2002 Ilona Howell Mountain

Community Tasting Notes (7) Avg Score: 88.3 points

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  4/16/2023 - HODL Likes this wine: 88 Points

  Garnet w a very tiny hint of purple
  Coravined a glass, and let it sit covered over night.
  As it was when I opened it, and the next morning, I get a strong aroma of black pepper and almost a pasta component
  There’s also hints of dried green herbs and black olive.. Also Big Fig. Hint of cocoa
  slight ripe cherry on the nose
  Fruit characteristics of ripe cherries and over ripe blackberry & slight prune on the palate.
  Tannins still strong, but well integrated
  Med acid
  Lots of sediment
  Idk if I’d age this any longer
  Except for maybe Dunn, I’m starting to think 20 years is the limit on Howell mountain (and the optimal time being 16-20 yrs) every time I drink a Howell mountain wine over 20, the extracted, high alcohol, old/dried fruit characteristics dominate, and there’s less nuance.
  At 20 years, I don’t think Howell mtn offers what the west side Napa mountains offer for the wine experience.
  Wines w such high abvs (as in most on Howell) turn a hint port like w extended age, where on mt veeder, spring mtn, and Diamond mtn, secondary and tertiary characteristics are more evident and noticeable.
  The Ilona was interesting.
  It’s got complexity left now, but I wouldn’t wait any longer
  
  It’s that late day hot Sun exposure

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  4/15/2023 - HODL Likes this wine: 88 Points

  Garnet w a very tiny hint of purple
  Coravined a glass, and let it sit covered over night.
  As it was when I opened it, and the next morning, I get a strong aroma of pasta and pepper?…(the Cab franc in there?)
  There’s also hints of oregano and spice
  Not much fruit on the nose, however, fruit characteristics of dried cherries and over ripe blackberry & slight prune on the palate.
  Tannins still strong, but well integrated
  Med acid
  Lots of sediment
  Idk if I’d age this any longer
  Except for maybe Dunn, I’m starting to think 20 years is the limit on Howell mountain (and the optimal time being 16-20 yrs) every time I drink a Howell mountain wine over 20, the extracted, high alcohol, old/dried fruit characteristics dominate, and there’s not a lot of nuance.
  At 20 years, I don’t think Howell mtn offers what the west side Napa mountains offer for the wine experience.
  Wines w such high abvs (as in most on Howell) turn really port like w extended age, where on mt veeder, spring mtn, and Diamond mtn, secondary and tertiary characteristics are more evident and noticeable.
  The Ilona was interesting, but still extracted port like flavor
  
  It’s that late day hot Sun exposure, baking pie into the wines from Howell, and even atlas peak

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  10/15/2010 - AverySides wrote: 88 Points

  Dinner with Tom and the girls.

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  3/15/2010 - wineaboutit wrote: 90 Points

  Popped and vinturi'd, nose of dark fruit and vanilla/oak. Smooth, sleek and refined this is a nice blend of merlot, cab sav and cab franc. Soft and so easy to drink, will work w/ a wide range of foods. A friend brought this over to the house, said he had purchased at a Beaverton grocery outlet for $10.99 vs the
  $35-$45 retail price. Recession red...solid value

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  11/8/2009 - win wrote: 89 Points

  Not as expressive as previous bottle. Just a little muted and closed, but still interesting wine. Wait.

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