: Accolades

2009 La Jota Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

95 Points Steve Heimoff, Wine Enthusiast. July 2012 The tannins are so fierce on this baby Cabernet that they effectively lock it down and make it tough to drink now. Yet there's a fabulous core of blackberries that are rich, ripe and intense. Everything about it suggests ageability. Give it at least eight years in a proper cellar, and it could age even longer.

2007 La Jota Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

90 Points Stephen Tanzer, International Wine Celler, May 2010 "(includes 15% merlot and 3% petit verdot) Medium ruby. Pure, reserved nose hints at cassis, dark cherry and licorice, with mineral and coffee nuances. Good density and texture to the dark fruit flavors, with complicating herbal and spicy elements. Finishes broad and sweet, substantial tannis nicely supported by fruit."

2005 La Jota Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

87 Points Robert M. Parker Jr., The Wine Advocate, December 2008 The dark ruby/purple-colored 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain exhibits black raspberry and sweet black currant fruit intermixed with spring flower and crushed rock characteristics. Medium-bodied flavors start off positive and well-balanced, but narrow in the finish.

2002 La Jota Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

92 Points Joshua Greene, Wine & Spirits, December 2005 "A contrast of plump, succulent fruit and hard, stony tannin, this gives a clear taste of Howell Mountain intensity while remaining floral and fine. The violet scents and the dark earthiness should grow into deeper complexity as it ages. Cellar through 2012 or '14."

94 Points Steve Heimoff, Wine Enthusiast, October 2007 Classic Napa Mountain Cab, intensely concentrated in fruit, richly tannic, and dry, and of course, such a wine needs and deserves the new oak they lavished on it. Flavors and structure perfectly balance, with massive cherry pie, cassis and mocha flavors meshing with sweetly ripe tannins and rich barrel notes of vanilla and char. This is a dramatic, complex young Cab that will hold for six years.

2001 La Jota Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

89 Points Wine Report, August 2007 A deep blackish-purple, this wine whiffs of blackberry jam, plum, smoked cedar and flint. Robust raisin, plum and leather flavors feel smooth in the mouth then transition to oak and tannin on the finish

1999 La Jota Howell Mountain Select Cabernet Sauvignon

86-87 Points Robert M. Parker Jr., The Wine Advocate, December 2000 The 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain Select possesses a licorice, cassis, and leafy-scented nose...

1998 La Jota Howell Mountain Select Cabernet Sauvignon

86 Points Robert M. Parker Jr., The Wine Advocate, December 2000 The dark ruby-colored 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain Select exhibits a medium-bodied, lean, tough-textured, austere style with cassis and earthy fruit notes. Bordeaux-like in its austerity and weight, it should drink well for 10-15 years.

1997 La Jota Howell Mountain Select Cabernet Sauvignon

90 Points Robert M. Parker Jr., The Wine Advocate, January 2000 Patience will be required with the 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain Select, which was closed, but powerful. The saturated ruby/purple color is accompanied by aromas of minerals, toasty oak, and jammy black currants. A tannic, muscular, full-bodied wine, it has outstanding extract and purity. Anticipated maturity: 2002-2018

1996 La Jota Howell Mountain Select Cabernet Sauvignon

92 Points Robert M. Parker Jr., The Wine Advocate, January 2000 The 1996 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain Select is a beautifully rendered wine with an opaque plum color, and knock-out aromatics of cedarwood, cassis, cigar box, and roasted Provencal herbs. With more structure than the 1997, it is a jammy, rich, concentrated, full-bodied wine that can be drunk now or cellared for two decades. This beauty remains one of the better values in great California Cabernet Sauvignon.

1995 La Jota Howell Mountain Select Cabernet Sauvignon

91 Points Robert M. Parker Jr., The Wine Advocate, December 1997 The 1995 is deep, muscular, rich, and impressive, but it is in need of 5-6 years of cellaring. I suspect this wine will age effortlessly for another two decades.

