Winemaker Notes
The 2015 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon is dark ruby red with an opaque center. The wine opens immediately with fragrant aromas of violets, lavender, dark raspberry, pencil lead and vanilla. Cassis, cocoa, new leather, smoked meat and plum come together with a building mouthfeel full of soft silky tannins combined with focused flavors of dried cranberry, cherry jubilee and wild blackberries.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is redolent of warm blackberries and black cherries with hints of Indian spices, fertile soil, cedar and hoisin. Big, full-bodied and voluptuous in the mouth, the concentrated, multilayered fruit is well framed by firm, grainy tannins and just enough freshness, finishing long and spicy.
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James Suckling
No shortage of crème de cassis on the palate here as well as ripe stems, underbrush, clay and hot stones. The palate though is really fresh and vibrant with structured tannins, bright fruit, driven acidity and a fruity yet minerally finish. Drink in 2020.
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Vinous
The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is a powerful, exotic wine. Black cherry, espresso, leather, licorice and chocolate confer notable intensity and gravitas. This dense, full-bodied Cabernet has a lot to offer. The 2015 is in its first plateau of maturity. It should drink well for another handful of years, maybe more.
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.