Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Linda Falls Vineyard is a dark, mysterious wine. Espresso, lavender, dried herbs, licorice and sage open gradually with time in the glass. The 2014 shows all the breadth and gravitas of Howell Mountain but without the searing tannins that can be so imposing here.
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Decanter
Much deliberation goes into introducing vineyard designates at Heitz, and the 2014 Linda Falls Cabernet is only the second release from this site, planted in 2002. It aged for one year in large American oak vessels before being transferred into French oak barrels for two more years. It is classic Howell Mountain: gritty, burly and driving, with dark, drying, rustic tones running through the finish. It is fascinating to taste a mountain-grown Cabernet from this predominantly valley floor-oriented producer.
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Wine Spectator
This sports a youthfully rugged edge to the mix of black currant and fig paste flavors, as tobacco leaf, tar and bramble notes assert themselves through the finish. Shows a sense of freshness throughout, with a bolt of licorice snap grounding everything in the end. Very solid. Best from 2021 through 2040.
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James Suckling
This is accented in the blue-fruit direction with blueberry and cassis aromas, laced with fresh leaves and mountain herbs. The palate has succulent and attractively fresh texture with plenty of redcurrant and cassis flavor. Drink or hold.
Renowned for crafting Napa Valley's first cult wines, Heitz Cellar is globally recognized as the crown jewel of American wine. The timeless post-Prohibition style of winemaking endures with esteemed winemaker, Brittany Sherwood, producing elegant and balanced wines sourced from 100% organic and biodynamic Napa Valley fruit. Pioneering pure varietal, single-vineyard wines that can age for decades, including the iconic Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Heitz Cellar wines hail from the region’s most premier vineyard sites including Oakville, Rutherford, Howell Mountain, St. Helena, and Oak Knoll. Family-owned since its founding in 1961, Heitz Cellar continues to embody the artistry and legacy of classic winemaking with single-vineyard wines that position it as one of the world’s leading wine estates.
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.