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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 92.5 pts. and median of 93 pts. in 108 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by devraj on 2/3/2024 & rated 94 points: Dark reddish purple in color. Gorgeous aromas of dark cherry and black raspberry preserves, dark cocoa, graphite and hint of menthol. A full bodied palate shows waves of dark berry preserves, a savory note of tobacco and black olive paste, medium acidity, fine but firm tannins and a long fruit and graphite finish. This is still so younthful. Excellent bottle. (580 views) | | | Tasted by Mark1npt on 12/10/2023 & rated 96 points: From a magnum taken to the reception at Kala & Andrew's wedding. No hint of aging/bricking. Slow ox with cork out of bottle for 2 hours. Enjoyed at our 'parents' table over the next 3 hours.
Notes pretty much as with prior 750 bottles earlier this year so won't recount those here. What was fascinating to see and hear from others at the 'parents' table, who are admittedly not consumers of fine wine, was how much they were taken with the nose of this one. I don't think they'd ever experienced a nose like this one. In fact, when comparing their two glasses, they noted how the house wine really had no nose at all when held up against the La Jota. The rich cedar notes, the florals, the still dark and flavorful fruit. It was light years ahead of the house wine the CC was serving. My only complaint is I didn't have the time to aerate the mag fully and properly. While the nose performed, the palate was a good 2-3 points under the last 750. Still, you gotta love wine that's made like this......Chris Carpenter is The Man. (1536 views) | | | Tasted by Mark1npt on 7/26/2023 & rated 98 points: Final bottle of an auction lot from last Fall.....opened tableside by our server. The cork came out in 3 large/crumbly pieces, necessitating our server decanting thru a screen to clean the wine up. This bottle easily the best of the 3. Dark ruby in the glass. No hint of aging/bricking. Immediate nose of perfumed dark red fruit, graphite and toasty vanilla caramel. Palate reveals more of the same with a great velour like mouth feel, in perfect balance with just the slightest hint of cedar on the backend. This bottle started out at 96 and improved 2 points as we enjoyed it over 3 hours at the table before the concert. A candied dark cherry dominated the palate near the end. This was one of those bottles, just caught at the perfect time, with the perfect woman and enjoyed with the perfect meal, starting with mussels in a light tomato/garlic sauce followed by a veal scallopini/marsala with a great selection of mushrooms. This was one of those bottles, that neither of us wanted to see end...... (2017 views) | | | Tasted by Mark1npt on 5/27/2023 & rated 95 points: Second bottle from an auction lot last year and the first consumed in the last 7 months. Pnp'd tableside and good to see that just as with our last bottle, it's ready to go from the start. Settles in a little further over an hour or two open at the table, no decanter. Great dark red, black fruit. The bottle is beautifully integrated and resolved all elements in balance. Wonderful Napa cab nose with graphite, cassis and maybe some forest floor? Thoroughly enjoyed with our meal, our wine friends G&L and the nice music. 95-96 again for this one. (2061 views) | | | Tasted by gteran76 on 5/26/2023 & rated 95 points: Brought by Mark for dinner at The London Club. PnP and we were surprised how approachable this wine was in just a few minutes. Then about one hour I to the game it was clear that this was WOTN. Impecable nose, medium plus body and total harmony. Dark notes with sweet tannins and phenomenal finish!
Very good representation of Howell Mnt! (1279 views) | | | Tasted by t0pshelf on 2/7/2023: Loved this one in 2016 even though it was too young & tannic then. It's finally settling down into something beautiful with the tannins now smooth & silky. Still a very substantial wine with loads of dark fruit. This could have sat longer -- too bad it's my last bottle! A real gem though. (928 views) | | | Tasted by Mark1npt on 11/8/2022 & rated 96 points: 2.5 years since having my last bottle of this gifted to us by CC, himself. That bottle was an easy 96. Took me 2.5 years but I finally found a 3 pack of this at auction a couple of months ago and decided to pop one tableside at dinner tonight with good friends who have 25 years of experience drinking these wines from CC. Co-incidentally, they brought an '18 of this same wine to dinner table tonight, too!
