Dunn: Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain 1985-2014

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | DECEMBER 3, 2024

I have always been drawn to archetypes. Reference points. Wines that are standard bearers for their variety, appellation and/or style. Perhaps that is a vestige of my musical training, but there is something about classics that has always spoken to me. In Napa Valley, few wines embody those qualities more fully than Dunn’s Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain. This tasting provided a fabulous opportunity to revisit a wide range of vintages going all the way back to the 1980s.

About the Tasting

This retrospective of the flagship Dunn Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain at Quality Meats was held at the inaugural edition of our Napa in the City event in March 2022. The explosion of noteworthy new releases in all regions around the world means that finding time and space for articles such as this one is increasingly a challenge. When it comes to older wines, all of our critics and I taste far more wines in any year than we could ever write up fully, with the detail and context that is at the heart of what we strive to provide at Vinous. I hope readers will appreciate this report in the spirit of “better late than never.” Mea culpa.

Wines were opened about two hours before service and double decanted. The team at Quality Meats did a fine job with the wines, working in a tight space and in conditions that were challenging given the sheer number of bottles and my own obsessive requirements on service. The original program spanned vintages 1985 through 2014. I chose 2014 as the youngest vintage simply because the Howell Mountain Cabernet typically needs at least several years in bottle to start showing well.

We arranged the wines around thematic flights rather than chronologically, as I have long felt this approach allows guests to taste wines with similar attributes side by side regardless of the actual vintages. The 2013 Trailer Vineyard and 2017 El Camino were last-minute additions. I also include notes on the 2002, 2003 and 2004 Howell Mountain, all from magnum, which were part of our program on the following day.

Most of the bottles were purchased from a longtime friend of the Dunn family who had owned and cellared the wines since release. Some of the newer releases, including the 2004, 2003 and 2002 Howell Mountain, plus the 2013 Trailer and 2017 El Camino, were sourced from the winery. The 1990, 1989 and 1985 were all from my cellar and date back to the era when the estate offered library wines to their mailing list. I can still remember the time when the yearly offering arrived by mail and orders were accepted by the case rather than by the bottle!

Harvest time at Dunn Vineyards

A Little Historical Background

Randy Dunn is one of the leading figures in the history of Howell Mountain and Napa Valley more broadly. Among his many achievements, Dunn helped draw the Howell Mountain AVA. Perhaps even more importantly, from his very first vintage in 1979, Randy Dunn has consistently turned out some of the most powerful, structured Cabernets in all of Napa Valley. Beyond its ability to age gracefully over many years and decades, Dunn’s Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon is arguably the quintessential wine for the AVA, an appellation Dunn helped establish, both formally and with his brilliant Cabernets.

Over the decades, Randy Dunn acquired a reputation and mystique for formidably tannic Cabernets that take decades to come around. That may have been the case in the 1980s and 1990s, but I find that less true today. To be sure, these are classically built, structured Cabernets full of mountain tannin that are built to age but opening a Dunn Cabernet young these days is not a crime, even though most wines will start hitting their prime around age 20, give or take.

Randy Dunn next to one of his many vintage firetrucks, all of which are operational and ready to be used if required

Randy Dunn graduated from UC Davis in 1975 and went to work for the Wagner family at Caymus, where he spent the next decade. During that time, production at Caymus surged from 8,000 to 100,000 cases. In the mid-1970s, while working at Caymus, Dunn came across a vineyard on Howell Mountain that caught his eye. Dunn and his wife, Lori, bought the property in 1977 and named it Trailer Vineyard. Planted in 1972, Trailer was a core component in Dunn’s flagship Howell Mountain Cabernet until it was replanted in 2014. In 1979, Dunn made a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon under his own label. That first release was still in fine shape the last time I tasted it some years ago.

In 1978, Charlie Wagner bought a nearby property that was planted with prunes and walnuts. Wagner cleared the land but never planted vines, as he decided it was too far from Caymus. Wagner later sold that parcel to Dunn, who built a home and cultivated oats on the land. In 2001, Dunn planted the Lake Vineyard on that property. As early as 1979, Dunn also purchased fruit from the Harry Frank Vineyard but did not enter a long-term lease on that property until 1995.

