Flirting with perfection, the 2018 Estate Red is an off-the-hook beauty based on 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc, 6% Petit Verdot, and the rest Malbec and Merlot. Full-bodied, flawlessly balanced, and both powerful and elegant, it offers a captivating bouquet of chocolate covered blue fruits, bay leaf/bouquet garni, violets, and candied orange zest. I’d be happy to drink a bottle today, but smart money will give it 2-3 years of bottle age.

The 2018 Howell Mountain Estate Red Blend is composed of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc, 6% Petit Verdot, 2% Merlot and 2% Malbec. It was aged for 22 months in French oak barrels, 100% new. Deep garnet-purple colored, it sashays out of the glass with gregarious scents of red and black cherries, cassis and ripe plums plus nuances of lilacs, pencil lead, tree bark and black olives. Full-bodied, it has a solid structure of ripe, fine-grained tannins with great freshness lifting the dense fruit to a long, wonderfully pure finish. 700 cases were made.

This Howell Mountain estate Cabernet comes from around 500 metre vineyards in the heart of Napa Valley. Aromas of smoke, graphite, and mocha give way to black fruit and savoury herbs. The 2018 is rich and lush with a palate that is accented by mocha, black cherry, and a spiced finish that highlights clove and anise.