Right from the pnp, this one is ready to go and it only improved over the next 45-60 min til it was gone shortly after our apps arrived. Perfectly integrated on all fronts and perfectly balanced. Smooth, yet powerful with some nice secondary components. This bottle has obviously been well stored, however the cork still came out in 2 pieces for our server. This is still quite dark, it's silky and did I say, smooth? Earns the same score as the last bottle and dare I say as I hold the other two, it may yet improve another point going forward as it further evolves? This is why wine is so much fun........and so enjoyable. Thank you again CC for making such a beauty. (2401 views) | | | Tasted by OenophilistMN on 10/25/2021 & rated 92 points: One-hour decant through a screened and aerating funnel. No sediment to speak of. During decant, strong aroma of blackberries came forth across the table. In the glass: wine was clear; dark ruby from bowl to rim with no hint of bricking. Wonderful nose of blackberries, black cherries, chocolate, mint and allspice. In the mouth: fruit was deep from start to mid-palate to finish. Blackberries abounded, with chocolate and black cherries in support. Tannins were still there but were rounded and gave the wine that je ne sais quoi that wonderful wines always have. Really long finish showcasing the blackberries and the juicy rounded fruit. Perfect balance. Sad that this was my only bottle. This bottle could have kept for another 8 years and may not have reached its peak yet, but it was damn fine! (1818 views) | | | Tasted by Jkohlman on 7/30/2021 & rated 95 points: Opened two bottles for an 85th birthday party. Excellent nose and smooth. Agree with previous poster that this has a few years left in it. (1888 views) | | | Tasted by walkerjfw on 6/19/2021 & rated 95 points: "Re-Entry" Party - No more Social Distancing! with Joe/Wendy/Harry/Anne/David/Andrea/Jim D/Anna/Bill/Ashley (Chez Walker - Princeton, NJ): Second wine with the main course, from a magnum. Slow oxed for about 3 hours, splashed into a decanter.
Dark ruby/garnet color, some thinning at the edge. Nose showing black cherry, cocoa, spice, and graphite. Palate showing the Howell Mountain berry signature, along with cassis, earth/mushroom, pencil shavings. Smooth through the mid palate - Merlot content likely softens the wine for an energetic and plush finish. Medium/full body, long finish,
Classic Howell Mountain Cab from a great vintner and winemaker, nothing to not like here...:) Showed beautifully on this evening, should go for a while but I think this may be at its best in the next few years. WOTN for a few in this group (2174 views) | | | Tasted by acheng on 3/18/2021 & rated 92 points: A wonderful Napa cab. Exuberant fruit has calmed and in a good spot for fan of Californian. (1942 views) | | | Tasted by dines on 2/14/2021: This wine was incredible... long finish. It’s in a great place right now. Enjoy. (1913 views) | | | Tasted by Duderino on 11/8/2020 & rated 97 points: This has been in my cellar for almost 10 years. Decided to drink last night in celebration of Joe and Kamala's victory! In a perfect place right now....one of the best wines I have ever had! (1484 views) | | | Tasted by MJP Hou TX on 3/29/2020 & rated 96 points: The decision to open this bottle was prompted by Mark1pnt most recent TN. I completely agree with current development stage of this bottling. Primary fruit with a slight creep of secondary entering the fold. If I had more of this wine in the cellar I would open again in a year. We had this bottle open along side a 09 Checkerboard which was more introverted/backwards upon open and was finished just as the fruit came out of slumber. La Jota was a tick above the Checkerboard at this stage. Both bottles consumed PNP within a two hour window which is not the ideal for TN. (3166 views) | | | Tasted by Mark1npt on 3/28/2020 & rated 96 points: OMG! A perfectly aged Napa cab from Howell Mtn......this has it ALL together. For those of you who love a Napa cab in the primary/secondary window....this is it. The nose is deep, loads of lead pencil, classy and rich, right from the pnp. Classic. The fruit is still rich, sweet and powerfully restrained. It is dark Howell Mtn fruit, it is smooth. The tannins are also sweet and round and still in the back round. Goes exceptionally well with a pan seared prime sirloin, peppers/onions and a nice marsala mushroom sauce. This is a beautiful wine in a really good place right now. Thank you to CC for gifting it. It is so VERY appreciated. (3728 views) | | | Tasted by wiscgrad on 2/25/2020 & rated 93 points: needed some time in the decanter to take the edge off. plenty of dark red fruit and acidity. mountain tannins are still present but not over