Winemaker Notes
The 2014 QUINTVS has beautiful layers of perfume that give this wine an enticing floral lift. The balance between the dark blue fruits, clay and crushed rocks reminds us of the diversity in our soils we have here at ADAMVS. The palate offers a sweet and savory element along with a rich and sensual structure that keeps you wanting more. A wine with energy and balance guaranteeing a structered longevity.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Quintvs is about 75% new oak and this wine has more charm and sex appeal – at least out of the gate – than their other estate Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine exhibits beautiful crème de cassis, sexy chocolate and espresso notes, a touch of vanillin and spice box, dark blue to black fruits on the palate, and a full-bodied opulent mouthfeel. The acidity is low, the tannins silky and the wine gloriously fruity and long. Drink it over the next 15 or so years.
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.