Plumpjack Estate Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 750mL

The shortage of rainfall in 2021 led to high-stress growing conditions for our vines. The resulting grapes were small and concentrated, giving us wines with great concentration, intensity, and structure. The nose of the 2021 PlumpJack Estate Cabernet Sauvignon leads with juicy fruits – black cherry, boysenberry, blackberry jam, and muddled mixed berries. The fruit is layered with fresh mint, sage, and iron filings. These aromas are complemented by warming spices, vanilla, and cocoa nib. The palate has a beautiful, velvety texture with plush tannin and an enduring finish with impressions of espresso and dark chocolate.

In 2021, Napa Valley received only about one-third of our average rainfall, which showed in the vineyards. The vines were stressed, and yields were extremely low. While this isn’t good for business, it’s great for wine quality. The grapes were small, and the flavors were highly concentrated, which allowed us to craft wines of great intensity and depth. And with the deft hands of our winemaking team, we were able to maintain focus, precision, elegance, and beauty in these wines.

The Estate grapes were cold soaked for 4-5 days to coax out more color while maintaining a velvety tannin. The grapes were then fermented up to a maximum temperature of 94°F. The wines were drained off the skins after a total maceration of 8-10 days and racked to barrel to undergo malolactic fermentation and to age. This wine was aged in 100% French oak barrels, 78% of which were new. The coopers used were primarily Sylvain, Taransaud, Cavin, and Nadalie. The cooperage is a blend of medium, medium-plus, and heavy toast barrels from a variety of forests. This blend of coopers, forests, and toasts adds layers and aromatic complexity to the wine. The Estate Cabernet Sauvignon was bottled after 20 months of aging.

Grape Varietals:

86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot, 7% Malbec 

95 Points - Antonio Galloni, "The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is rich, racy and super-expressive. Silky and deep, with notable resonance, the 2021 offers up dark red/purplish fruit, lavender, spice, menthol, new leather and licorice. Today, it is a very young wine in need of cellaring, but its potential is evident. Dollops of Petit Verdot and Malbec round out the blend. This should be positively stellar."

95 Points - Vinous, "The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is rich, racy and super-expressive. Silky and deep, with notable resonance, the 2021 offers up dark red/purplish fruit, lavender, spice, menthol, new leather and licorice. Today, it is a very young wine in need of cellaring, but its potential is evident. Dollops of Petit Verdot and Malbec round out the blend. This should be positively stellar."

91 Points -  Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, "The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate reflects much of the property's 35 producing acres of Cabernet on the eastern side of the Oakville AVA. Tasted under screw cap (the winery offers both cork and screw-cap closures), the wine offers up notes of mocha, black cherries and brown sugar. It's full-bodied, with a slightly coarse but velvety texture, showing ample concentration but not much elegance at this young age."