Winemaker Notes
Blend: 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, 6% Petit Verdot, 3% Merlot, 3% Malbec
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Howell Mountain Estate Red Blend is 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, 6% Petit Verdot, 3% Merlot and 3% Malbec aged 22 months in 100% new French oak. Deep garnet-purple colored, it opens with incredibly fragrant red and black currants, crushed black berries and black cherries notes with hints of cigar box, bay leaves, licorice, oyster sauce, yeast extract and chargrill. The palate is full, super concentrated and built like a brick house, offering very firm, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing very long and savory. This flat-out beauty should be very long lived!
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Jeb Dunnuck
The finest wine I’ve tasted from the estate, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain Estate checks in as 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot, Merlot, and Malbec. Aged 22 months in new barrels, its deep inky color is followed by a full-bodied, rich, concentrated beauty that has subtle background oak as well as tons of cassis fruits and notes of white flowers, crushed rocks, and classic Howell Mountain pine and bay leaf notes. Hats off to winemaker Sam Kaplan for this sensational effort. Give bottles 2-4 years and it’s capable of keeping for 2+ decades.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2016 Arkenstone Estate Red Wine shows excellent depth, persistence, and length. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers aromas and flavors of black fruit, earth, and an accent of oak. Pair it with a grilled, well-marbled steak. (Tasted: February 20, 2020, Yountville, CA)
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James Suckling
Pretty ripeness and balance to this red with a medium body, round tannins and a savory and fruity finish. Soft and easy throughout. A blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, 6% Petit Verdot, 3% Merlot and 3% Malbec.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
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.