Cornerstone Cellars Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
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Wilfred
Wong -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Connoisseurs'
Guide
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Cornerstone Cellars has been making Cabernet Sauvignon from Howell Mountain since our inaugural vintage in 1991. If you give this classic Howell Mountain Cabernet a swirl you will start to release the chocolate, spice, nutmeg, cedar and all of the expressive blue and black fruit aromas. Another swirl will liberate the complex layers of black licorice and cassis. The first sip is round, soft and amazingly approachable at this young age, it’s hard to believe this is 100% mountain fruit. The luscious texture explodes with bright ripe summer fruit, dark chocolate with just a hint of sweet vanilla. This youthful wine would likely benefit from a splash in the decanter, just to give it a chance to express the nuances of both concentration and elegance. As with many wines boasting a mountain heritage, this would benefit from a little time in the cellar, if you can wait.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2016 Cornerstone Cellars is generous, layered, and elevated. TASTING NOTES: This wine hits on all cylinders as it gushes forward with aromas and flavors of ripe berries, hints of violets, and oak. Enjoy this wine with slices of grilled beef and a plate of aged, blue-veined cheeses. (Tasted: June 1, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Enthusiast
Winemaker Kari Auringer creates a wild, complex and potently powerful red wine here, from the mighty high-elevation appellation. Black and red currant, black licorice, crushed rock and sage combine around a juicy midpalate of surprisingly supple, lengthy tannin.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Its particular provenance is more often than not predictive of sturdy, notably astringent Cabernet Sauvignons that vocally speak to the need for extended cellaring, but Cornerstone’s Howell Mountain offering is a comparatively refined version that steers to elegance more than most. It full and slightly fleshy in feel with elements of sweet currants, temperate oak and mildly stony spice in a seamlessly fit mix, and, while not free of tannin, it is not given to sinewy toughness. It should be at its best in but three or four years yet will age gracefully for many more by dint of its balance and fine composition.
Other Vintages
2013-
Robert
Parker
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Robert
Parker
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Wine &
Spirits
Twenty-six years in, the next generation of Cornerstone Cellars sales and winemaking teams bring to market a diverse portfolio of Cabernet Sauvignon wines –of which each one delivers a focused flavor profile - with realistic pricing to match. Now more than ever, they are resolved to implement a long-term brand development strategy and to constantly renew their commitment to that original winemaking ideology and style.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
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.