Dunn Vineyards’ collection of estate sites on Howell Mountain in an excerpt from The Vinous Map of Howell Mountain, 2nd Edition, by Antonio Galloni and Alessandro Masnaghetti

A few years later, in 1992, the Dunns bought Park Muscatine, a cluster of vineyards at the southern end of the property, next to Henry and Adamvs, originally planted with a Zinfandel-based field blend and Petite Sirah. For three vintages during the early and mid-1990s, Dunn made a Petite Sirah from this fruit. In the mid-1990s, the Zinfandel was taken out in favor of Cabernet Sauvignon. For several years, the Park Muscatine Petite Sirah went to Mike and Kara Dunn for their Retro label, but it was recently removed and replaced with Cabernet Sauvignon. In many spots, the soils are composed of intense, dark terrain, especially in Alta Tierra and Park Muscatine. The latest addition to the cluster of Dunn holdings is Eagle Summit, purchased in 2018 and situated between Harry Frank and Alta Tierra vineyards.

Today, Randy and Lori Dunn’s son, Mike, runs day-to-day operations with his wife, Kara, but Randy and his watchful gaze are never far away.

Randy and Mike Dunn

About Howell Mountain

The Dunn winery and vineyards are located on Howell Mountain. Even the casual observer will note that Howell Mountain has a more bucolic feel to it than the parts of Napa Valley that lie alongside Highway 29 and the Silverado Trail. The history of Howell Mountain as a viticultural region dates to the mid-1880s, when Mexican General Mariano Vallejo gave Napa Valley pioneer George Yount the second of his two land grants. At the time, Yount intended to use Howell Mountain’s vast timber resources to develop areas on the valley floor. Yount named his 4,454-acre property Rancho La Jota, which is variously attributed to the Spanish translation of the letter “J” or a popular Spanish folk dance of the day.

British settler Edwin Angwin purchased 200 acres of land on Howell Mountain in 1875 and established the Angwin Resort, which became a destination for those seeking an escape from the busy city life in San Francisco. Even then, Howell Mountain was known for its clean air, tranquil environment and restorative powers. Today, Sanitarium Road is a reminder of Howell Mountain’s early legacy. Angwin eventually amassed over 1,600 acres of land, but after more than 30 years on Howell Mountain, he was ready for a change. In 1909, Angwin sold his property to the Seventh Day Adventist Church, which established the Pacific Union College on this land. In the 1890s, Swiss settler Frederick Hess bought 327 acres of land and founded the La Jota Vineyard Company. The stone winery Hess built on the property in 1898 is still standing. Around the same time, Hess’ neighbor, W.S. Keyes, developed his vineyard and started Liparita Cellars. Both properties produced wines that garnered international critical acclaim at the 1900 Paris Exhibition. Other figures in the early history of Howell Mountain include Charles Krug, W.A.C. Smith and Jean Adolph Brun & Jean V. Chaix, who founded what is now the Napa Wine Co. on the valley floor and the former Ladera winery on Howell Mountain. Prohibition halted the growth of the nascent wine industry in many places in Napa Valley, including Howell Mountain. Readers who want to learn more about the History of Howell Mountain will want to take a look at the Vinous Map of Howell Mountain, 2nd Edition, which I authored with renowned cartographer Alessandro Masnaghetti.

For our purposes, the modern era begins in 1983, when Howell Mountain became the first recognized AVA within the greater Napa Valley AVA. Even today, Howell Mountain is the only Napa Valley AVA that is precisely defined by elevation, the single most critical element of mountain regions. The Howell Mountain AVA is delineated by a lower boundary of 1,400 feet, which is where the fog inversion layer tends to settle. The inversion layer, or thermal gradient in more technical terms, is created by cooling late afternoon and evening temperatures that cause colder air to drop down into the valley, turning water vapor at lower elevations into fog through condensation. The thermal gradient at Napa Valley occurs around 1,400 feet. Above 1,400 feet, temperatures are higher and therefore above the dew point that creates fog. The following day, warming temperatures cause the fog to revert to vapor. Because of its unique microclimate, the growing season on Howell Mountain also has its own set of particularities. Budbreak is often delayed, the result of both altitude and the later arrival of warm temperatures in spring compared to the valley floor. High elevation makes for cooler days but warmer nights than the valley average as the season progresses. These narrower diurnal shifts allow the vines to catch up on vegetative growth and ripening. Rainfall is also often higher than it is on the valley floor. Picking times vary considerably from estate to estate, but it is not uncommon for vineyards in Howell Mountain to be harvested very late relative to elsewhere in Napa Valley.

