2016 Plumpjack Cabernet Sauvignon Estate
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Tasting notes
I loved the bouquet of the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate, which has awesome purity in its classic Cabernet notes of crème de cassis, lead pencil shavings, tobacco, and earthy, gravelly mineral-like aromas and flavors. Beautifully balanced, utterly seamless, and lengthy, it's a rock star of a base cuvée that readers should snatch up. It's going to drink beautifully for two decades or more. This cuvée is 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot, and 5% Malbec.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
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The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate beautifully expresses so much of what makes the vintage so special. Firm yet beautifully integrated tannins give the wine its spine and overall shape. Dark cherry, mocha, licorice, spice and menthol build in a deep, powerful wine endowed with quite a bit of structure. In 2016, the Estate is vibrant, powerful and loaded with personality.
A blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot and 5% Malbec, the deep purple-black colored 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate reveals lovely, open-knit, youthful cassis, crushed black plums and black cherries scents with hints of rose hip tea, chocolate box, lavender, tobacco leaf and redcurrant jelly. The full-bodied, vibrantly fruited palate beautifully offsets the rich black fruits with red fruit and herbal sparks plus tons of freshness, finishing with a wonderfully plush texture blanketing the fruit right through the long finish.
Plumpjack's 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon is a big, explosive wine. Beams of tannin and bright acids pop up the dark-fleshed flavors nicely. Black cherry, plum, chocolate, new leather and menthol add to the wine's virile, imposing personality. The 2016 is likely to require at least a few years to come into its own.