$209.99 x 6
Bottles per case | 6 |
---|---|
Price range per bottle | $100.00 and over |
Unit | 750 |
Grape variety | Cabernet & Cabernet Blends |
Vintage | 2021 |
Country | California |
Region | Napa Valley |
Sub region | Howell Mountain |
Winery | |
Wine type | Red Table Wine |
Payment Type | phone |
Collection | Robert Craig |
Robert Craig’s wines are known for pure site expression. Most Cabernet bottlings are appellation-specific: Howell Mountain, Mount Veeder, Spring Mountain, Diamond Mountain. The Howell Mountain Cabernet is the defining wine of the portfolio – a rare and extraordinary wine from a superb vineyard. The winery owns and farms two vineyards on Howell Mountain. The first is the 30-year-old estate vineyard at 700 metres above sea level, rooted in red volcanic and tufa limestone soils that give the fruit a wild, spicy, brambly character. The soil here is remarkably sparse (even for Howell Mountain), and the vine must work through the rocky soil to seek moisture. The winery calls this their “blood from the stones” for a reason.
The second, expected to be a part of future releases, is the famed 26-acre Candlestick Ridge vineyard, acquired in 2015. Candlestick Ridge sits at 680 metres on pure white volcanic ash (and more tufa limestone). The site was first planted in 1950, then replanted in 1998 by Duckhorn Wine Company. It rests on a plateau overlooking the southeast face of Mount St. Helena and the whole of the Pope Valley. The lean, well-drained soils produce dense, dark, intensely-flavoured berries.
At the winery, handling is gentle and intervention is minimal. Fruit was fermented in small lots by indigenous yeast, matured 18 months in French oak (80% new, the remainder second use), and bottled unfined and unfiltered.
The finished wine showcases loads of mountain berries, black currant, and an earthy, dusty nose. The palate is hit with black cherries, blackberries, black plums, cocoa, mocha, and cream. It’s undeniably a powerhouse, a chewy wine packed with power.
“The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon (Howell Mountain) is another stellar wine from Robert Craig. Bright and incisive, with tons of energy, the Howell Mountain Cabernet delivers the goods, big time. A rush of inky red/purplish fruit, rose petal, lavender, menthol, spice and crushed rocks build into a crescendo of aromas and flavors that dazzles. This deep, vivid Cabernet hits all the right notes. Superb.”
97 points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media, October 2021
“From a 0.44 ha vineyard of well-draining alluvial soils. Aged in 100% new French oak for 21 months, bottled unfined and unfiltered. Richly scented with dark fruit, loamy soil, vivid violet and rose petal notes and coffee beans. Decadent mountain blueberry and mulberry fruit, with mineral underpinnings and chocolaty tannins that are firm, long and muscular. Nicely integrated with pops of wild herbs on the finish. A deliciously pleasing wine. Just six barrels produced.”
96 points, Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter, June 2022
© 2022 Rogers & Company. All rights reserved.
The Rogers & Company logo, word-mark and tag-lines are trademarks of Rogers & Company. View our Privacy Policy