South Florida Lifestyle Guide - Holiday Gift Guide Fall 2015 | Page 8

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.

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 our winery building and our vineyard date back to the 1800s, when winemaking pioneers first took advantage of a unique position on the valley floor. The east side of our vineyard lies along the foothills of the Vaca mountain range and yields grapes with the kind of bold fruit character that comes from well-draining hillside soils. To the west, our estate lies in the Napa River flood zone. Here our vines take root in rich, deep clay soils, for grapes with softer, more supple varietal character. From our oldest, rockiest section—the “I” Block where we source our Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve—to more recent plantings, we strive to maintain balanced vines. Thanks to the full, expressive range of our estate, PlumpJack wines have become known for their intriguing complexity.

From 1973 to 1995, proprietors James and Anne McWilliams brought the PlumpJack estate vineyard to prominence with the dynamic, long-lived wines of Villa Mt. Eden Winery. Today, winemaker Aaron Miller and his team create the full-bodied, elegant wines that have earned PlumpJack high critical acclaim, including an Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve Chardonnay, Napa Valley Syrah and Merlot. For each wine, Aaron selects methods that allow the vineyards to shine through. He monitors vines for peak ripeness, chooses fermentation in oak or stainless steel, and ages the wines in a variety of oak barrels from distinctive cooperages. Many of the PlumpJack bottlings—including half the Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve wines and half of the Chardonnay—are topped with a screw-cap, a bold move that represents PlumpJack's commitment to quality as well as to the spirit of approachability.

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