Dunn Vineyards 2014 Howell Mountain Napa Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker Notes Inky blue/purplish fruit, graphite, lavender, grilled herbs and smoke run through the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon (Howell Mountain). The 2014 has all the Dunn signatures in its flavor profile, but in the mid-weight style of the year. This is an especially restrained, young wine for Dunn with far less of the tannic heft that readers familiar with these wines are likely to expect. Professional Ratings 96pts Decanter Notes of black cherry, cassis, graphite, incense, spice and rich soil preface an authoritative, intense wine with a lovely chassis of fine but firm tannins, underpinned by vibrant acidity: quintessential Dunn Howell Mountain. Under Mike Dunn's thoughtful stewardship, the family's wines have become more refined; largely thanks to more carefully chosen barrels. But while this wine may be less forbidding in its youth than the vintages of the 1990s, let it sleep for a decade to reveal its potential complexity. 95pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain has an incredibly evocative nose of crème de cassis, plum preserves and fresh wild blueberries with touches of chocolate mints, tilled soil, yeast extract, chargrill and scorched earth. Medium to full-bodied, it fills the mouth with fresh, crunchy black fruit, framed by firm, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long with bags of energy. 95pts Jeb Dunnuck The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is a darker, dense, meaty wine offering lots of darker currant fruits, chocolate, cedar pencil, truffly earth, and smoked tobacco on the nose. This all carries to a full-bodied, round, expansive Cabernet that reminds me of a top 2009 Médoc with its supple, sweet tannins, beautiful mid-palate density, and outstanding length. It opens up with air and now, at age 8, offers considerable pleasure, yet will continue gaining complexity and nuance over the coming 4-6 years, and have a lengthy prime drink window of upwards of two decades. Best after 2025