Arkenstone Estate Red 2019
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The Arkenstone Estate Blend consists entirely of fruit from their Howell Mountain Estate ranging from 1400' to 1650' on the western shoulder of the mountain. Each year the blend is comprise of the top performing block from the 16 of their 22 blocks dedicated to this blend. By having complete control over the vineyard they are able to being to shape the wines while on the vine.
Blend: 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, 6% Petit Verdot, 4% Merlot, 2% Malbec
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Estate Red is another magical wine from winemaker Sam Kaplan. Based on 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, 6% Petit Verdot, and the rest Merlot and Malbec, all from the estate on Howell Mountain, it offers up a dense purple hue to go with stunningly pure cassis and darker currant fruits, full-bodied richness, ultra-fine tannins, and a complex, nuanced style in its leafy herbs, flowers, scorched earth, and classy oak aromas and flavors. It’s brilliant any way you look at it. Hide bottles for 4-5 years, count yourself lucky, and enjoy over the following three decades.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Howell Mountain Estate Red Blend is composed of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, 6% Petit Verdot, 4% Merlot and 2% Malbec. Deep garnet-purple in color, it bursts with bold notions of crème de cassis, baked black plums and tilled soil, plus hints of bay leaves, charcoal and unsmoked cigars. Full-bodied, rich and layered in the mouth, it has lots of earthy and savory nuances with a firm and grainy texture, finishing on a lingering black truffle note.
Rating: 97+ -
Wine Enthusiast
This mountaingrown blend of Bordeaux varieties, mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, offers power with polish. Massive but fine-grained tannins saturate a rich palate of black currants, blueberries and dark chocolate, giving the structure for aging. While tempting now for its suave texture and rich flavors, the wine will gain even more complexity and smoothness from 2028-2040. Cellar Selection
Other Vintages
2018-
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb
-
Parker
Robert -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Wong
Wilfred -
Suckling
James
-
Parker
Robert
Our serious interest in wine and our families’ farming history perhaps made it inevitable that we would think about planting vineyards here. We knew we did not want to clear the site for an “industrial” vineyard but didn’t know whether the effort required of farming the small patches of open space using sustainable practices could be justified. Then, in early 1995, a good friend of ours, who grew up in a Napa Valley wine family and founded her own label, encouraged us. She arranged for an expert who consulted for top vineyards all over the world to come to the Napa Valley to evaluate a number of potential vineyard sites. He included Arkenstone on this visit. Test holes were dug, and on a cloudy wet day we tramped around the property talking about dirt, drainage, exposures, air movement, and, most importantly, the promise of the site. His conclusion was that wine grapes of very high quality could be produced here, and that Arkenstone was indeed a special site. We didn’t then know to say “terroir” but understood that the grapes and the wine from these vineyards could over time become a recognizable expression of our site, climate, farming and winemaking. We decided to make this promise a reality.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Today Cabernet Sauvignon is the star of this part of Napa’s rugged, eastern hills, but Zinfandel was responsible for giving the Howell Mountain growing area its original fame in the late 1800s.
Winemaking in Howell Mountain was abandoned during Prohibition, and wasn’t reawakened until the arrival of Randy Dunn, a talented winemaker famous for the success of Caymus in the 1970s and 1980s. In the early eighties, he set his sights on the Napa hills and subsequently astonished the wine world with a Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. Shortly thereafter Howell Mountain became officially recognized as the first sub-region of Napa Valley (1983).
With vineyards at 1,400 to 2,000 feet in elevation, they predominantly sit above the fog line but the days in Howell Mountain remain cooler than those in the heart of the valley, giving the grapes a bit more time on the vine.
The Howell Mountain AVA includes 1,000 acres of vineyards interspersed by forestlands in the Vaca Mountains. The soils, shallow and infertile with good drainage, are volcanic ash and red clay and produce highly concentrated berries with thick skins. The resulting wines are full of structure and potential to age.
Today Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petite Sirah thrive in this sub-appellation, as well as its founding variety, Zinfandel.