount to big production. It's quality versus quantity. 

Veraison is just barely starting at the end of July, so we're going to have a late harvest. 

Can I show you something? We were really lucky. The previous owner did one hit with the well, and hit the jackpot. We don't have boron in the water. It’s Dry Creek. We have the freshest, cleanest water.

Are you saying that they hit the waterway that becomes Dry Creek and goes through Healdsburg? 

Yes!

We drink some water from the spigot next to the well and it tastes fantastic. Then we look at his five rows of Petit Verdot, which he is head training to emulate what he grew up with. He likes to co-ferment 1-5% with the Cabernet. 

I want to make wine that refreshes my memory. My grandfather taught me you come up with a little bucket and you pick it by hand. The 2024 was fantastic. 2025 is like gold. And then 2026, we'll see what happens. This is going to be my third vintage here and I'm so curious.

We stop to look at the green clusters

Look how beautiful. So little. So concentrated. The skin is thick. We just do maybe 10 tons here if we are happy and lucky. That's 20 or 25 barrels, so around 600 cases, no more than that. 

Down here below, the vines are in sand – it’s like the beach. And then on the hill, you have the red soil and obsidian.

We hop back into the truck and creep up the steep hill, going from 2,400 to almost 3,000 feet in a short distance. The vines on the slope grow in volcanic, iron-rich, brilliant orange-red soil. 

It's very hard here with the tractor. Every time I pray that I don't kill myself, because I drive the tractor. 

Veraison is farther along toward the top. 

I can pick at different times, or I sometimes decide to have the brix higher in one place, lower in another. Because I'm Italian, I like more tannin and acidity in my wine. So then I blend it. Some brix are 24, 25, and some bricks will be 28, so then you have this kind of balance.  

As we pull onto the top of the hill, the soil becomes sandier again and is chock full of obsidian. A diversity of grasses, shrubs, and trees are thronging to get in at the fenceline between the cultivated portion of the property and the wild.

This is the most fertile land I've ever seen in my life. You can just put anything down, and it will grow. We have a prune, we have peaches, we have pears. The previous owner of this place was a famous chef, so we’re adding to this little garden.

The hilltop is like a secret paradise. There is a shipping container fashioned into a playful place to taste – an invitation-only hangout that feels like a hideout, for friends and family and the Silvias’ most committed longtime buyers. Julie greets us.

I’ve never seen so much obsidian in one place. 

Julie: When volcanoes erupt, if they cool really dramatically when the lava's down, that's what creates obsidian. There’s also quartz here – you can see the sparkles in the sand. And you can really taste the minerality in the wine.

Antonio: We think some of these Red Hills wines are even better than the top Napa Valley wines. It’s a really unique profile. Because I grew up in the vineyards, I had always been talking about the Carricante, the Nerello Mascalese. I was missing something – I was missing the volcano. And this area reminds me of it 100%. 

Julie: When we found this property, I was like, where the hell have I been? I always say you’re given as a guardian of a property. It’s a real privilege, it’s sacred.

Antonio: I believe in that, too.

We sit down at a little table shaded by a tree. Julie talks about the possibility of adding a mirrored tiny home that reflects the landscape. They are both bursting with ideas and enthusiasm, and clearly suited to building things together drawing on both tradition and possibility.

Antonio: At the property in Sicily, we still have a torque press. My grandfather used to pay us 50 cents per bucket – cinquanta lire. It was very tough there because as you know, in Italy, we have also the weather. By September it started to rain. The French wineries, Italian wineries, they got jealous of the California wines, because here we have the sun... and time.

In Italy, you say okay, the brix is 20, you can’t pick. But we're going to have rain in the next five days… you’ve got to make a decision. So in the old days, you picked earlier, your residual sugar and alcohol are low. Italian wineries would brag that they have 12% alcohol. Well, of course you have 12%!

So you're saying it's not so much a sophisticated aesthetic choice, but what the weather determined.

Antonio: The timing was dictating. And now the world is changing, it's getting warmer everywhere. So now, Italians, we are often 14% alcohol, because now we have more sun, so we can ripen more.

