Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
This was a tough variety in 2017 due to it ripening during the time of the heatwave, yet this team made a terrific 2017 Zinfandel. Brought up in one-third each of new, once-, and twice-used barrels, it has classic Zinfandel brambly herbs, blood orange, candied citrus, and bright berry fruits. Medium-bodied, juicy, and elegant, it has a distinct saltiness that’s going to make it shine on the dinner table. Drink it over the coming 7-8 years or more.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Already bottled, the 2017 Zinfandel (100% Zinfandel) was aged for 16 months in French oak, 34% new. Medium garnet-purple colored, it gives up flamboyant cherry pie, raspberry preserves and blueberry compote notes with touches of Chinese five spice, Sichuan pepper, dusty soil, dried flowers and underbrush. Full-bodied, relatively taut and chewy, it sports bold freshness on the palate, laden with spicy red and blue fruit preserves, finishing long and perfumed.
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James Suckling
Very spicy and intense with raisin and berry character. Full and flavorful. A big wine. A little old-style. Drink or hold.
Unapologetically bold, spice-driven and jammy, Zinfandel has secured its title as the darling of California vintners by adapting well to the state's diverse microclimates and landscapes. Born in Croatia, it later made its way to southern Italy where it was named Primitivo. Fortunately, the imperial nursery of Vienna catalogued specimens of the vine, and it later made its way to New England in 1829. Parading the true American spirit, Zinfandel found a new home in California during the Gold Rush of 1849. Somm Secret—California's ancient vines of Zinfandel are those that survived the neglect of Prohibition; today these vines produce the most concentrated, ethereal and complex examples.
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.