Howell Mountain Wines

Beringer’s Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is an enticing expression of this varietal and the depth and complexity of flavor it can exhibit when grown in the right place. Select vineyards and blocks from AVAs up and down the valley are used to craft a wine that is the quintessential expression of Napa Valley terroir.

Full-bodied with flavors of berries, herbs and hints of oak and cedar, followed by a smooth tannin finish.

95 Points Wine & Spirits Magazine. This Cabernet Sauvignon has aromas of plums, and cassis, with added hints of sage, cedar, and vanilla. The flavors include berries, cassis, sage, cedar, and vanilla. The full body is balanced by the smooth tannins and acidity that carries the berry and cassis flavors to the long finish. This wine will improve in the cellar and be enjoyed for the next 8-10 years.

Classic Howell Mountain Cabernet aromas of ripe blackberries, cocoa, and some delicate minerality. It begs for another swirl, and as the wine opens up you’ll be seductively approached by aromas of crushed rock, pomegranate, and cedar. Showing impressive complexity on the palate with ripe fruit, evolving into dark cocoa, leather and spice, all wrapped in a subtle layer of sweet toasty oak. Bold and extracted, elegant and refined, this charmer delivers everything you would expect from a Howell Mountain Cabernet. Enjoy now or lay a few bottles down for a few more years.

Discover Robert Craig Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

Discover Hindsight Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

Discover Robert Craig Howell Mountain Zinfandel

Powerful, elegant, and loaded with charisma—This is a benchmark vintage for SPENCE CABERNET SAUVIGNON—showcasing the one-of-a-kind terroir derived from red volcanic soils 1,900 feet above the valley floor. Opens with a luxurious aromatic melange of cocoa powder, bramble berry, cinnamon stick, vanilla bean, and decadent framboise. On the palate, the rich velvety entry unfolds with layered waves of black plum, dark chocolate, black cherries, sweet cedar, and vibrant spices, in a seamless weave of well integrated tannins. Tasting fabulous at release, this wine should remain in its prime through 2036.

93 Points, James Suckling. At Bravante Vineyards, we have 2 blocks of merlot, one at each end of our Stoneridge Vineyard.  They both add distinctive facets to our estate grown merlot. At the northern end of the property is Block 1, which is classic merlot- rich, fruity and complex.  At the southern end is Block 5, which is all ‘Howell Mountain’- intense, minerally and structured. Blended together they produce layers of varietal Merlot flavors, dark and concentrated with a firm, structured backbone. Winemaker notes: Our 2013 merlot has intense aromas of cherry and cassis, blended with sage and hints of cedar and pepper. The luscious body has nice firm tannins and flavors of ripe strawberry, raspberry with hints of mineral and oak, and a long supple berry finish. Vibrant plums and berries with a succulent core of fleshy, powerful merlot fruit. There’s a serious edge to the finish. A blend of 90 per cent merlot and 10 per cent cabernet sauvignon. Drink or hold. 91 Points - James Suckling - 11/19/18 Moving to the Merlot releases, the 2013 Merlot checks in as 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon that spent 23 months in barrel. It is a rounded, chewy, concentrated effort that has loads of blackcurrant and chocolate covered black cherry fruits, some earth and underbrush, full body, and a rounded, charming, deliciously textured style. Drink it over the coming decade 90+ Points - Jeb Dunnuck - 1/31/2019

The harvest was defined by light rainfall in Winter and Spring that set the vines up for a low vigor year, and produced small canopies and very, very small berries. Less vine growth is easier to manage, so long as the crop load is appropriately balanced. The fruit clusters began the year with fewer than usual flowers, as a result of the cool spring of 2007 when these smaller clusters were laid down for our current year. A week of warm temperatures in March gave us early budbreak, rapid growth and flowering about ten days earlier than typical, but changable weather during flowering caused some shatter (when flowers do not set fruit), an event rare in Cabernet but common in Malbec and Merlot. The slight shatter made the already small open clusters even lighter. Given the smaller vines, this lighter crop load was naturally closer to balance and required less vineyard work to balance the vines. We still came through and performed a post-veraison green drop, where the last ripe fruit is removed, as this is an essential step to control fruit quality. Overall, the growing season was mild and fairly cool which promoted even and gradual development with the exception of a late August heat spike that quickened sugar accumulation, and early cold snaps in late September sent the vines into fall senescence in October.