PlumpJack Winery

Infobox Winery
winery_name = PlumpJack Winery
winery_
location_city = Oakville, California
location_country = USA
appellation = Oakville AVA
former_name =
other_labels=
year_founded = 1997
first_vintage = 1995
key_people = Gavin Newsom, Founder; Gordon Getty, Founder; John Conover, General Manager; Anthony Biagi, Winemaker; Nils Venge, Consulting Winemaker
parent_company = PlumpJack Group
cases_per_year = 12,500Gannon, Suzanne (2007). [http://www.allbusiness.com/wholesale-trade/merchant-wholesalers-nondurable-goods/3940803-1.html "Why Boutique Vintners Like Alternative Closures"] "Wines & Vines" Jan. 1, 2007.]
signature_wine = Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
varietal1 = Cabernet Sauvignon
varietal2 = Chardonnay
varietal3 = Merlot
varietal4 = Syrah
varietal5 = Sauvignon Blanc
varietal6 = Sangiovese
varietal7 =
varietal8 =
varietal9 =
varietal10 =
other_product1=
other_product2=
other_product3=
other_product4=
other_product5=
homepage=http://www.plumpjack.com/winery1.html
distribution= USA
tasting= open to public

PlumpJack Winery is a boutique winery in Oakville, California specializing in ultra-premium Cabernet Sauvignon. PlumpJack was the first winery in Napa Valley to use screwcaps as a wine closure on super premium wines.Heeger, Jack (2007). [http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2007/10/17/features/wine/doc470f0189d1e78822627524.txt "Screwing around with caps"] "The Napa Valley Register". Oct. 17, 2007.] The winery is one of several businesses operated by the PlumpJack Group. The name of the company is inspired by "the roguish spirit of Shakespeare's Sir John Falstaff ("Henry IV"), dubbed Plump Jack by Queen Elizabeth."PlumpJack Group (2005). [http://www.plumpjack.com/history.html "The History of PlumpJack"] . PlumpJack Group official web site. Retrieved Oct. 26, 2007.]

History

The PlumpJack Group was founded in 1992 by Gavin Newsom, a San Francisco entrepreneur who was elected that city's mayor in 2003, and Gordon Getty, a San Francisco composer and philanthropist, when they opened a wine store called PlumpJack Wines in the Fillmore neighborhood of San Francisco . Over the next five years, the business expanded to include a boutique hotel and three restaurants. PlumpJack Winery was founded in 1997 when the PlumpJack Group acquired a century-old convert|53|acre|ha|0 vineyard in Napa Valley on Oakville Cross Road. The winery facility and tasting room were designed by Leavitt-Weaver, the same design firm that the PlumpJack Group used for the designs of its restaurants and hotels.

PlumpJack Winery was the first Napa Valley winery to use the Stelvin screwcap closure on its most expensive bottling. John Conover, General Manager of the winery, announced at the Napa Valley Wine Auction that half (150 cases) of PlumpJack's 1997 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon would be available upon release with a Stelvin screwcap closure, and that those bottles would cost $10 USD more than those in the 150 cases closed with cork.Ross, Jordan P. (2002). [http://www.enologyinternational.com/cork/cork.html "Natural Cork, Corkiness, Synthetics & Screw Caps"] . "Enology International". Retrieved Oct. 26, 2007.] At $135 per bottle, many in the wine industry were skeptical of the decision.Carson, Pierce L. (2007). [http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2007/10/12/columnists/l_pierce_carson/doc470f015da4c48814753434.txt "PlumpJack's noble experiment"] . "The Napa Valley Register". Oct. 12, 2007.] As part of the screwcap program at PlumpJack, bottles with the screwcap closure from each vintage since 1997 have been analyzed by researchers in the Department of Oenology and Viticulture at the University of California at Davis. Bottles using both closure technologies from the 1997 vintage will undergo a more extensive chemical analysis in 2010.

Wines

PlumpJack Winery produces primarily super premium Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay varietal wines from Napa Valley grapes, with smaller amounts of varietal Merlot, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc, and Sangiovese. The 2001 PlumpJack Cabernet Sauvignon was named 2004 Wine of the Year by "Wine Enthusiast" magazine.Rauber, Chris (2004). [http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2004/12/20/daily25.html "Newsom's wine wins top honor"] . "San Francisco Business Times". Dec. 21, 2004.] The 2002 and 2004 vintages of the PlumpJack Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve both received "Extraordinary" ratings of 96-100 points from wine critic Robert Parker. [http://dat.erobertparker.com/newSearch/ptextsearch.aspx "Search Term(s): 'plumpjack'"] . "eRobertParker.com: The Independent Consumer's Guide to Fine Wine". Retrieved Oct. 26, 2007.]

As of the 2004 vintage, PlumpJack Winery continues to offer its top wines in bottles with both screwcap and cork closures. Many are sold by the winery as two-packs with one cork finish bottle and one screwcap finish bottle from the same vintage. A tasting room and store at the winery is open to the public.

References

External links

* [http://www.plumpjack.com/winery1.html PlumpJack Winery] official web site