Mission Codename Not so Petite
Ohh man, do we have a whoopsy-good deal for you today! Nearly $80 lower than SRP should get your heart rate elevated.
Before you have a full-blown FOMO attack, pull over somewhere safe, drop your rake, and step away from officiating your kids’ soccer game. Seriously. Almost 70% off Howell Mountain Vineyards’ Petit Verdot is happening right now.
Great review by Wine Enthusiast to boost! A “thick and brooding” ringbeller for those of you who like them BIG, chewy, and sturdy.
When Joyce Black and Jerre Sears moved to their new home here in the late 1970s, little did they know that their neighbor Mike Beatty would - in less than a decade - partner with them to build a winery that named the rugged AVA that arguably makes some of the top high-elevation wines of Napa Valley.
This wine comes from the few rows of vines planted to Petit Verdot on the Beatty Ranch Vineyard the estate site for Howell Mountain Vineyards Zin and Cab people are familiar with the vineyard since it is consistently highly rated, and the wines have been named one of the “Top 100 Wines in the World” by Wine Enthusiast.
Vinography raves that “These vineyards have long supplied grapes to some of the highest-end wines that claim the Howell Mountain appellation, including Ridge, Dunn, Cornerstone, Turley, Duckhorn, Elyse, Cakebread…”
For Howell Mountain Vineyard’s inaugural vintage, they worked with none other than Littorai’s Ted Lemon as winemaker, and over the last several decades, such heavy hitters as James Hall, Thomas Rivers Brown, and Dave Phinney. A decade ago, Wine Business announced Bryan Kane’s appointment with a star-studded resume: “Over the last ten years, Kane has worked out of several wineries like Copain (next to the likes of Donum, DuMOL, and Carlisle) and Nicholson Ranch (where Shrader Cellar and others were made.)”
As you can imagine, this wine shows all the bold, beastly characteristics of high mountain fruit. These vines fight the good fight to yield tiny, concentrated berries with little room for fluff. Think deep broody aromas of blackberries, leather, and graphite. The winery says this is “hauntingly dark in the glass” and we must agree. On the palate, it is rich with luxurious tannins and layers of violet, spices, sage, and black cherry. There is an unmistakable authoritativeness that only mountain fruit can possess.
Consider some of the other names that grow or pull fruit from this epic mountain appellation: Cade, Duckhorn, Rudius, La Jota, Robert Craig… Now think of what you pay with those brands. Get on it!
91 Points – Wine Enthusiast
“This is a thick, brooding red wine from the producer’s own estate vineyard—a study in dusty rock, graphite, and dark cherry. Tobacco, leather, and caramel chime in midway through on the palate, surrounded by structured tannin and well-integrated oak that complement the wine’s broad shoulders and rich ripeness.”
What the Winery Says
2016 Howell Mountain Estate Petit Verdot
- Winemaker
- Bryan Kane
- Varietal
- 100% Petit Verdot
- Vintage
- 2016
- Alcohol
- 14.5%
- Appellation
- Howell Mountain, Napa Valley
- Vineyard
- Beatty Ranch Vineyard
- pH
- 3.47
- TA
- 8.4
- Aging
- 20 months
- Barrels
- 100% French oak