Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

Character

Elegant, and balanced, a truly exceptional Howell Mt. wine. Approachable in its youth, yet robust in character structured for decades in the cellar, something rare for other mountain wines. Vibrant fresh red cherries, and a gravel like blueberry accentuate the palate. Lead pencil shavings with notes of dark chocolate evolve. Gentle fine-grained tannin, with perfectly defined acidity linger on an ever-lasting finish.

We had always planned to craft more then a single wine, we knew Oakville fruit would be our flagship estate wine, following this the idea of creating an exceptional mountain wine was second on our list. There is something uniquely intriguing about the winemaking styles mountain fruit offers. For us, Howell Mountain was the best Napa Valley had to offer, it possessed the perfect balance of earthy minerality, with an unrivalled red cherry note. Other Mountain AVA’s in Napa have a far greater imbalance of materiality to fruit generally speaking.

Appellation
Howell Mountain AVA

Winemaking
Low yield winemaking, optically sorted fruit, cold soaked for three weeks, barrel aged in new French Oak for 28 months. Hand selected barrels from two cooperages, using only 3 year plus aged staves imparting exceptional character and structure into the wine.

Terroir
1800 feet above sea level, volcanic ash and shallow red clay soils provide infertile and well drained conditions. Above the fog line, dramatic weather shifts, cool mornings, long days.

Distinguishing Characteristics
Freshly picked red cherry, raspberries, lead pencil. Pretty, elegant, and layered. Soft velvet tannin, structured acidity, never ending finish.

Production Volume
1,500 Bottles

First Vintage
2018