2020 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

Winery Estate Vineyard

Howell Mountain

ESTATE GROWN

Don't miss out on this exceptional vintage of Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon from our two estate vineyards at the summit of Howell Mountain.
Available to Members Only October 1-31, 2023
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750 ml

About This Wine
Vineyard

The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain, like the Affinity 2020 released earlier this year, was a happy accident of removing too much protective leaf cover in August (an Elton Slone miscalculation) after an unusually cool, wet Spring put things behind schedule in the vineyard. When the temperatures soared in September on Howell Mountain, the early ripening blocks on Candlestick Ridge Vineyard and at the Winery Estate Vineyard needed to be picked and processed. The Cabernet, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Malbec that hit the crush pad was deeply colored and high in tannins and acidity. In other words, the wine had excellent structure.

After a careful ferment that Jason managed with an eye on preventing harsh tannin extraction, the resulting wine has proved to be a classic rendition of Howell Mountain Cabernet featuring red stone minerality, thorny vine black fruit accents and suppleness in the mid palate. How I wish that mother nature had allowed us more than the few hundred cases in 2020, a vintage that was shaping up to be exceptional in every way. Enjoy this tiny production gem that keeps our Howell Mountain Cabernet release streak alive at thirty consecutive vintages here at Robert Craig Winery.

VINEYARDS: Candlestick Ridge Vineyard, Winery Estate Vineyard
APPELLATION: Howell Mountain
COMPOSITION: 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Malbec, 3% Merlot
CASES PRODUCED: 525

WINERY ESTATE VINEYARD, HOWELL MOUNTAIN
The nine-acre Winery Estate Vineyard continues to demand constant attention – with huge variation in soils and microclimates. The yields are on average a meager 1.8 tons to the acre, but the fruit possesses a rare power and expression of site. Soils are especially shallow, even for Howell Mountain, and the vines must work through the rocky soils to seek moisture.

CANDLESTICK RIDGE ESTATE VINEYARD, HOWELL MOUNTAIN
Just down the road, Candlestick Ridge is the northernmost vineyard in the Howell Mountain AVA and is slightly warmer than the summit ridge where the Winery Estate vineyard lies. Candlestick is influenced by warm air from Pope Valley to the east and – at its slightly lower elevation – it is protected from the constant wind that hits the ridge line. The big subsurface boulders were removed during the replanting, leaving thin tufa soil on top of a rocky volcanic bedrock.

About This Wine
Vineyard

2020 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

About This Wine

Vineyard

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