Winemaker Notes
On the palate, the 2016 La Jota Cabernet Franc has an approachable gravelly minerality followed by herbal aromatics. Notes of anise, blackberry, and black tea are carried by an impressive mouthfeel and long drawn out finish.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The deep garnet-purple colored 2016 Cabernet Franc Howell Mountain (100% Cabernet Franc) gives up exuberant bramble fruits, baked raspberries, mulberries and wild blueberries with suggestions of pencil shavings, kirsch, rose hip tea and tobacco leaf. Full-bodied and with a very firm frame of ripe, grainy tannins, it has wonderful perfume and depth, finishing long and mineral laced.
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Wine Enthusiast
This standout varietal wine is complex and lengthy in a wealth of juicy red and black fruit, with lasting accents of dried herb, sage, lavender and violet. Built to last, it should develop even more in bottle. Drink 2024–2026.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Lots of spring flowers, chocolate, damp earth, and blue fruits emerge from the 2016 Cabernet Franc Howell Mountain, which is 100% varietal brought up in a mix of new and used barrels. With medium to full body, bright acidity, incredible elegance, and a still tight, focused style on the palate, hide bottles for 3-5 years and it should drink beautifully over the following 15-20 years.
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James Suckling
This is a very tannic and rich cabernet franc with blueberry and blackberry character. Full-bodied, powerful and rich. Shimmering tannins.
Cabernet Franc, a proud parent of Cabernet Sauvignon, is the subtler and more delicate of the Cabernets. Today Cabernet Franc produces outstanding single varietal wines across the wine-producing world. Somm Secret—One of California's best-kept secrets is the Happy Canyon appellation of Santa Barbara. Here Cabernet Franc shines as a single varietal wine or in blends, expressing sumptuous fruit, savory aromas and polished tannins.
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.