The man at the helm in this winemaking lab, Jeff Owens, has been with the PlumpJack Group since 2006, working as assistant winemaker at CADE Estate, Owens would become winemaker for Odette Estate. Owens would make history in 2015, scoring a perfect 100 points by The Wine Advocate with Odette Estate’s inaugural release – the first winemaker to do so in an inaugural release and the first wine to receive the award bottled under a screwcap.
Odette Estate, like PlumpJack and CADE Estate Wineries, was given its name from Shakespeare and other historical works. Odette was a pivotal character, penned by Shakespeare and Proust, and also in Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake. In the wine world, Odette was the name of one of the French judges at the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 when a red wine from Stags Leap District beat out the French competition to take top honors.
Odette is a fabled princess, a mistress and a judge – these three characters are meant to symbolize the wine produced on the estate, embodying the femininity, strength and power of the three ladies. You will find them hidden and in plain sight, with photos of them in the tasting room, artistically rendered statues on the south end of the property and across the label of Odette Estate Cabernet Sauvignon wine bottle.
Today, winemaker Jeff Owens and his winemaking team continue to produce awarding-winning cabernet sauvignons from the Stags Leap District estate vineyard that encapsulate the inspiration for the property – combining power and elegance, while simultaneously showcasing the unique properties of the AVA.