powering. plenty of life ahead (1759 views) | | | Tasted by redbrix on 1/1/2020 & rated 92 points: Black red and murky. Complex nose of cherry, cedar and tobacco. Great flavor of dried cherries, eucalyptus on the finish. Dry with hints of cherry cola. (1625 views) | | | Tasted by iamandyc on 7/3/2019 & rated 93 points: Overperformed expectations. Fresh lively wine with long finish. (2094 views) | | | Tasted by Vietty on 5/2/2019: Nice notes of tobacco and earth to supplement the dark fruit. Medium+ texture and density, medium acidity. Pleasant surprise as I was expecting more heat and stronger tannin. Drinking in early window of maturity. Good time to drink if you prefer more fruit but you can hold to get some more tertiary development. (1933 views) | | | Tasted by bmigneron on 3/13/2019 & rated 92 points: The wine looks violet colored. The legs are medium. There is light sediment in the bottle. (1853 views) | | | Tasted by jjh49 on 10/20/2018 & rated 87 points: A previous review said ‘muted’ / that’s the perfect description. Nothing here (2494 views) | | | Tasted by EdKz@comcast.net on 9/15/2018 & rated 90 points: classic cab, but muted all the way around and relentlessly acidic without tannic structure to hold it; poor qpr @ $43 (2151 views) | | | Tasted by WineGuyDelMar on 4/21/2018 & rated 92 points: Been holding for a while and now I wished I had tried one earlier. Dark color, beautiful nose of berries, earth, chocolate, cassis and classic Cab nose. Medium mouth feel as tannins are soft and the wine mellow but drinking beautifully. Very smooth and lots of layering of flavors which I love. I expected a bigger, more tannic wine but it wouldnt have made it better. I'm used to Dunn HM Cabs so this was not quite as big. Still a very good wine and looking forward to my last bottle. (3034 views) | | | Tasted by canefan on 12/25/2017 & rated 91 points: I had been saving this one for years and it was worth it. Bowls of fruit shot out of the glass. We paired it with a medium rare steak for the perfect evening. This is a great wine that can be drank right away or cellared for 10 to 12 years. (2995 views) | | | Tasted by SMHalps on 12/23/2017 & rated 94 points: From a magnum. Opened, but not decanted an hour before it was poured. WOTN for my wine group. Long finish. Nice balance. (2787 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By John Szabo, MS
WineAlign (2/20/2013)
(La Jota Howell Mountain Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain, Napa Valley red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, May/June 2012, IWC Issue #162
(La Jota Vineyard Company Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain) Subscribe to see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, New Releases from Napa Valley (Dec 2011)
(La Jota Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain) Subscribe to see review text. | By Richard Jennings
RJonWine.com (9/10/2012)
(La Jota Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain) Opaque red violet color; tart black fruit, menthol nose; tasty, tart black fruit, menthol palate; medium-plus finish (w/12/% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot) 92 points |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of WineAlign and Vinous and RJonWine.com. (manage subscription channels) |
| La Jota Producer website
Jackson Family WinesCabernet SauvignonCabernet Sauvignon is probably the most famous red wine grape variety on Earth. It is rivaled in this regard only by its Bordeaux stablemate Merlot, and its opposite number in Burgundy, Pinot Noir. From its origins in Bordeaux, Cabernet has successfully spread to almost every winegrowing country in the world. It is now the key grape variety in many first-rate New World wine regions, most notably Napa Valley, Coonawarra and Maipo Valley. Wherever they come from, Cabernet Sauvignon wines always seem to demonstrate a handful of common character traits: deep color, good tannin structure, moderate acidity and aromas of blackcurrant, tomato leaf, dark spices and cedarwood.
Used as frequently in blends as in varietal wines, Cabernet Sauvignon has a large number of common blending partners. Apart from the obvious Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the most prevalent of these are Malbec, Petit Verdot and Carmenere (the ingredients of a classic Bordeaux Blend), Shiraz (in Australia's favorite blend) and in Spain and South America, a Cabernet – Tempranillo blend is now commonplace. Even the bold Tannat-based wines of Madiran are now generally softened with Cabernet SauvignonUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Napa Valley Napa Valley Wineries and Wine (Napa Valley Vintners)Howell Mountain Howell Mountain |
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