Plumpjack Estate Napa Valley Cabernet for meatloaf dinner
For an intimate dine-in Saturday night, Linda prepared one of my favorite comfort foods, meatloaf with carrots, onions and potatoes. For the occasion I pulled from the cellar an ultra-premium Napa Cabernet.
Given the political ties of this producer, I’ve relegated our collection of their wines to when dining or tasting with my left leaning liberal minded friends. But, with the recent landslide election results, I felt a sense of celebration were in order and pulled this to enjoy on our own!
At I wrote in earlier blogposts in these pages, this used to be one of our favorite producers until the producer became so terribly political and extremist radical in ideology - several listed and linked here.
Plumpjack Reserve Napa Chardonnay at Entourage Restaurant NapervillePlumpjack Napa Valley Oakville Cabernet SauvignonPlumpjack Founders Reserve Cabernet - Seasmoke Chardonnay - Paul Misset Clos Vougeot Vieilles VignesWe still hold a collection spanning more than a two decades dating back to the earliest vintage releases of this label, 1996 and 1997. Back in the early days, our visits to the winery estate in Napa, and wine dinner (s) with their winemaker were highlights of our trips to the region.
In any event, tonight this was fabulous, ideally paired with the beef meatloaf and sides. I opened a more recent vintage of this label to accommodate Linda, who prefers younger, more approachable wines, never-the-less, a twenty-one year old vintage release!
Plumpjack Estate Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2003
The simple summary of the history of the winery, as written in Wine Bid is that PlumpJack, in Oakville, was founded by Gordon Getty, fourth child of legendary oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, a San Francisco composer and philanthropist, and major benefactor financial support to Gavin Newsom, former San Francisco mayor and current Governor of California.
The entrepreneurs opened a wine shop in San Francisco in 1992 called PlumpJack, a reference to Shakespeare’s character Sir John Falstaff, who enjoyed food and wine. The partners founded the PlumpJack winery in 1997 when they acquired 53 acres of vineyards on Oakville Cross Road. The PlumpJack Group now also includes resorts, hotels, restaurants and spas.
The winery specializes in premium Cabernet Sauvignon, though it also makes a Syrah. Robert M. Parker Jr. notes that all the PlumpJack wines “are fabulous, thanks to the brilliant efforts of winemaker Tony Biagi and consultant Nils Venge.”
Of course, we’re huge fans of Nils going back to those days, and more recently, his son Kirk. Our cellar is full of Venge wines as witnessed by the number of mentions in these pages.
A bit of wine world trivia: PlumpJack was the first Napa Valley producer to use screw caps.
This release was rated 95 points by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. Back in 2013, he wrote, “The 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate (finished with a screw cap) possesses a dense ruby/purple color as well as a stunningly pure nose of creme de cassis, graphite, licorice, forest floor and a hint of black truffles.’
“Full-bodied and velvety textured with stunning opulence that expresses this tenderloin sector of Napa Valley so brilliantly, a multidimensional mouthfeel and a blockbuster finish, this profound wine (14.8% natural alcohol) appears even superior to what I remember tasting in its infancy.”
Back in 2013 Parker wrote, “At $68 a bottle, it-s a steal for a wine of such world-class quality! The finish lasts for 40-45 seconds. While it has reached its plateau of full maturity, there is no danger of it falling apart for at least another 15-20 years. Bravo!” Of course that price has doubled, even tripled in the decade to follow.
Wine Enthusiast didn’t like it and gave it 86 points. A mystery, leading me to wonder if they had an ‘off’ or aberrant bottle, but then again, they would surely sort that out. They panned it saying, “Pickles and dill in the nose, with underlying cherries and blackberries. In the mouth, it enters brawny and rustic, and very tannic. The fruit is locked down. Seems sound, but disappointingly tough. Could develop, but it's a gamble. Tasted twice.”
Our bottle was traditional cork, not screw top which came along later. At twenty-one years, the critical fill level, cork, and the label and foil were pristine. Tonight this was delicious, dark garnet colored, full bodied, complex yet elegant, smooth polished, a symphony of black berry fruit flavors with bright vibrant sprites of spice, truffle, crème de cassis and bitter dark chocolate.
