217: Alison Rodriguez - Silverado Vineyards
About this episode
Alison Rodriguez discusses her winemaking journey and the intricacies of Napa viticulture at Silverado Vineyards.
Recorded high above the valley floor in Silverado's Stags Leap estate, this episode with winemaker Alison Rodriguez dives into both Napa viticulture and her global winemaking journey. Alison unpacks the 2025 growing season—early bud break, late rains, and the shadow of El Niño—while describing the constant tension between picking early for safety and waiting for full ripeness in a fire-prone era. She explains what it means to farm 325 acres of 100% estate vineyards, how early-season decisions set up harvest success, and how she manages tannin and extraction in small-berry hillside Cabernets, including the tradeoffs of pressing sweet to keep structure in balance. Alison also shares how a Baton Rouge upbringing and a career in wine sales led her to **Geisenheim** in Germany, European cellar work, and ultimately Napa. She explains the German technique of *Maischestandzeit* for aromatic whites, her evolving approach to Sauvignon Blanc at Silverado (skin contact, neutral barrel ferment, and textural focus), and how she thinks about acid, phenolics, and oak as part of a single matrix. The conversation ranges across Silverado's portfolio—from estate Cabernet blending **Stags Leap and…
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