Teasing aside, he speaks wistfully about the feel of Italian wines, and the European tradition of resting the wine in bottle for ample time before release – rather than rushing wines to market in order to recoup costs. 

Antonio: It’s important to wait, when tannins are high and sugar is low. Some of those Bordeauxs or Sangioveses, they were so tannic you couldn’t even talk – your lips were attached! So you rested them.

He opens the Chardonnay. Julie has laid the table with plums, strawberries, peaches, tangerines, cheeses, nuts, salami, bread, and chips.

Antonio: So this is my opinion – I learned in America, you say, “and this is my opinion…”

In your culture growing up, did people tend to just declare their thoughts?

Antonio: In Italy, you declare your thoughts. So this is my opinion… we are overproducing, and we are now complaining about people not drinking “enough.” That’s not true. The Italians, the Americans, the French all produce too much. And the reason is that we changed the way we make wine. So I want to go back to the old way to make wine, which is what I grew up with: You need time. It is hard work to make a small amount.

It makes sense that you saw the need to promote boutique wineries with Wine Team.

Julie: I have to give it to Antonio… one problem with American wine abroad, initially, was mostly only the big boys could afford to export. And it wasn't the quality, it wasn't the micro, it wasn't really speaking for what California can do. As a small, boutique winery, even if you’ve been around a long time, putting yourself on that stage is too expensive. Together, we're stronger. We're different appellations, we’re different price points. It was hard at first to get skin in the game from scratch, but eventually the buyers realized: “Wait, I only have one invoice, but a variety of choices from these family wineries.”

Business to business, but actually similar in spirit to The California Wine Club – one membership, a wide selection from these excellent small wineries.

Antonio: Right. And thanks to my business, I can support this dream, Silvia Cellars. Yes, you need to survive in this world. But I prefer at this point to just make a little, and have my values together.

Julie: The more artificial intelligence we're getting, we’re seeing more than ever that there is something in your DNA, a human skill – you can sniff out authenticity. But it takes understanding, too. For example, my sister was working on an organic dairy farm, and I was like, “Why does the milk cost so much?” Then I visited, and saw the blood, sweat, and tears to do that work, and I went, “I don't even think you're charging enough.” If we can hang in there, people can relearn to buy from authentic producers.

Antonio: At the same time, nobody can afford $100 a bottle every day, right? That’s why I did my North Coast Cabernet. And this Chardonnay retails for $28. I made it more like I learned in Sicily. At first I had kind of sold my soul a little bit – made it more California style, more buttery, with a little bit more malolactic. And then I just said, you know what? I gotta go back to my roots. More mineral, more dry. And actually, my wife pushed me in that. 

Julie: I just said I didn't drink our Chardonnay – it’s not my palate. And he said, no – you have to love our wine! I said, I don't have to like everything. But he and I have very similar palates. So he leaned in.

Antonio: It’s experience – you get older and wiser and you learn. 

This Chardonnay is gorgeous. Where did the grapes come from?

Antonio: Alexander Valley, with about 5% Mendocino. And then to keep it fresh, I put in some Sauvignon Blanc, just 3%, because I want the acidity, and I want minerality on your nose. I don’t make 100% varietals – never. I stopped the malolactic, no more than 10%. I like this wine, and that's why you love it – you’re drinking it like water! 

Julie: It’s also hot outside.

I do love it. It’s satiny but it also has acid. And it has emotion, which I think is what you’re saying – I love it because you love it, so the feeling carries through.

Julie: Every little Italian grandmother says the special ingredient is your heart.

Antonio: And when you drink good wine, it keeps your heart and soul young.

He pours the North Coast Cabernet, a smooth and plummy blend of Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino fruit. 

Antonio: I don't call myself a grower or a winemaker. I call myself a blend maker. I feel like this California land has so much to offer that not very many people are blending together.

