O’Shaughnessy’s Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon is a gorgeous and multilayered wine that showcases the complexity of all seven of the Bordeaux varietals that they farm.

The wine is dark ruby red with aromas of raspberries, currants, ripe plum, and a bit of smoke. Focused flavours of wild cherry jam, plum butter, and raspberry preserves are followed by a long finish with integrated acidity and complex palate-filling tannins. Muscular, but with restrained elegance, this wine carries the O’Shaughnessy trademark of balance and power.

“The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is another impressive wine from O’Shaughnessy Estate Winery. Bright acids and beams of tannin run through a core of dark red/purplish Howell Mountain fruit. Potent yet refined, the 2021 is a fine effort. Blueberry jam, plum, lavender, chocolate and graphite all build into the huge, vibrant finish.”
96 points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media, December 2023

“Such an artfully crafted wine that is expressive of its Napa Valley character in its ripe and succulent red, black, and blue-toned youthful fruits and brawny power, backed by a kind of dizzying freshness brought on by a spine of racy, tangy, blood orange acidity and lifted violet notes. Iron, volcanic minerals, tilled earth, and fragrant herbs further accentuate Howell Mountain muscle. Soaring robust tannins are compact and superfine. Blackberry fruit, crème de cassis, and black currants all make appearances nuanced by conifer, tobacco leaf, and dark cacao. A blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, 4% Malbec, 4% Petit Verdot, 2% Carmenere, and 2% St. Macaire is harvested from O’Shaughnessy’s 48.5ha hillside estate on Howell Mountain. The winemaker is Sean Capiaux. The wine was aged 24 months in French oak and another year in bottle prior to release.”
95 points, Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter, June 2024