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
  
• Heritage 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
  

The vineyard is blessed with western exposures to the late afternoon sun. It is also home to our winery, located on the northeastern top of the knoll, surrounded by slopes of gravelly soils which form our best individual blocks.

The vineyard produces Cabernet with flavors of plum and black cherry, excellent acid structure and fine-grained tannin, all classic characteristics of wines from Stags Leap District. It was on this site that Harry See, a prior owner of the vineyard, planted Cabernet Sauvignon in 1968 that evolved into a unique field selection of Cabernet which UC Davis later designated as a "Heritage" Clone, one of only three Cabernets in California to be given this distinction. This vineyard is the heart and soul of all our Cabernets, and the source of SOLO.

• AVA Stags Leap District
  
• Heritage First Planted: 1884, by Abel McFarland
  Current Plantings: 1992–1996, by Ron and Diane Miller
  
• Soils Perkins Gravelly Loam
  Yolo Loam
  Kidd Loam
  Clear Lake Clay
  
• Grape Varieties Cabernet Clones: Silverado Heritage UCD 30, UCD 4, 6 & 7, 337; 83 acres
  

Napa Pioneer Henry Hagen’s weathered stone gate still guards the southwest entrance of our Mt George Vineyard, which is the site of one of the first grape plantings in the Napa Valley in the 19th century. The classic red varieties thrive here on the deep, gravelly down-slopes of an ancient volcano named Mt George.

High sunlight at low temperatures and well-drained hillside soil make this vineyard particularly suited to Merlot. Mt George produces wines with intense fruit flavors, dark color, palate density, and classic structure which are the great characteristics of cooler climate wine growing.

• AVA Coombsville
  
• Heritage First Planted: 1868, by William Woodward
  Current Plantings: 1989–1990, by Ron and Diane Miller
  
• Soils Coombs Gravelly Loam
  Forward Gravelly Loam
  
• Grape Varieties Cabernet Clones: Silverado Heritage (UCD 30), UCD 4, 6 & 7, 337, 191; 73.26 acres
  Merlot Clone: UCD 3, 181; 23.8 acres
  Petit Verdot Clones: 400, Sterling; 4.5 acres
  Cabernet Franc Clone: UCD 1; 5.7 acres
  Malbec Clone: 595; 1.3 acres
  

In the spring of 1987, Ron and Diane Miller accepted the gracious invitation of Franco Biondi-Santi to stay at Il Greppo, his family’s villa, and to see his part of Tuscany in the heart of Montalcino. Inspired by the visit and the wines, Ron and Diane began looking for a little Tuscany in their own backyard.

In 1992, they purchased Felix Borreo’s old estate halfway up Soda Canyon to Atlas Peak and named it Soda Creek Ranch. A century earlier, Borreo was a major purveyor of nearly everything for the town of Napa and beyond. Most of what he sold, he grew himself on the estate, which produced hay, firewood, oranges, peaches, plums, blackberries, chestnuts, figs, olive oil, and wine. His original plantings of olive trees still thrive among our Sangiovese and Zinfandel vines.

The original stone and redwood winery on the property,y that Borreo built in 1888 remained one of Napa’s last ‘ghost’ wineries until it was destroyed in the 2017 wildfires. The land survived along with grapes, lemons, pomegranates, and other botanicals including olives which Franceschi crafts into a small production of extra virgin olive oil each year. After experimenting with unusual grape varieties, Emmerich planted Kerner (an aromatic white from Germany) and began making a few hundred cases in 2019.

To honor the legacy of Felix Borreo, one of Napa’s winemaking pioneers for future generations, Silverado renamed the vineyard Borreo Ranch and created a package to evoke the story of Felix and the property. The illustrations on the label feature the botanicals on the property and were designed by Annabelle Rey Miller, fourth-generation winery owner and great-granddaughter of Walt Disney.

The vineyard itself is steep and rocky with perfect western exposures to the late afternoon sun. Colder temperatures, due to the altitude and the canyon shading, make for longer growing seasons which produce bright cranberry and cherry flavors in our Sangiovese, blackberry and black pepper flavors in our Zinfandel, and fresh white stone fruits, red apple, and orange blossom in our Kerner.

• AVA Napa Valley
  
• Heritage First Planted: 1881, by Nathaniel G. B. Ellis
  Current Plantings: 1993, by Ron and Diane Miller
  
• Soils Boomer–Forward–Felta Complex
  Cortina Very Gravelly Loam
  
• Grape Varieties Sangiovese Clones: UCD 2 & 3, Atlas Peak, Rodeno; 11 acres
  Zinfandel Clones: Hayne, Mendocino, Peterson; 3 acres
  Kerner Clone:1; 1 acre