Dunn Howell Mtn Cab with grilled beefsteaks
Fellow ‘Pour Boy’ Bill with Beth visiting from Charleston, we had leftover beef tenderloin on toast points with cheese, with twice baked potatoes and salad, followed by chocolate cheese cake desserts.
Bill opened this vintage legendary Napa Cabernet he brought from his home cellar that he acquired at the winery.
Dunn Family Vineyards Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2010
This is from one of our favorite producers who is a legend in Napa Valley and beyond.
Randy Dunn is known for age-worthy long-lived Napa Cabernets, especially the flagship premium Howell Mountain label. If you’re acquiring wines to commemorate a special vintage year for a future date, such as a birthyear, you select a producer with a track record for producing long lived wines, and select wine from a region that had a good harvest of quality fruit suitable for producing long-lived wines.
Hence we hold a collection of such wines from Randy Dunn, the legendary, independent Napa Valley winemaker known for pioneering producing powerfull structured, age-worthy Cabernet Sauvignons.
Randy Dunn helped shape the modern identity of Napa Valley. After studying enology at UC Davis, Dunn became the first head winemaker at Caymus Vineyards in 1975 where Caymus launched its legendary ultra-premium Special Selection Cabernet.
In 1978, Dunn and his wife Lori bought property atop Howell Mountain where he was instrumental in getting established the Howell Mountain AVA, which in 1983 became Napa’s first official sub-appellation.
While modern Napa moved toward micro-sorted, plush, high-alcohol wines, Dunn maintained his traditional style, crushing fruit with bits of stems intact for raw structure, and aging wines no less than thirty months in oak, crafting balanced, elegant, lower alcohol wines designed for the dinner table.
Dunn Vineyard’s Howell Mountain property is planted with 24 acres of Cabernet vines aging between 10-37 years.
We visited the Dunn Vineyards estate up at Angwin on Howell Mountain during our Napa Valley Howell Mountain Wine Experience back in 2008. We were hosted by Kristina Dunn that day but we had the privilege to meet winemaker, producer, patriarch and Napa Valley pioneer Randy Dunn.
While not one of the larger holdings in our cellar in terms of number of bottles, it may be one of our broadest holdings in terms of number of vintages in our vertical collection of this label, and the flagship premium label Dunn Howell Mtn Cab. We also collect Randy Dunn's "Feather" label that he produces for the Long Shadows Vintners Collection Series in Washington State.
Our Cellartracker records indicate we have a vertical collection of several mixed cases of each label from more than two dozen vintages dating back to 1981.
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| Selections from Vertical Collection of Dunn Napa Valley Cabernets |
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| With Randy Dunn at Dunn estate high atop Howell Mountain. |
His influence extends far beyond the family brand/label which we hold spanning several decades, as well his collaborative label (s) under different brands/labels. We written about Randy Dunn and his Family brand and his Long Shadows Vintners Collection “Feather” label in these blogposts as examples -
Tomahawk Ribeye and Vintage Wines for Celebration dinner
Long Shadows Cellars feature world class winemakers and Columbia Valley fruit
Dunn Vineyards and Caymus #40 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons,
Dunn Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1999
We debated about the tasting window of this wine, at sixteen years. We agreed it has a decade or more at the apex of its drinking window, and it may actually benefit from further aging in the bottle to settle and integrate the bold concentrated tannins and fruits.
In any event, I remember memorable tastings of this label dating back three decades and beyond, and the distinctive tasting profile of this label, which were exemplified in this bottle.
Stephen Tanzer of Vinous shared these same sentiments and summed it up perfectly in his review when he wrote:
“The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is classic Dunn. Graphite, herbs, incense, tobacco, licorice and coffee infuse the 2010 with notable depth. There is an exotic quality to the 2010 that is hard to fully capture with words, but that lends tons of allure. This Cabernet Sauvignon is just starting to be approachable, although it clearly has the stuffing and pedigree to drink well for many decades to come. One of the very best wines of the vintage, the Dunn Howell Mountain has always been magical. It is all that and more on this night. Readers lucky enough to own it are in for a treat.” Vinous Review Date: 07/2023.
Interesting that we debated about its complexity, being 100% Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. Notably, Tanzer wrote, “With its healthy acidity and great palate-staining length, this splendid Cabernet really calls for another decade in the cellar. It may have an aging curve like a top vintage of Château Latour." (5/2020)
This top vintage release was rated 98 points by James Suckling, 97+ points Stephen Tanzer of Vinous, and 95 points by Wine Advocate.
Dark garnet colored, full bodied, concentrated, dense, complex, powerful but masterful in its approachability, classic Dunn Howell black currant and black berry fruits accented by notes of cinnamon spice, graphite, herbs, cigar box and licorice with hints of cedar, with chewy but polished tannins on a tongue puckering finish.
RM 95 points.
@dunn_vineyards
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