Skip to content

2020 Howell Mountain Zinfandel

  • Tasting Notes

    Eye
    Garnet core, ruby rim.

    Nose
    Lily of the Valley, gardenia, peony, blackberries, forest fruit, and currants. Secondary notes of brioche with strawberry compote, vanilla, and heavy cream with traces of spice, pepper, and mineraly essence of river rock.

    Palate
    Ripe, juicy, and dense with seamless integration of fruit, glycerin, and acid.

    Cellar life
    Drink now through 2035.

  • Specs
    • Composition
      100% Howell Mountain Zinfandel
    • Vineyard source
      Beatty Ranch
    • Appellation
      Napa Valley
    • Barrel aging
      10 months in 35% new oak, 50/50 French/American
    • Alcohol by vol.
      15%
    • Production
      600 cases in 12 x 750ml format
  • Background

    David has known Pat Beatty, whose father Mike was instrumental in establishing the storied Howell Mountain sub-appellation, for thirty years. In fact, the two may very well have bonded over a barrel of homebrew Zinfandel Pat brought over to our property pre-Brown Estate (which in hindsight raises the point that our little brother at the time may have been underage — but moving right along). Beatty Ranch’s esteemed old-vine Zin was planted pre-World War I and grows on the western slope of Howell Mountain at an elevation of 1800 feet. Head-trained and dry-farmed, the vineyard sees ample daytime sunlight and enjoys cool nighttime temperatures, conditions similar to Brown Estate. This is vintage no. 3.