He has long experimented with multi-region blends like their North Coast Cabernet, despite some peers warning that these bottles might be mistaken for broad table wines rather than thoughtful creations. It’s true that not many winemakers are playing in the “multi-region, approachable-luxury blend” space. Napa’s best-known examples are probably Andy Erickson’s Leviathan and Dave Phinney’s Orin Swift.  

Antonio: I call it “North Coast” even though the label can be misunderstood, because for me, the North Coast is the most beautiful land in California. So you have Sonoma County, Napa County, Mendocino County, and Lake County in our “everyday” Cabernet, but it’s not North Coast meaning “whatever.” It’s intentional. I have the luck of having all these good friends with great vineyards. All I have right now is thanks to people like the Brutacao family, Bliss, Lucas & Lewellen, and Dutcher Crossing.   

Julie: In Italy, just like in France, it's so strict. And so he was like, let me get this straight: I’m allowed to blend the different areas together here?! It’s an artistic expression at the end of the day, like a chef pulling their ingredients together. 

Finally, Antonio pours the 2022 Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet. It is structured, lively and fresh, with velvety tannins and welcoming depth. Juicy, bright red fruits brim up from a pool of rich black fruits, while cocoa, cayenne, leather, mineral, and spicy dried herbs unfold as the minutes pass.

The Silvias recount getting unexpected attention for this bottle. They had entered the wine into the Decanter World Wine Awards in Paris, where it snagged 92 points and a silver medal. Soon, they found themselves featured in a Forbes article covering top American Cabernets from the competition. The phone started ringing – friends and prospective buyers. 

Just 359 cases were made – so we’re pleased to have locked in enough cases for The California Wine Club. Ten percent of the fruit came from an ultra-prestigious, undisclosed Napa mountain vineyard. The wine was aged for 16 months in 50% new French oak, and bottles were held aside for 14 months before release.

Antonio, when you were growing up, you helped with harvest – did you also see the cellar work? 

Antonio: Yes. We used to have a palmento – the palmento is where you bring the grapes, you crush them, and the juice goes down into these big lava tanks. Me and all my cousins, we were jumping up and down.

Julie: When I saw their winery, the family vineyard, I felt like I was stepping back in time. It's all made from lava. I was just like... This is still existing?! This is really in your blood.

Antonio: I use only natural cork from a company from Portugal named Amorim cork. I really believe in tradition. The 2022 Napa Reserve is full-on, like in the old day. I asked the cork company, “Can you please make those corks full of ‘imperfection’?” 

Julie: It’s about breathing.

Antonio: My wine, with the new cork, is becoming exactly what I wanted. There is a filtration of oxygen every time.

Your wines, especially the Reserve – they’re not Italian varietals, but they feel Italian to me. They have that sense of high-end, raw emotion. How do you explain it?

Antonio: That’s what I want. I let the grape speak. And there are things that help, like Nadalie barrels. My Cabernet is not for everybody, because I make it European style, more dry. European people love this wine. It has a big, bold nose from Napa, with a fantastic sweetness. But then when you taste it, it has a drier, tannic, mineral feeling, almost like a Bordeaux or a Sangiovese. It’s not overly fruity or oaky.

You pick it a little bit earlier, and there’s a freshness to the acid. But I think there’s something else Italian – maybe your aesthetic tradition allows “going there” in terms of feeling? 

Julie: Less is more. In Anontio’s background, it’s simplicity. The ingredients speak for themselves. And food and wine are so combined.  

Antonio: Julie learned some of the main recipes from my region from my mother – like the caponatta – those are not easy to make.

Julie: In the kitchen, I was like, “Bianca, you can rip me to shreds, but if I don’t do it myself, I’m not going to learn.” I have a lot of confidence – I don’t know where I got it.

Well, you’re both from the southernmost – and arguably boldest and most independent – parts of your countries! So as far as food, it was clear when I was in Italy that cappuccino and wine and good food are like a right there, not a privilege of the elite. They’re not seen as frivolous. A little glass of wine with lunch or dinner is integral. How can we teach that harmony in the US?

Antonio: In Italy, they make simple food of good quality. And simple food goes with any type of wine. And together, they become something more. 

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This interview has been edited for length and clarity.