Dark and inky blueish fruit. Aroma is mostly muted. The wine is nicely focused and concentrated with ripe black cherry fruit, smooth texture, and mild mineral notes. Needs a lot of air time if opening now. More structure and firmness than the Napa bottling, as I was expecting and hoping for, but make no mistake this is not a heavy or overbearing wine. Needs time to fill out and unravel.
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Deep, dark reddish-purple in color; almost opaque. Full, forward & fragrant nose of dark fruit aromas of cherries, blackberries & cassis with overtones of earthy/dusty, floral notes of violets & herb notes, minerals, spices, graphite, dark cocoa & a hint of vanilla/oak in the background. Full bodied with a very good concentration of still developing, well balanced & smooth textured, rich, ripe dark fruit flavors of cherries, blackberries & plums with spices, cocoa, herbs, minerals & vanilla/oak. Lingering finish. Drinks quite well at present with decanting & extended airing but will develop further with additional aging. A classic & solid Howell Mtn. Cabernet well worth acquiring.
If you like ripe fruit forward well made California Cabernet, this is the wine for you. Year after year, this wine performs consistently well and is a huge crowd pleaser. While it drinks great young, it is very primary. I would prefer drinking it with > 5 years of age on it.
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2 hr decant. Muted bdx nose w a new world twist; hint of mushroom and, earth. Softens dramatically over 3 hrs and shows elegance in the rough. You can see that there's something more notable there, but that it needs a little more time.
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This is a good vintage but the best days for this wine lies ahead. It’s shows nicely at this stage with an intense purple reddish color and sweet-scented nose on the open. On the palate, blue and black berry fruits that should develop nicely with further cellaring. There's dark plum, currants with notable acidity, smooth tannins, texture and nice concentration. Although young, it does show a preview of what I believe should be a mid 90-point wine or better down the road, just a bit young at this stage. For me, I’d score it 92/ 92+ points and a hold for now.
Fairly ripe blue and black fruit with accents of bay leaf, cocoa, graphite and loam. Medium+ acidity and nicely integrated velvety tannins. Plush texture. Very good depth, balance and intensity. Surprisingly open and approachable. I preferred this to the 2018 we tasted side-by-side.
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Napa 2023 - The Sequel; 8/23/2023-8/28/2023: As with the other 2019 Howell Mountain cabs we tasted on this trip, this was far more open than expected displaying the typical black and red fruit and hints of damp forest I consistently find in the O’s HM cabs. Good now, will definitely improve with time.
Tasted at the estate, bottle opened earlier in the day. Typical Howell Mountain blue and black fruits, nose leads with cassis and wild flowers, on the palate, blueberries, plum and dark cherry, plum, cocoa, spice, forest floor, smooth tannins. Is drinking surprising well for a young Howell mountain, and I don’t see any reason not to try one sooner rather than later. I don’t see the 98 score from JD, more in line with the 94 from Galloni
Nice concentration, beautiful cherry pie-like notes, well knit even at this early age. 17 and 18 of the O'Shaughnessy weren't my favorite, this is a return to what I love about O'Shaughnessy.
5/15/2024 - rnjbond wrote: 91 Points
Lovely wine.
Ripe cherry and dirt flavors.
Howell Mountain profile.
Paired well with buratta.
91 points.
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4/22/2024 - Rasmussenbrent Likes this wine: 93 Points
Great bottle but needs time. Give it 3-5 years yet
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3/2/2024 - wineotim Likes this wine: 94 Points
Dark and inky blueish fruit. Aroma is mostly muted. The wine is nicely focused and concentrated with ripe black cherry fruit, smooth texture, and mild mineral notes. Needs a lot of air time if opening now. More structure and firmness than the Napa bottling, as I was expecting and hoping for, but make no mistake this is not a heavy or overbearing wine. Needs time to fill out and unravel.
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2/15/2024 - Vinnut Likes this wine: 93 Points
Deep, dark reddish-purple in color; almost opaque. Full, forward & fragrant nose of dark fruit aromas of cherries, blackberries & cassis with overtones of earthy/dusty, floral notes of violets & herb notes, minerals, spices, graphite, dark cocoa & a hint of vanilla/oak in the background. Full bodied with a very good concentration of still developing, well balanced & smooth textured, rich, ripe dark fruit flavors of cherries, blackberries & plums with spices, cocoa, herbs, minerals & vanilla/oak. Lingering finish. Drinks quite well at present with decanting & extended airing but will develop further with additional aging. A classic & solid Howell Mtn. Cabernet well worth acquiring.
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11/8/2023 - Francophile1 Likes this wine: 93 Points
If you like ripe fruit forward well made California Cabernet, this is the wine for you. Year after year, this wine performs consistently well and is a huge crowd pleaser. While it drinks great young, it is very primary. I would prefer drinking it with > 5 years of age on it.
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11/7/2023 - davidandrose Likes this wine: 93 Points
2 hr decant. Muted bdx nose w a new world twist; hint of mushroom and, earth. Softens dramatically over 3 hrs and shows elegance in the rough. You can see that there's something more notable there, but that it needs a little more time.
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10/18/2023 - Yack Man Likes this wine: 92 Points
This is a good vintage but the best days for this wine lies ahead. It’s shows nicely at this stage with an intense purple reddish color and sweet-scented nose on the open. On the palate, blue and black berry fruits that should develop nicely with further cellaring. There's dark plum, currants with notable acidity, smooth tannins, texture and nice concentration. Although young, it does show a preview of what I believe should be a mid 90-point wine or better down the road, just a bit young at this stage. For me, I’d score it 92/ 92+ points and a hold for now.
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9/17/2023 - ralaspech wrote: 93 Points
Fairly ripe blue and black fruit with accents of bay leaf, cocoa, graphite and loam. Medium+ acidity and nicely integrated velvety tannins. Plush texture. Very good depth, balance and intensity. Surprisingly open and approachable. I preferred this to the 2018 we tasted side-by-side.
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8/25/2023 - Geaux Tigers Likes this wine: 93 Points
Napa 2023 - The Sequel; 8/23/2023-8/28/2023: As with the other 2019 Howell Mountain cabs we tasted on this trip, this was far more open than expected displaying the typical black and red fruit and hints of damp forest I consistently find in the O’s HM cabs. Good now, will definitely improve with time.
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5/26/2023 - Franken Berry Likes this wine: 94 Points
Tasted at the estate, bottle opened earlier in the day.
Typical Howell Mountain blue and black fruits, nose leads with cassis and wild flowers, on the palate, blueberries, plum and dark cherry, plum, cocoa, spice, forest floor, smooth tannins. Is drinking surprising well for a young Howell mountain, and I don’t see any reason not to try one sooner rather than later.
I don’t see the 98 score from JD, more in line with the 94 from Galloni
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4/19/2023 - Max S. Likes this wine: 90 Points
Blackberry, cassis, dark cherry, red licorice, earth. I'm hoping this bottle was off, but the 14.8% alcohol was very noticeable.
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11/12/2022 - jimyeni Likes this wine: 94 Points
Very very enjoyable, consistent with previous notes. A nice return to what we've loved in 13, 14, and 16 but missed the last couple of vintages.
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10/1/2022 - jimyeni Likes this wine: 94 Points
Nice concentration, beautiful cherry pie-like notes, well knit even at this early age. 17 and 18 of the O'Shaughnessy weren't my favorite, this is a return to what I love about O'Shaughnessy.
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