Family Celebration Dinner features Howell Mountain Wine Flight

 Family Celebration Dinner features Howell Mountain Wine Flight

With family gathered in town, we pivot to shift the focus from a family funeral early in the week to the celebration of Sean and Michelle's wedding this weekend. 

Linda prepared a gala dinner of tomahawk rib-eye steaks with her signature delicious twice baked potatoes prefaced with wedge salad with blue cheese, tomatoes and bacon. Prior to dinner we featured a selection of artisan cheeses. 

Tonight we featured wines from Napa Valley Howell Mountain appellation. Jan and Bill toured there with us during our Napa Valley Howell Mountain Wine Experience back in 2008. We featured wines from producers that we visited and tasted during that trip - Dunn Vineyards, Robert Craig, Ladera Vineyards, and Viader, as well as some others. Tom Clark and Laurie Claudon Clark of Clark Claudon was our featured winemaker producer at a special dinner at Pinot Blanc in St Helena during our Napa Valley Wine Experience back in 1999. We'll also open Lamborn Howell Mountain Cabernet this weekend, another featured producer from our 2008 Howell appellation trip.

 The flight: 

Robert Craig Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2001

Dunn Vineyards Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 1987

Viader "V" Proprietary Red 1999 (from magnum)

Clark Claudon Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1996

Ladera Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

Lamborn Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2003-04-05

After dinner, Lucy helped Linda prepare Chocolate Cake with whipped cream and fresh berries. 

Robert Craig Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2001

Best wine of the flight, favored by most, complex, sophisticated, balanced, nicely integrated fruits.

Dunn Vineyards Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 1987

Amazing life left in this release from an otherwise off-vintage. Briary and brambly Howell Mountain fruits, rustic, very nice. Testament to the longevity of this label, passed on several other vintages that still have a decade or more to go!

Viader "V" Proprietary Red 1999 (from magnum)

Bright vibrant, big bold fruits in this single varietal Petite Verdot limited release label. "V" label signature label, tribute to Vivianna!  

Clark Claudon Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1996

Bright vibrant fruits here too with much life left in this vintage release at twenty-five years. 

Ladera Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

The youngest release at fifteen years, this was brash and forward, big bold, dark and brooding fruits, still needs a couple years to settle and integrate further. Settled nicely over the course of the evening after open for ninety minutes.

Lamborn Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2003-04-05

Should've opened the '05 to compare with the Ladera but opted to hold off and do a mini-horizontal tasting of this collection. Needed a few more drinkers to expand the flight selection tonight. Watch for this tasting flight.