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Dunn Vineyards Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley - Dunn Vineyards Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 (750ml)
Price: $279.99
Sale Price: $199.99
| Producer | Dunn Vineyards Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley |
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| Vintage | 2019 |
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| Sku | 31641 |
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| Size | 750ml |
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Dunn Vineyards Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
Nose: Deep and complex. It opens with intense crème de cassis, blueberry, and dark plum, but the mountain character is clear: notes of scorched earth, graphite (pencil lead), violet, and a touch of wild sage and pine needle.
Palate: Full-bodied and remarkably pure. The 2019 is "sumptuous" compared to past vintages, with silky, fine-grained tannins that are polished rather than aggressive. Flavors of blackberry compote, mocha, and olive tapenade are supported by a bright, vibrant acidity.
Finish: Exceptionally long and focused, with a lingering "cool" mineral freshness and hints of tobacco and spice.
Despite being the third consecutive year of drought, our yields were above average. Summer was mild, culminating in a rare late season frost event followed by a very hot fall, which led to rapid maturation and sugar accumulation. This year also marked the first vintage harvested from our newest vineyard, Eagle Summit.
Belying the power of the 2019 vintage the 2019 Dunn Napa Valley is a wine with incredible aging potential and depth. This comes as no surprise as most of this wine is our own Howell Mountain fruit, mixed with the last vintage of fruit sourced from Coombsville. While the Napa is all power, our 2019 Howell Mountain is an elegant and refined Cabernet, with an abundance of tightly knit, fine tannins.
The Howell is a synthesis of the power of the vintage and Howell Mountain finesse. The blocks from the Lake were elevated in assemblage for the first time into the Howell—perhaps that is where some of the restraint in this wine comes from. It would have been easy to make a gargantuan wine in 2019, but this Cabernet is poised.”
Pairing
Steak: Dry-Aged Ribeye or Porterhouse Steak with a simple herb butter. The tannins will bond with the protein, making the wine feel even silkier.
Game & Earth: Venison with a blackberry reduction or Roasted Leg of Lamb with rosemary and garlic. The "mountain herbs" in the wine will mirror the savory seasonings.
Rich Braises: Beef Short Ribs braised in red wine and balsamic. The wine's acidity will cut through the richness of the slow-cooked meat.
Cheese: Strong, aged hard cheeses like 24-month Parmigiano-Reggiano or a high-end Clothbound Cheddar.
Rated 96-Points Wine Spectator
Lushly fruited, this sends waves of crushed plum, boysenberry compote and blackberry paste out from the core, with a strong undercurrent of cast iron and smoldering tobacco to boot. Grippy and dense, but with a sense of polish and a note of purity in the guise of a pretty violet echo.
Rated 97-Points James Suckling
Bold and generous aromas of blackcurrants, pomegranates, cumin and graphite. The palate is full-bodied with silky smooth tannins and bright acidity, giving notes of blueberry compote, cedar, mocha, olive tapenade and ferric earth. Savory and soft with a serious undertone.
Rated 98-Points Vinous
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is outrageously beautiful. A wine of extraordinary purity, the 2019 dazzles right out of the gate. The tannins are nearly silky for a young Howell Mountain Cabernet. Red/purplish fruit, lavender, spice, rose petal and pomegranate all build in this sumptuous, explosive Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2019 is one of the most elegant Cabernets I have tasted here, and that is saying something What a wine!
Winery
Little has changed at Dunn Vineyards since its founding in 1979…
Iconoclasm and doing things the “Dunn way” are synonymous in this pocket of Angwin on Howell Mountain. Three generations into a family business that has continued to make truly classic California Cabernets for over 45 years has not come without its challenges. There remains an untouched feeling to this place, hidden, just down the road from shiny new wineries full of fancy winemaking equipment. Rustic and bordering on industrial, this driveway, where old-school remains today’s way of life, is where you’ll find us.
Lori and Randy Dunn purchased 14 acres on Howell Mountain in 1978, with five acres of Cabernet Sauvignon vines already planted situated at 2,000 feet of elevation, ready to use for the 1979 vintage. Randy was making wine on the valley floor and recalls the distinct quality to the land, “I thought it was pretty and that I could make some good wine.”
After striking a handshake deal with the owner of a neighboring parcel, one wine was produced in Dunn’s first year—660 9-liter cases of 1979 Dunn Vineyards Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, which were sold via newsletter in 1981 detailing the familial origins and struggles of the project.
In 1982, Dunn Vineyards' Napa Valley Cabernet was introduced as an additional bottling, encapsulating the plush, fruit-driven characteristics of Napa Valley’s floor in contrast to the tannin-laced, mineral Howell Mountain wine. Both wines have always been made in an identical manner. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Aged 32 months in new French oak.
Beginning in 1982, the Napa Valley bottling has provided a different expression of Dunn, showcasing fruit from the more approachable, juicy, and plush valley floor. While early vintages of the Napa bottling used exclusively purchased fruit, this wine often combines a portion of purchased fruit from the valley floor with the younger vine, earlier ripening parcels from our vineyards on Howell Mountain.
Randy and his fellow, neighboring vintners defined the Howell Mountain AVA in 1983, above the fog line at 1,400 feet, where overall cooler temperatures but more hours of sunlight foster vines with smaller, thicker-skinned berries and yield wines of abundant structure. All of Dunn’s vineyards sit between 1,850 and 2,100 feet of elevation with primarily eastern exposures, reducing the risk of frost. With yields averaging fifty percent of the valley floor’s, Howell Mountain has definitively low vigor due to its meager, shallow soil.
Now more than ever, the goal is to keep vines healthy and in the ground longer. Since 2016, organic practices have been deployed to manage pests and disease. Regenerative agriculture is now the focus, increasing the biodiversity in and around our vineyards, as our future as a winery is indelibly tied to the health of our vines and the forest that surrounds them.
