Cork vs. Screw Cap at 14 years: PlumpJack Reserve Cabernet

Tapestry Restaurant, Los Gatos, California
Tasted Tuesday, March 29, 2011 by rjonwine@gmail.com with 4,862 views

Introduction

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In 2000, PlumpJack Winery announced that it would be bottling half of its 1997 Reserve Cabernet (its first vintage), a total of 150 cases, under screw cap, as well as a cork sealed version. They also sold the screw cap, or Stelvin closure, bottles for $10 more than the cork sealed bottes, for a total of $135 per bottle. This made it the first premium red wine in California to be bottled under screw cap.

In 2007, winemaker Tony Biaggi explained that samples of both the stelvin enclosure and the cork sealed wines had been given to U.C. Davis to study, and that “[t]his was set up as a 10-year program, and in a couple years they [at U.C. Davis] will do a chemical analysis to see how both wines have aged.” I understand from Tercero’s Larry Schaffer, who’s inquired about the study, that it has been completed and results are likely to be released soon. There’s also talk of setting up some blindtastings in conjuction with the release of the report. Also, at a 10-year anniversary celebration at the winery in October 2007, PlumpJack poured samples of both the screw cap and cork sealed ’97 Reserve blind. There appears to have been no clear preference at that tasting, with people finding them similar, and a roughly equal number preferring the screw cap version to the cork sealed one. A January 29, 2009, article in Forbes Magazine by Eric Arnold detailed a comparison blindtasting he did with George Taber, author of To Cork or Not to Cork, on the ’97 PlumpJack Reserve bottlings. In that tasting, Eric found the screw-cap version to be “a bit richer and fruitier.”

Thanks to collector Eric Nagel, a group of us did the same blindtasting recently, adding in a third wine from the same appellation and vintage for an additional comparison, a ’97 Whitehall Lane Cabernet Reserve. All of us at the tasting preferred bottle A, finding bottle B to be the most different from the other two, and preferring bottle C to bottle B. I was guessing that the bottle under cork would show greater maturity and development, so I assumed my favorite in the tasting, bottle A, which showed the most development, would be the PlumpJack under cork. Well, it wasn’t. We were wrong all the way around. Bottle A, my favorite, which had a youthful, plush cassis palate, and I rated 92+ points, turned out to be the Whitehall Lane Reserve. The one that was most different among the three, bottle B, was showing oak on the nose, was quite tight, with firm tannins, and I rated it 89 points. It was the cork sealed PlumpJack. So between the two closures of PlumpJack, I definitely preferred our bottle C, the screw cap version, which had a plush cassis and menthol nose, was also tight, but showing more fruit than the cork sealed bottle, with more integrated oak. It needed another three to four years of bottle age. I rated it 91+ points. It did open very slowly in the glass compared to the Whitehall Lane, but at about the same pace, or faster, than the cork sealed version did. And Eric told us the result was very similar a year previously when he opened another two-pack of this wine. Then the screw cap version was the favorite of nine out of 10 of the tasters. So I find myself very much in agreement with Eric Arnold’s result, reported two years ago in Forbes, where he found the screw cap version “a bit richer and fruitier.”

So what’s my takeaway from this tasting? Well, it’s just one more data point: a sample of a wine meant for aging, nearly 14 years from the vintage, where the Stelvin closed bottle resulted in a tastier, plusher sample, with more fruit and some development of the tannins and oak than the identical wine sealed under cork. I must admit I’m surprised, as it’s not what I expected. I look forward to the release of the U.C. Davis study to see what they found chemically between the two bottles. There should be a lot more tests and tastings of this kind, as cork taint continues to be the biggest disappointment for collectors and lovers of fine wine (followed closely, these days, by premature oxidation of whites). It also makes me feel more comfortable about aging the many bottles of German Riesling I’ve collected in recent years, on which many distributors have insisted that producers use screw caps. I am thankful to Eric for having collected these two-packs many years ago, and for including me in this tasting, which he hosted, by the way, at a terrific restaurant he is co-owner of in Los Gatos: Tapestry, a California bistro. For pictures of some of the delicious food the chef created for us, including a Kobe beef “cheeseburger potsticker” appetizer, and a delicious slowly braised veal shank, see below. We had quite a few more wines before the night was over, my favorite of which was a very young, but delicious, ’07 Cayuse Syrah Cailloux Vineyard, which I’d decanted for several hours, and a magnificent bottle of 1970 Fonseca Port. We also had very good bottles of the ’95 Cakebread Cabernet and ’98 Chateau de la Gardine Chateauneuf du Pape, along with a couple of ’99 California Chardonnays. For those tasting notes too, see below.

Flight 1 - Blindtasting: '97 Cabs, including Plumpjack with two different closures (3 Notes)

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  • 1997 Whitehall Lane Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 92 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Slightly bricking very dark red violet color; plush cassis, ripe raspberry, French caramel oak nose; youthful, ripe, plush cassis, ripe raspberry palate with integrated French oak; medium-plus finish 92+ points (bottle "A": group's favorite)

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  • 1997 Plumpjack Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve (Cork Closure) 89 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

    Very dark red violet color with tiny sediment; oak, dill, cassis nose; tight, very youthful, tart cassis palate with near medium acidity and firm tannins; medium finish (bottle B: group's least favorite in blindtasting of cork closure vs. stelvin closure)

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  • 1997 Plumpjack Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve (Stelvin Closure) 91 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

    Nearly opaque red violet color; ripe, plush berry, cassis, menthol nose; tight, ripe cassis, raspberry palate with integrated oak and firm sweet tannins, needs 3-4 years; medium-plus finish 91+ points (bottle C: we preferred this to the cork sealed version in a blindtasting)

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Flight 2 - '99 Chardonnays (2 Notes)

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"cheeseburger potsticker" and parmesan cheese with bacon and green onion
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green leeks and crawdads

  • 1999 Smith-Madrone Chardonnay 90 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District

    Light medium golden yellow color; mature, hazelnut, mushroom nose; mature, hazelnut, mushroom, tart peach palate; medium-plus finish

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  • 1999 Kistler Chardonnay McCrea Vineyard 92 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Mountain

    Light medium golden yellow color; lanolin, slightly oxidized, beeswax nose; fresher on palate of tart peach, tart apricot, rich, with medium acidity; medium-plus finish 92+ points

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Flight 3 - Mature Cabernet (2 Notes)

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slowly braised veal shank, carmelized onions and butternut squash
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duck with braised cabbage and blue cheese

Flight 4 - More Big Reds (3 Notes)

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skirt steak with mushroom cream sauce and black-eyed peas

Flight 5 - Port Finish (1 Note)

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  • 1970 Fonseca Porto Vintage 97 Points

    Portugal, Douro, Porto

    Very dark red violet color; rich berry, blackberry, VA, baked plum nose; tasty, rich, elegant, black plum, berry, baked berry, blackberry palate; long finish

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