La Jota Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2015
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The La Jota Vineyard lies high upon a volcanic plateau, looking east over Napa Valley. Surrounded by pine, fir, oak and madrone trees, the estate stands out because of its cool, windswept climate. Here we look to vineyard blocks that produce soft-textured Cabernet Sauvignon for wines of earlier approachability, and where the decomposed granite soils of our W.S. Keyes Vineyard impart a pop of bright fruit character and broader tannins.
On the palate, the 2015 La Jota Cabernet Sauvignon has dark chocolate, espresso, toast, and a hint of Petit Verdot finishing with a great mid palate weight and earthy tannic structure, there is no doubt you are drinking a Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon.
Blend: 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8.5% Cabernet Franc, 7.5% Merlot, 6% Malbec, 3% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Blended of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8.5% Cabernet Franc, 7.5% Merlot, 6% Malbec and 3% Petit Verdot, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain has a deep garnet-purple color and nose of warm cassis, black berry pie and mulberries with touches of cedar, red roses and cloves plus a touch of cigar boxes. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a great core of black and blue fruit layers framed by firm, ripe tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long.
-
Wine Spectator
This is vivid and beautifully rendered, with a dense yet racy core of unadulterated cassis, boysenberry and blackberry puree flavors, flecked with anise, light bramble and polished ganache notes. The long finish shows a great tug of tarry earth while the fruit drives on. Best from 2021 through 2040.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Exotic herb and floral tones start off this brawny full-bodied wine. Plum and black currant flavors underscore bristling acidity and a well-built tannic structure, as secondary characteristics of sage, cedar and oak emerge. This should be put away and enjoyed 2025–2030. Cellar Selection
Other Vintages
2019- Vinous
-
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Enthusiast
Wine - Decanter
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Wong
Wilfred
- Decanter
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Wong
Wilfred
-
Spirits
Wine & -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
- Decanter
-
Spirits
Wine & -
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert
-
Suckling
James
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
-
Spirits
Wine &
-
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine
The wines of La Jota have deep roots in Napa Valley. Back in 1888, winemaking pioneer W.S. Keyes planted some of the first vines on Howell Mountain, and 10 years later his contemporary, Fredrick Hess, built a stone winery and established La Jota Vineyard Co., named for its location on the Mexican parcel Rancho La Jota. Both men won medals for their Howell Mountain wines in the Paris Exposition of 1900.
Today, La Jota Vineyard Co. proudly carries on this great legacy with its small-production mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Chardonnay. All La Jota wines are sourced from the winery’s estate and from nearby W.S. Keyes Vineyard, and they capture the intense fruit and mineral complexity of these cool-climate origins.
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.