Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium tawny colored, the 2005 Fortification hits the ground running with a profoundly scented nose of blueberry compote, plum preserves, baked blackcurrants and black licorice with touches of coffee beans, dark chocolate, mincemeat pie and scorched earth plus a touch of Chinese five spice. Full-bodied, super concentrated and wonderfully opulent in the mouth, the unctuous black fruit layers are sparked by a myriad of exotic spices with fantastic harmony and a finish that just goes on and on.
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James Suckling
The 2004 Fortification is drinking brilliantly today, with a mature bouquet of spiced plums, cedar, cigar, and smoked tobacco in its more medium to full-bodied, ripe, focused profile. It's shed most of its baby fat but still brings incredible intensity and crazy length on the finish. This is another brilliant fortified wine that would stand up to any mature vintage Port out there.
Port is a sweet, fortified wine with numerous styles: Ruby, Tawny, Vintage, Late Bottled Vintage (LBV), White, Colheita, and a few unusual others. It is blended from from the most important red grapes of the Douro Valley, based primarily on Touriga Nacional with over 80 other varieties approved for use. Most Ports are best served slightly chilled at around 55-65°F. To learn more, see our full Port Wine Guide
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.