About the winery
Silver Mountain Vineyards is a mountain winery on a ridge about 2,100 feet up in the Santa Cruz Mountains, looking over redwood forest to Monterey Bay, reached from Summit Road near Los Gatos1. Jerold O'Brien, a former Air Force pilot, moved to San Francisco in 1970 to learn about wine4 and found the site, an abandoned 18-acre orchard, in 1972 by the winery's account today2; its 1999 page on Web Winery gave 19734. He drilled the well, graded the road and built a barn that became the first winery, and in 1979 the winery was bonded and released its first wine, 350 cases of Zinfandel2.
O'Brien chose the name for the independence of mountain winemaking, and because profits from trading silver futures helped him buy the land4. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake destroyed the original winery and cellar; a rebuilt winery was finished in the fall of 19952. The winery describes its vineyards as certified organic1.
Tony Craig became winemaker in 2018, the year of the 40th harvest, and O'Brien runs the business and pours at the weekend tastings2. In August 2025 Silver Mountain took over the Woodside Vineyards label, with its equipment and inventory, from its founder, Bob Mullen3,6.
Known for
- Chardonnay
- Pinot Noir
- Bordeaux-style blends
- Syrah
Nearby in Santa Cruz Mountains
- Burrell School Vineyards & Winery Los GatosOpen
- Byington Vineyard & Winery Los GatosOpen
- David Bruce Winery Los GatosOpen
- Bear Creek Vineyard Company Los GatosNot confirmed