1994 La Jota Howell Mountain Select Cabernet Sauvignon

93 Points Robert M. Parker Jr., The Wine Advocate, December 1997 The 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain Select performed exceptionally well in a large tasting of 1994 California Cabernets I conducted. The wine is full-bodied, with an opaque purple color, as well as potentially sweeter, more up-front fruit than the Anniversary Release. It is opulent, aromatic (black fruits, truffles, earth, and spice galore), and fleshy, but it boasts plenty of tannin. Look for it to close down in another year or two, not to re-emerge for 7-8.

90-94 Points Robert M. Parker Jr., The Wine Advocate , April 1996 The stunning 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain reveals an opaque black color, gobs of sweet cassis and licorice scents, remarkable fat and opulence, and a chewy, long finish.

1993 La Jota Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

92 Points Robert M. Parker Jr., The Wine Advocate, December 1995 ...it is a great Cabernet Sauvignon, offering an opaque purple color, a rich nose of black fruits, earth, and toast, and a sweet, immensely generous, full-bodied, glycerin-infused finish. Considerable tannin is undoubtedly lurking behind the exceptional quantities of fruit, but it is impossible to taste given this wine's impressive concentration, ripeness, and length. Approachable now, it should glide through the next 15-20 years with nary a problem.

1992 La Jota Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

93 Points Robert M. Parker Jr., The Wine Advocate, December 1994 The 1992 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain Selection is a broad-shouldered, intensely-flavored, full-bodied wine with gobs of blackcurrant fruit gently infused with subtle new oak. It possesses the opulence and density of the 1992 vintage, and can be drunk now or over the next 20 years.

1991 La Jota Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

93 Points Robert M. Parker Jr., The Wine Advocate, December 1994 It is a dense, full-bodied, bruiser of a wine, with an opaque color, and a promising but restrained bouquet of minerals, smoke, and blackcurrants. Full-bodied, rich, and intense, as well as tannic and backward, it is a wine made for the long term rather than immediate drinkability. This is an immensely impressive Cabernet Sauvignon.

1990 La Jota Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

92 Points Robert M. Parker Jr., The Wine Advocate, October 1993 The color is opaque garnet/purple, and the nose is tight but promising, with scents of minerals, cassis, and spices. Rich and concentrated, as well as ferociously tannic (the tannin is ripe rather than astringent), this promising wine should reach its apogee by the turn of the century and last 20 or more years.

1989 La Jota Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

90 Points Robert M. Parker Jr., The Wine Advocate, June 1992 The huge, earthy, weedy, tobacco, and blackcurrant-scented nose is followed by a rich, generously endowed, satiny-textured wine that coats the palate and finishes with impressive quantities of fruit, glycerin and alcohol. Most Howell Mountain Cabernets start life with a hard, firm, tannic edge, but this offering is pure suppleness and pleasure. Drink it over the next 10-12 years.

1988 La Jota Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

88 Points Robert M. Parker Jr., The Wine Advocate , February 1992 ...this wine ranks as one of the best 1988 Cabernets I have tasted. Impressively dark ruby/purple-colored, the nose offers aromas of black-cherries, spices, herbs, and toasty oak. In the mouth, there is excellent richness, full body, moderate tannins, and the potential for at least 10-12 years of aging.

1986 La Jota Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

90 Points Robert M. Parker Jr., The Wine Advocate, August 1996 The 1986 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon still boasts an opaque dark garnet color. In addition, it remains tannic, backward, and youthful. The wine possesses admirable power and richness, but it is interesting to contrast the type of tannin in the 1986 (astringent, bitter, hard, and intrusive) with the style of tannin La Jota has achieved since 1992 (sweet, well-integrated, and ripe); drink it over the following 10-15 years.

1985 La Jota Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

88 Points Robert M. Parker Jr., The Wine Advocate, April 1995 Copious amounts of black-cherry, earthy, and oaky scents dominate the wine's aromatics.