Howell Mountain Throwdown

Group got together at Grailey’s for two blind flights of Howell Mountain wines. It just so happened that Benoit Toquette of Teeter Totter and Fait Main was also present, with his girlfriend Nikita who is the national sales rep for Mascot, Bill Harlan’s new project. So lots of fun stuff. Notes from the evening below.

FLIGHT ONE
2007 Cimarossa Riva di Ponente Vineyard Wonderful nose of black cherry, blueberry, and raspberry with nice lift, soft oak, integrated tannins and lovely balance. Showing vibrant and fresh, but softer in structure and less tannic than its counterparts. I pegged this somewhere around 2010-2012. Drinking very well. Most enjoyable of the flight right now, albeit with probably the shortest lifespan. 93 and a drinker. WOTF

2014 Castiel Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Sweet darker fruit profile with noticeable blue and black fruit, cocoa, a slight char note. Significant tannins and a sweeter and denser fruit profile than the Cimarossa. The palate is a bit muted and shut down right now. The dark fruit profile and tannic structure are there, but this is not as outwardly expressive as its counterparts this flight. My notes had this very young. Others had this the oldest of the group, owing to its muted character, but the color is black and the tannins big. Turns out its 2014 and a Celia Welch/Jim Barbour project we’ve never heard of. Interesting wine, but needs time. 91-92 with upside. Panned by some, but I think this might come around.

2009 Tor Cimarossa Vineyard Big black fruit, licorice, well integrated oak, and again a slight scorched earth note. This is dark black in the glass, has aggressive tannins, and is both rich and tannic in the mouth. The currant and blueberry and licorice drive this wine, with a touch of vanilla on the finish. It’s good, but it’s third place for me. 92-93

2013 Abreu Las Posadas Vineyard This is a monster with a lot going on. Big black fruit profile. Scorched earth, black currant, licorice, cocoa, bramble, mint on the finish, and lovely oak. The structure is just massive. It’s tannic and dense, but there is some lift there to knit this all together. It is just too young. It seems clear that there is just tons going on with this wine and that, with time, this will be tremendous. But at this stage it is so tight and tannic that while it is a thoroughbred, it is not altogether very pleasurable. I’ve had the benefit of drinking many Napa cabs over the past decade, and this is one of the most structured and packed wines I’ve had in a while. This will age 20 years with ease, and has the makings of a nearly immortal Napa cab (Oh god I sound like Bob Parker). A big one, but this is something altogether more structured than “big” Napa cabs. A winner. It’s about a 93 for pure pleasure now, with the makings of a real 97-100 pointer in a decade once the tannins have integrated and the wine smoothed out. 2nd in the flight.

FLIGHT TWO
2013 Dunn Howell Mountain Notes of bell pepper, green tobacco leaf, coffee, feces, black and red cherry, and shoe polish have all of us scratching our head wondering if someone slipped in a not-young Pauillac into the mix. This is not particularly enjoyable and is proclaimed by all as bottom 2 in the tasting, and worst for most folks (and many of us drink Bordeaux). Tannins are rather soft. Not sure what to make of this wine. A friend and I guess that this is an older Dunn. He guesses mid-late 90s. I guess 2001 or 2002 given the color and some remaining cherry fruit density. The green notes and underlying acidity are there for a Dunn, but the palate reflects nothing of Howell Mountain, given the prior wines, or even of California. Turns out on reveal this the 2013 that I brought (damn it to hell). I am not typically a fan of Dunn wines and they almost always score near the bottom of my list in blind tastings but brought this after hearing great things about the 2013. To be clear, I enjoy more classically styled cabs and am a fan of Corison and others that pursue a little more balance. This was just not good. I believe I have 1 other bottle of this and will try it to see if this was just flawed. But if this is how it’s supposed to be, this is an 87 for me and a hard pass.

2012 Lokoya Mount Veeder Brought by a participant as a change up to see if anyone could spot the outlier but as it was next to the Dunn, which seemed a huge outlier, no one got that it was not Howell Mountain. I guessed this was the Dunn 2013. Blue fruit profile with lovely dark fruit, mineral, violet, tar, and oak aromatics. Blackberry and blueberry liquer. Good lift, big tannins. Really enjoyed this wine which should have been a dead giveaway it wasn’t the Dunn (*wink). Long finish, and one to set aside for a while as well. Really nice, can be great. 95-96.

2014 Outpost True Vineyard Immigrant Slightly lighter fruit profile with lovely sweet red and black fruit aromatics with a hint of bramble and an almost floral note. I said this was a sweet tasty bitch at one point. A joy to drink, with a softer tannic profile and a hint of acidity. The sweetness of the fruit with the slightly softer profile is really driving the bus on this wine. Friend correctly guessed this was his wine. Really lovely now. Perhaps not here for the long haul like some of the others, but a nice change from some of the tannic beasts to this. 93-94 and gulpable.

2014 O’Shaugnessy Howell Mountain Dense black fruit with a focus on currant and mocha and plum. Vanilla, licorice, lead pencil, and faint toasty oak. This is big and extracted, but balanced by massive structure. I should have guessed this easily in hindsight, but was thinking rich sweet fruit for the O-Shaugh and tagged it as No. 3. This makes more sense though, given the cab % and just big size of this wine. Lacking some of the cut of the Lokoya, but should still age alright given the underlying structure here. A very good wine. 93-94.

Overall, some interesting takeaways on Howell mountain wines. It appears they often yield massive tannins and ripe versions show a slight burnt earth note. The blue and black fruit profiles are really nice, and most of the young noses hinted at a compact ball of complexity waiting to explode. I have to imagine that with time and the integration of some of these massive tannins, these wines can really steal the show. Very fun, good group of folks with good palates. The Dunn was the biggest loser, panned almost unanimously.

I’ll post the Fait Main, Teeter Totter, and Mascot notes in a separate post.

Nice notes! I used to love Howell Mtn CS.

Damn! Think I have two bottles of that 2013 Dunn HM, and about 6 of the regular Napa. Sorry to hear that, hopefully it was just an off bottle for you…

Great notes! I had the 2007 Cimarossa Cabernet Rive di Cimarossa back in 2011 and thought it was very nice. Similar notes in that it was soft, smooth and lifted.

The Dunn has to be a flawed bottle. I’ve never encountered that before.

Interesting. Let’s hope so.

I have quite often detected some of these weird flavors in very young Dunn, but they always seem to come good in the end. It concerns me when you mention the soft tannins though. I have been worried of late seeing critics claiming Dunn is more approachable these days. I hope the change in style hasn’t been too radical.

Keep us posted if you open the other one.

I have a mag of the 2013. Your notes dont seem to line up with CT, so hopefully, an odd off bottle.

I guess I would be more worried about my 2 bottles of Dunn HM but this wine takes forever to develop. Thanks for the note.