Community Tasting Note

• CheviotCellar wrote: 91 points

  November 3, 2019 - This is inky, very dark stuff. Don't be scared to give it a long decant, more than 4 hours if possible. It was rather closed through the first few hours and was more drinkable on day 2. It worked better with food than on its own. As dense and concentrated as the blue and black fruit flavors are, this wine is simply too hot to be considered high end. While this might work in a Rhone blend, in a 100% cab sav, it does not. Even with food, we felt this wine was too astringent and edgy (not in a good way). Time will tell if it gains tertiary flavors and complexity, but high alcohol typically doesn't bode well. For the price and tasting experience, I wouldn't buy this again.

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5 Comments

• Mark1npt commented:

  11/4/19, 7:13 AM - Yikes! Sorry to hear about this one, it is usually one of my favs from Howell Mtn. I'll need to check one out soon, I guess....Mark

• CheviotCellar commented:

  11/4/19, 7:33 AM - Mark, I hope my comments weren’t too cautionary. My 91 rating does reflect some dense, pure fruit flavors. I just felt it lacked the smoothness of some of its competitors at this price point. That said, we’ve had very few wines from Howell Mtn. Is the higher abv common for the 2014 vintage there?

• TMOVino2 commented:

  11/4/19, 7:45 AM - Wonder if there is some bottle variation? My experience with this wine was completely opposite almost. It was very smooth and was ready to drink right at pnp but got better with 1-2 hours of air. It carried a ton of fruit and spice with very little heat. I find this to be a big steal for Howell Mtn Cab's.

• Mark1npt commented:

  11/4/19, 8:24 AM - Cheviot....the '14 vintage is a bit of an enigma. I wouldn't say as good as '13, '15 or '16 but still there are many good '14s out there. You have to 'catch them' at the right time. I think, even moreso than is standard with most vintages. Howell Mtn by nature with its dense, dark mature berry fruit does tend to have higher alc than some others. Having said that, I've had some '16 Valley floor cabs that have been 16.1% alc and been quite good. Weird to get Valley floor fruit with the weight and depth of the mountain fruit but these winemakers are finding a way to do it.

• Mark1npt commented:

  11/4/19, 8:25 AM - TMO...I have seen firsthand significant bottle variation with this producer.

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