2021 PLUS ONE
WINEMAKER’S NOTES
The 2021 vintage was simply magical for Cabernet Sauvignon—small berries, thick skins, deep color, high flavor intensity. Deep ruby-purple color with impeccable balance, exceptional complexity, and a fine, ultra-long finish. Beautifully delineated notes of black cherry, cassis, graphite, tar, orange peel, espresso, allspice, and dried herbs on the bouquet. The palate offers a significant core of fruit with notes of cassis, blackberry, black cherry, espresso, gravel, vanilla, anise, incense, and cigar tobacco. The very long and vibrant finish has notes of cassis, thyme, leather, and cigar tobacco. Substantial tannins with a slight firmness that will require some patience. As usual this is a classically styled Cabernet Sauvignon. It should reach a lovely phase of maturity in 10-12 years and gracefully evolve for 20+ years.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
The wine had a pre-fermentation maceration of 135 hours. 100% Native fermentation. The wine was punched down by hand 3 times each day during maceration and fermentation. All individual wine components, including free run and press fractions, were kept separate until final blending. The oak profile is 50% new French oak (predominantly from Troncais and Alliers) and 50% neutral French oak. The wine achieved its sparkly brilliance from 3 judicious rackings, no fining agents were employed. The wine was very lightly filtered to capture any remaining lees. The alcohol is 14.8%, pH is 3.77, and the titratable acidity is 6.2 g/L.
CASES PRODUCED 138
VARIETALS 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
APPELLATION Kiona Vineyard, Red Mountain
LABEL STORY
In 2012 we released our first 100% Cabernet Sauvignon – from the 2009 vintage. The fruit comes from Kiona Vineyards. Kiona Vineyards, planted in 1975, was the first vineyard planted on Red Mountain. It was planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, and Chardonnay. Vast majority of the Cabernet from this planting goes to Kiona Vineyards. We are one of two other wineries that get fruit from this block. Call us lucky. We also get Cab from another block planted in 1992. I used to tell people that our wine is a blend of new and old vines – 1975 and 1992. When Scott Williams, owner of Kiona Vineyards, heard me say this, he told me to stop referring to the 1992 planting as young vines – they are old by WA standards. I’ve since stopped.
Red Mountain is one of the most tannic AVAs in the country. The trick to making world-class wines from here is proper tannin management. I love what we do with this wine. It’s a pure expression of Cabernet from Red Mountain.
When it came time to bottling, we had to come up with a name. When Billo and I fell in love with wine it was Cabernet that we fell in love with – Napa and Left Bank Bordeaux. As wine lovers, Cabernet will always have a special place in our hearts. It is intertwined with our wine journey. Our love for Cabernet propelled our journey forward. When coming up with a name for this wine, I wanted to evoke this sentiment – I wanted to show just how special Cabernet is to us.
When thinking about this, I started to think about my daughter, who was 10 years old at the time. Whenever I’d say “I love you” to her, she always replied “Plus One.” It comes from a game we used to play when she was younger:
Pinto: I love you
Karly: I love you plus 1000
Pinto: I love you 1000 plus one
Karly: I love you plus 10,000
Pinto: I love you 10,000 plus one
Karly: I love you plus infinity
Pinto: I love you infinity plus one
I thought about this. I thought about our wine journey. I thought about Cabernet Sauvignon. And I thought Plus One is a perfect name for this wine.
Plus One is one of our most popular wines. It’s a crowd favorite. If you haven’t tried it, you should. You’ll fall in love – plus one.