“If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s
house and eat with them…the people who give you their food give you their
heart.”….. Cesar Chavez
This
one was easy. I went to their house and brought the food. To cinch the deal, I also brought the wine
and cooked the food. But we were already long-time friends. In retrospect, I think the wine assured we
would remain so. This is Napa juice in that rich, lusciously decadent style
that earned Napa Cabernet Sauvignon international attention.
The entree plate served up thick slices of sweet onion baked in beef broth and
coconut aminos, drained then broiled quickly with Gruyere cheese. Oven roasted beets (red, golden and Chioggia)
with goat cheese, fresh thyme and sage and, finally, grass-fed filet mignon
over a bed of Shitake mushrooms finished in a light sherry cream sauce.
Cabernet
Sauvignon is to steak as the magician is to your kid’s party. Its tannins transform the steak’s protein and
it’s magically symbiotic; the steak elevating the wine and the wine returning
the compliment, eliciting oohs, aahs and wows from the “audience”. Putting a meal together for five by one’s self
and in someone else’s kitchen guarantees that some things will not go well,
especially for just an average cook, rushed, and with less than acceptable plating skills. But as I’ve often said, if the wine is good,
really good, some errors will go unnoticed. And yes, this wine is that good.
The
juice is 97% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Petit Verdot, aged 80% in NEW French Oak
and comes from their estate vines grown on the eastern side of sun drenched
Oakville. All that sun creates rich, fully ripened fruit and all that new oak adds luxurious secondary notes. The nose is rich with blackberry, currant,
black cherry and cedar woven together in a fine tapestry with a hint of sage. Blackberry carries onto the palate, joined by
cassis, bell pepper, black olive, graphite, oak and vanilla. Fruit is rich, but offset by the cedar and
notes of leather, herbs and spice. Other
tasters note anise, mocha, mint, licorice and charcoal.
Despite
its rich fruit, creamy, silky and gliding across the palate, Plumpjack is
concentrated and focused and should age well, becoming more complex, through
2029. It has a medium plus finish that
will probably extend itself with aging but is a delicious experience now. Tannins are perfectly integrated. And there’s no “heat” on the finish, allowing
the fruit and secondary notes to dissipate naturally without being cut short or
obscured by alcohol burn.
The
Plumpjack Winery and Vineyard dates back to 1881 when it was then known as
Mount Eden Winery. Multiple shifts and
changes to 1995 when it became Plumpjack.
In 2000 (because of cork taint
damaging the wine industry across the board) Plumjack boldly moved to twist-off
closures on 50% of their Reserve 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon, demonstrating a
commitment to quality at the risk of market perception. Forward to 2016, Robert
Parker’s Wine Advocate awarded 100
points to Plumpjack’s 2013 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.
Back
now to this 2009: Despite its ARP of $130, supplies of Plumpjack sell out
quickly with bottles of this vintage now being sold on auction at prices above
$210. At either price, this is not your “daily red” but a special occasion
bottle or gift bottle for lovers of Cabernet Sauvignon. Look for current vintages. 2009 was rated (as a vintage) 96, but so was 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014 and can you some money on
that “once in a lifetime” experience.
Cheers!
…………………
Jim
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ETCETERA
PlumpJack
Winery
620
Oakville Cross Rd
Oakville
CA 94562
ALC: 14.8%
Robert
Parker 94
Points
Wine
Enthusiast 93
Points
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