1995 Plumpjack Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve McWilliam's Vineyard

The 1995 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve (approximately 500 cases produced) is an awesome wine that tastes like a synthesis in style of some of the richest, most powerful Cabernets from the Oakville district. It may come closest in style to resembling the profound Cabernets of Harlan Estate. This spectacular Cabernet Sauvignon is a worthy candidate for 20-30 years of cellaring. The opaque black/purple color is followed by intense aromatics offering smoke, coffee, roasted meats, and copious quantities of blackberry and cassis fruit. Extremely dense, full-bodied, and crammed with extract, this persuasively rich, authoritative Cabernet Sauvignon is among the most noteworthy wines of the 1995 vintage. While it can be drunk young, this wine begs for 5-6 years of cellaring. It will be a long distance runner, although I am not sure how many readers will be able to ignore its lavish display of decadent levels of ripe fruit and toasty oak. Since I tasted this impressive wine last year, the proprietors, the Getty family, have divided the wine into two lots, a regular bottling and a reserve cuvee. In 1997, a Chardonnay and Merlot will be added to the line-up. If I were a reader, I wouldn't hesitate to get my name on this winery's mailing list. Tel. (707) 944-1465; Fax (707) 944-0744