PLUM RESERVE

Plum Reserve – Collector’s Edition

In the summer of 2006, a local plum grower from Old Mission Peninsula arrived at the winery with several totes of ripe, jewel-toned plums—fragrant, bursting with juice, and too perfect to waste. With no commercial market for them that year, the question became: could these fruits find a second life in the hands of skilled winemakers? Curiosity won. The plums were carefully cleaned, pressed, and frozen—a pause button in time until inspiration struck.

That moment arrived when the decision was made to move the now concentrated plum juice into oak barrels. Tucked away in a quiet corner of the cellar, the barrels began a silent transformation. Over months that became years, the wine deepened and matured, undergoing slow dehydration and micro-oxygenation through the tight grain of the oak. It was a process no one rushed, and soon no one even spoke of—it became part of the winery’s hidden lore, an experiment left to dream in the dark.

Seventeen years later, the barrels emerged as something extraordinary: a rich, deeply sweet plum wine with the soul of a Tawny Port. Fortified with brandy and polished by time, it carried a warm amber glow, layers of dried fruit and nut aromas, and a silken texture. Its creation was as much an accident as it was an act of patience. In 2024, the winery’s 50th anniversary year, the Plum Reserve was unveiled—a one-of-a-kind treasure that could never be made again. Only 368 cases existed, each holding nearly two decades of quiet alchemy.

Color & Appearance
Deep amber to burnished mahogany, edged with golden highlights from seventeen years of oxidative barrel aging. Brilliant clarity reveals its polished maturity.

Aromas
A richly layered bouquet of toasted hazelnut and pecan, dried fig and date, marzipan, toffee, and butterscotch. Subtle undertones of cedar cigar box, and a whisper of saline minerality speak to its long rest in oak.

Palate
Velvety and concentrated, delivering a harmonious interplay of caramel, dried plum, honey, and warm baking spices. The spirit fortification lends lift and structure, guiding the wine into a finish of lingering walnut skin bitterness and espresso warmth.

Texture & Structure
Silky and mouth-filling, with gentle acidity balancing the richness. Time has softened every edge, resulting in a wine of remarkable integration and poise.

Aging Potential
Already in perfect harmony, this wine will hold its character for up to a decade with proper cellaring, deepening in its nut and spice complexity.

Collector’s Legacy
Just 368 cases (375 ml) were produced. Each bottle is a fragment of winery history—one that can never be remade. Once they’re gone, this wine, and its story, will belong only to memory.