Winemaker Notes
Outpost grapes are harvested late in the season - by hand, at dawn - to preserve the full intensity and distinctive spicy character of the mountain fruit. Grapes from each block within the vineyard are fermented separately so that our winemaking team can be very selective about the lots that comprise the final blend. Wines are
neither fined or filtered allowing for the full expression of the vintages’ potential.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A classic mountain cabernet sauvignon with blackcurrants, crushed berries, and black earth. Full-bodied. Tannins that are completely integrated. Pine needle. Very typical cabernet character. Long finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Outpost's 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon is 100% varietal, sourced from around the winery, plus some barrels from the True Vineyard that didn't make the cut for inclusion there. Just don't call it a second wine, as it's a beautiful effort in its own right, with wonderfully pure cassis fruit, accented with notions of vanilla and hints of dried herbs. Full-bodied, concentrated and rich, with a long, dusty, tannic (but ripe) finish, try it in four or five years and drink it over the following two decades. Best After 2025
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Wine Spectator
Packs in a lot of plum, boysenberry and blackberry compote flavors supported by a racy graphite underpinning, with showy anise, fruitcake and Christmas pudding notes filling in for dramatic effect.
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.