1994 Dunn Vineyards - Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

1994 Dunn Vineyards - Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon (97 pts) @dunnvineyards ℹ️ This wine is 💯 Cabernet Sauvignon from estate vineyards in the Howell Mountain AVA in Napa Valley, California. They pioneered planting mountain Cabernet in 1979. Now they farm a combined 42 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon across five vineyards on Howell Mountain. The AVAs boundary starts at 1400 ft above sea level, so even when it is cool and foggy on the valley floor, it is sunny and breezy on Howell Mountain. The wines are known for their fierce tannins and striking acidity that delineates the mountain fruit from the valley floor. The wine was aged for 32 months in 💯 new French oak and sealed with a signature red wax capsule. 👁 Deep ruby with a pale garnet rim. 👃 Medium+ intensity on the nose. Aromas of ripe to dried blackberry, black currant, black cherry, oak, cedar, tobacco, leather, extinguished campfire, herbal, sage, pine needles, dried chili, clove, and other baking spices. 👄 The wine is dry, medium+ acidity, medium fine-grained tannins, medium alcohol (13%), and full body. The finish is exceptionally long, with flavors of ripe, overripe, and dried black fruits followed by sage and tobacco. 🔔 I am tasting this wine for the third time in 2020. It is still on point and pristine example of pedigree Howell Mountain fruit. This wine is in the best spot of all three bottles. Again I expect some bottle variation at this age. This is a world-class wine, especially from this iconic 1994 vintage. Excellent acid backbone and time has mellowed what must have been ferocious tannins, and everything culminates in a long finish with layers of concentrated flavors. They say patience is a virtue, which is needed to drink these wines in their prime window. My preference is to purchase wines of good provenance at auction. Who says you can't buy patience? #vin #lovewine #🍷 #wineterroir #wine #howellmountain #dunnvineyards #napa #napavalley #napavalleywine #napawine #cabernetsauvignon