2010 Howell Mountain Cabernet Franc

The Vineyards

This Cabernet Franc wine comes from an exceptional little vineyard planted in 1976 next to our century-old stone winery on Howell Mountain. Grafted onto resistant St. George rootstock, it escaped the ravages of phylloxera to become one of the oldest Cabernet Franc vineyards in Napa County. The old vines self-regulate so we don't need to thin crop, pull leaves or in any other way adjust the grape-to-canopy ratio. Year after year, the grapes are intensely avored and beautifully balanced. Not many wineries produce Cabernet Franc and this wine denitely captures the essence of La Jota terroir.

Winemaking

The fruit from La Jota is hand-harvested into small, 30-pound boxes to prevent crushing and brought to the winery for hand sorting. After de-stemming and light crushing, the must is cold soaked for gentle color, flavor and tannin extraction. To bridle the "mountain tannins", small amounts of oxygen are introduced to the wine daily with two "splashing pump-overs" during the primary fermentation in stainless steel tanks. In-barrel malolactic fermentation rounds the acidity and softly integrates the vanillin character of the new French oak barrels. Gentle racking occurs to further enhance the wine's elegance.

Tasting Notes

"From our thirty-four year old winery block, Howell Mountain presents its old vine Cabernet Franc. On the palate enjoy red and black cherries, white pepper, earth and minerality."