98pts Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve ranks with the handful of top wines in the vintage and is based on 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot, and the rest Malbec. An incredible nose of blue fruits (cassis, blueberries, mulberries) as well as chocolate, camphor, leafy herbs, and flowers gives way to a full-bodied, pure, seamless wine with ultra-fine tannins, no hard edges, and a brilliant finish. This quintessential, pure, top-class beauty is already hard to resist yet will benefit from a few years of bottle age and keep for 2-3 decades. The level of purity, as well as its mix of richness and freshness, are unique in the vintage.
98pts Wine Advocate
Composed of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot and 3% Malbec, the deep garnet-purple colored 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve opens with bombastic blackcurrant preserves and ripe, juicy black plums scents. With coaxing, a whole array of nuances emerge: rose oil, beef drippings, fragrant earth, crushed rocks and wild mushrooms with touches of tapenade and lavender. The full-bodied palate features firm, exquisitely ripe tannins and beautiful freshness to support the bedazzling array of black fruit and earthy/savory layers, finishing very long and very fragrant.
93pts Wine Spectator
Lush and enticing, with a steady drumbeat of warmed cassis, plum reduction, menthol, sweet bay leaf, loam and tobacco, all layered together as this cruises through the finish. A textbook Oakville. Drink now through 2038. 450 cases made.
History
PlumpJack Winery sits squarely in the heart of Napa Valley's renowned Oakville region, surrounded by a 42-acre estate vineyard highly-regarded for the quality of its Cabernet Sauvignon. Both their winery building and their vineyard date back to the 1800s, when winemaking pioneers first took advantage of a unique position on the valley floor. The east side of their vineyard lies along the foothills of the Vaca mountain range and yields grapes with the kind of bold fruit character that comes from well-drained hillside soils. To the west, their estate lies in the Napa River flood zone. Here, their vines take root in rich, deep clay soild, for grapes with softer, more supple varietal character. From their oldest, rockiest section - the "I" Block, where they source their Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve - to more recent plantings, they strive to maintain balanced vines.
