Silver Oak Cellars Collaborates With Paravel For Holiday Season Travel

Wine is first and foremost an agricultural product. But in the last 40 or so years, brands have really leaned into being part of the lifestyle category. For example, wine brands like Veuve Clicquot, Dom Perignon, Laurent Perrier and others, have sometimes espoused the wine lifestyle first – meaning showcasing aspirational living – before even, well, the wine itself. And as the most global of products, wine is perfectly positioned to stand firmly in that category, which includes travel. This positioning seems to be resonating with millennials and Gen-Z’ers.

In 2022, the German luxury luggage brand, Rimowa, revealed a $10k 12-bottle wine trunk that almost looked too precious to travel with, despite its industrial silver sheen and reinforced airplane grooves that have come to define the brand. Only a few were made, but it certainly perpetuated the perception of wine as the choice beverage of those who can afford a certain kind of lifestyle.

Silver Oak Cellars, which is practically U.S. wine royalty, has capitalized on wine’s growing trend as an extension of a life that includes frequent travel, with its collaboration with Paravel, the sustainable luxury DTC luggage brand. This collab, however, is decidedly a little more down to earth.

Paravel is a brand that truly emphasizes its commitment to the environment. The sleek suitcases and travel accessories are all made from recycled and upcycled materials, i.e. 100% of Paravel’s products are reused. In fact, so great is their commitment to the sustainability that they’ve taken over 8 million plastic bottles out of the environment to turn into synthetic, eco-friendly materials like their proprietary Negative Nylon® and Ecocraft Canvas®, along with vegan leather, recycled aluminum, etc. Paravel as a company has also been certified Climate Neutral since 2021, further adding to their commitment to the environment.

Silver Oak has a longstanding heritage of American luxury, and Paravel is the new guard of that American luxury standard. Together, they have collaborated on the Paravel x Silver Oak collection of luggage. The pieces are part luggage and part wine carrier, with the idea in mind that the limited edition collection would house Silver Oak’s wines for either two, four or six bottles. There are only three pieces of luggage in the collection, but that was intentional, as the collection was designed to be the only pieces one would need for every kind of travel, especially if traveling with wine. There’s a larger sized carry-on, a check-in piece, and a trunk. The pieces only come in one color: Cabernet, of course, a deep-hued burgundy red with contrasting orange leather trim.

“This collaboration adds a new dimension, allowing our wines to travel with our fans in away that celebrates both the joy of coming together and the responsibility we have to protect the environment,” said David Duncan, proprietor and CEO of Silver Oak.

One might ask why these two companies decided to partner. Well, Silver Oak is also a sustainability leader — in the world of wine. Both of Silver Oak’s Napa and Sonoma wineries were the first to achieve LEED Platinum certification, a green building certification, with Platinum being the highest level. But the accolades don’t end there – the Sonoma winery in Alexander Valley is certified as a Living Building, which is the highest green building certification that exists. Silver Oak also takes its water usage seriously, uses solar panels and reclaimed building materials to construct its wineries.

Andy Krantz, co-founder and CEO of Paravel, said in a statement, “we’re thrilled to be collaborating with Silver Oak this holiday season, a winery that shares our deep commitments to environmental responsibility and uncompromising product standards.”

This good-looking set of luggage arrived just in time for the holiday season and is the perfect gift for the bon vivant or tastemaker in your life who has everything. Of course, there are only a few sets available, so if it’s the perfect gift, it’d behoove you to buy sooner rather than later.

Is this the new trend among wine brands? To collaborate with lifestyle brands as a matter of necessity to attract new demographics? Could be. It’s only a matter of time before we know.