Howell Mountain Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
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2010- Vinous
Howell Mountain Vineyards use of classic viticulture practices allows us to fully embrace the unique terroir of this AVA, as showcased in our wines. With a "boots-on-the-ground" approach to grape growing alongside loving, personal attention, our vines are monitored daily to produce definitively premium Howell Mountain grapes. By using old-world, minimal intervention winemaking methods, we maintain the integrity of the fruit, showcasing the unique characteristics of this distinctive appellation.
Winemaker, Bryan Kane, crafts a select handful of Howell Mountain Vineyards wines, including Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon for which Howell Mountain is best known. The source of the Zinfandel comes from vines that were planted at the turn of the 20th century, while the Cabernet Sauvignon vines are over 40 years old. Both the Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon vines are some of the oldest of their kind on the mountain producing exceptional old vine Howell Mountain wines.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
Today Cabernet Sauvignon is the star of this part of Napa’s rugged, eastern hills, but Zinfandel was responsible for giving the Howell Mountain growing area its original fame in the late 1800s.
Winemaking in Howell Mountain was abandoned during Prohibition, and wasn’t reawakened until the arrival of Randy Dunn, a talented winemaker famous for the success of Caymus in the 1970s and 1980s. In the early eighties, he set his sights on the Napa hills and subsequently astonished the wine world with a Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. Shortly thereafter Howell Mountain became officially recognized as the first sub-region of Napa Valley (1983).
With vineyards at 1,400 to 2,000 feet in elevation, they predominantly sit above the fog line but the days in Howell Mountain remain cooler than those in the heart of the valley, giving the grapes a bit more time on the vine.
The Howell Mountain AVA includes 1,000 acres of vineyards interspersed by forestlands in the Vaca Mountains. The soils, shallow and infertile with good drainage, are volcanic ash and red clay and produce highly concentrated berries with thick skins. The resulting wines are full of structure and potential to age.
Today Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petite Sirah thrive in this sub-appellation, as well as its founding variety, Zinfandel.