{"id":2544,"date":"2023-12-30T19:43:41","date_gmt":"2023-12-30T19:43:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2544"},"modified":"2023-12-30T19:44:08","modified_gmt":"2023-12-30T19:44:08","slug":"odette-estate-winery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2544","title":{"rendered":"Odette Estate Winery"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not usually important to know who the owners of a winery are before tasting there.\u00a0 Odette is unusual in that regard, in that it is owned by Gavin Newsom (yes, that Gavin Newsom), Gordon Getty (yes, those Gettys) and John Conover, who actually manages the winery.\u00a0 If the names Newsom and Getty sound familiar to wine lovers, that\u2019s because they also founded the Plumpjack<\/a> and Cade wineries, up on Napa\u2019s Howell Mountain.<\/p>\n

All this is relevant, because if you like Plumpjack and Cade, you\u2019ll most likely enjoy the wines from Odette as well.\u00a0 We can say this because we were offered a comparison tasting of Cabernet Sauvignons from the three vineyards, and Odette certainly held its own.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of The Napa Wine Project.<\/em><\/p>\n

Note that none of the owners are named Odette, nor to our knowledge are their wives.\u00a0 The name of the winery is sort of an inside joke.\u00a0 Plumpjack was a nickname in some of Shakespeare\u2019s plays for John Falstaff, the bibulous, rotund rake who nearly leads Henry V to ruin.\u00a0 His girlfriend was named Odette.\u00a0 On top of that, Odette is the romantic heroine in the ballet Swan Lake.\u00a0 And Odette Kahn was one of the judges in the famous Judgement of Paris wine tasting that established California\u2019s winemaking prowess.\u00a0 This triple meaning is reinforced by \u00a0modernistic sculptures in their vineyards, which is reproduced on their labels.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Odette winery.\u00a0 Photo courtesy of 7×7.<\/em><\/p>\n

For the visitor to Odette, there is no grand palace on the premises, just a rather simple white structure with an attractive steeple on top.\u00a0 The interior won\u2019t blow anyone away, either. \u00a0The greatest attraction is the sight of the winery in the midst of a seemingly endless vineyard, nestled below the hills in the Stags Leap sector.\u00a0 It harkens back to another era in Napa Valley, where the lure was the wine and the scenery, not the massiveness of the architecture.\u00a0 Visitors are meant to taste wines on a covered patio in view of the vines.<\/p>\n

The wines on offer are primarily Napa Valley\u2019s most common varietals: Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.\u00a0 There\u2019s also a less common Petite Sirah, which they market under the Adaptation label.\u00a0 These are all quite powerful\u00a0wines, very much an expression of what Napa Valley is famous for.\u00a0 As mentioned, we were able to compare all three of their labels.\u00a0 In advance, we expected to prefer the wine made from mountain fruit, but Odette and Plumpjack, from the valley floor, proved to be our favorites.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Jewelry for sale at Odette.<\/em><\/p>\n

We don\u2019t often mention shopping in Power Tasting\u2019s<\/em> reviews, since most of what we find are either overpriced fashion items or the usual collection of refrigerator magnets and coasters, also overpriced.\u00a0 But Odette has a rather interesting display of handmade jewelry that is a notable exception to the rule and is worth mentioning.\u00a0 We\u2019re sure that Falstaff\u2019s girlfriend would be pleased to wear some of the pieces for sale.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re not certain that the wines from all three properties are offered all the time.\u00a0 Assuming that they are, a visit to Odette provides an interesting way to enjoy the wines of the Plumpjack group at one sitting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not usually important to know who the owners of a winery are before tasting there.\u00a0 Odette is unusual in that regard, in that it is owned by Gavin Newsom (yes, that Gavin Newsom), Gordon Getty (yes, those Gettys) and John Conover, who actually manages the winery.\u00a0 If the names Newsom and Getty sound familiar … Continue reading Odette Estate Winery<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2544"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2544"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2549,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2544\/revisions\/2549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}