One-Puff awarded to our Howell Mountain Vineyards 2016 Petit Verdot

We are pleased to announce that our Howell Mountain Vineyards 2016 Petit Verdot received a coveted 1-Puff rating from Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine: 

“It is no secret that Petit Verdot can be fairly tough, and this one serves as a ready reminder of that fact, but, in this case, the wine counts enough well-ripened fruity stuffing on the positive side of its ledger sheet to raise optimism that, with time, it will grow out of its present tannic rusticity. Hurried drinking is ill-advised here, and, even if gentility is unlikely to ever be one of its virtues, it will be an interesting and far friendlier wine if left undisturbed in the cellar for another five or six years.”

One-Puff awarded to our Howell Mountain Vineyards 2016 Cabernet Franc!

We are pleased to announce that our Howell Mountain Vineyards 2016 Cabernet Franc received a coveted 1-Puff rating from Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine: 

“Wines sourced from Howell Mountain are more often than not of a sturdier sort, and, when they are made from what is inherently a fairly tannic variety such as Cabernet Franc, they can be a bit sturdier yet, and, while this moderately deep, well-ripened effort is definitely so inclined, it has plenty of fruity flesh on its ample bones. It is undeniably a little gruff now, but it does not tip to irremediable toughness, and the dividends to be paid by four to six years of patience are worth the wait.”

One-Puff awarded to our Howell Mountain 2016 Beatty Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon

We are pleased to announce that our Howell Mountain 2016 Beatty Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon received a coveted One Puff from Connoisseurs' Guide to California: 

“Very much a wine of mixed messages at present insofar as it is as tough as it is rich, this mountain-grown youngster hews to the sturdy structural lines that its provenance predicts. It is not bludgeoned by runaway tannins, and it does have ample, well-defined, ripe Cabernet fruit in reserve, but it will require some waiting before its rigidity eases enough to let fruit assume an unchallenged starring role. Five or six years would seem about right. “

One-Puff awarded to our Howell Mountain Vineyards 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon

We are pleased to announce that our Howell Mountain Vineyards 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon received a coveted 1-Puff rating from Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine: 

“It is hard to miss the family resemblance evident in the Howell Mountain Vineyards pair, but this one does not have quite the fruity depth and stamina of its mate and is thereby a little more exposed to drying tannin. That it will age into better is certain, and three or four years of cellaring will be of real benefit.”

Two-Puffs & 92 point rating awarded to our 2016 Primitivo Clone Zinfandel

We are pleased to announce that our Howell Mountain Vineyards 2016 Primitivo Clone Zinfandel received a 92 point rating from the Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine.

As is the case with both of its equally well-made cellarmates, this is a very deep and impressively filled wine that is rife with concentrated, ripe raspberry and black berry fruit, yet it goes a step further when it comes to complexity and is accented with sympathetic elements of spice and dusty soil. It is, at present, a bit tight at the finish with both acidity and tannin making themselves known, but it will relax and round into fine shape with a few years of age, and we expect it to evolve and improve for at least a half-dozen more.