The Dunn caves perched atop Howell Mountain

The Dunn Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain

For many decades, the Dunns made one Cabernet Sauvignon from their vineyards on Howell Mountain. In 2012 and 2013, Dunn also bottled a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Trailer Vineyard, which has since been replanted and is now called Alta Tierra. Subsequent vintages have seen the release of other small bottlings from specific blocks.

Dunn also bottles a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon that offers the same classically inspired style with a bit more approachability. First made in 1982, the Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon has proven to be nearly as age-worthy and pedigreed as the Howell Mountain bottling in many vintages. As Dunn tasted through different lots for the Caymus program, he would occasionally encounter bulk wines that were outstanding in quality but too expensive for Caymus. Dunn bought one of those lots, and that was the beginning of the Dunn Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Markets evolved quickly, and just a few years later, buying high-quality, nearly finished wine at low prices was no longer possible. Because of this, the Napa Valley Cabernet program shifted in 1985 to include purchased fruit along with a second selection of estate fruit rather than bulk wine.

Since the beginning, the wines have been made pretty much the same way, just as they were made in most places prior to the advent of technology in the 1980s. Specifically, there is no sorting table or fancy equipment at Dunn. The grapes are lowered into the crusher with a forklift, and fermentation starts right away. When the wines are dry, the must is pressed and left to settle for about two weeks. The wines are then moved into barrel, where they spend 31-32 months in French oak (100% new), on the longer side by Napa Valley standards. In the early days, Randy Dunn preferred barrels with more high-impact toast than is the norm today.

Readers who are not intimately familiar with these wines should note that vintages of the 1980s and 1990s can show traces of Brettanomyces, a type of yeast that is often found in Napa Valley and Bordeaux wines of this era. Brett can vary considerably from bottle to bottle, often depending on storage. Similarly, tasters have widely differing reactions to Brett. Some enjoy a slight amount of Brett because of the complexity it adds, others see Brett simply as a characteristic of many wines made during this time, while another camp views anything resembling Brett as a serious flaw. Beginning in 2002, Dunn began working exclusively with new wood to lower the likelihood of Brett.

When alcohols climb above 14%, Dunn will remove alcohol to bring the wines back into what he views as the correct equilibrium. Personally, I am not a big fan of removing alcohol from wines, as I think it is an unnecessary intervention that isn’t entirely consistent with an approach that is so much more hands-off when it comes to farming and other aspects of winemaking. Dunn is quite candid in stating that traditionally, wines were often brought down below 14%, but it was just done with watering back.

Wines spend 31-32 months prior to bottling in 100% new French oak barrels.

The Main Event

Reception

Arnot-Roberts 2018 Chardonnay Trout Gulch Vineyard

Chef’s Seasonal Selection of Passed Canapés

What to serve on a night when Cabernet Sauvignon is the focus? I simply chose a wine I love and that I thought our guests would appreciate. As always, we bought more bottles than we needed. By the end of the night, they were all gone. Mission accomplished. The 2018 Chardonnay Trout Gulch Vineyard from Duncan Arnot and Nathan Roberts is one of the great wines of the United States. I admire its tension, focus and saline-drenched intensity, all qualities that are on full display this evening.

To Get Started...

Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain 1999, 1998, 1994 & 1992

Steak Tartare with Foie Gras & Burgundy Truffles

It’s hard to know where to start or how to even arrange a vertical of Dunn Cabernets. For this first flight, I chose four vintages that I felt would be relatively open and approachable.

Dunn’s 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is a gorgeous wine to open this dinner. In the zone today, the 1999 offers up a beguiling array of tobacco, cedar, licorice, menthol, plum and dark cherry fruit. There’s plenty of explosive energy and mountain structure to ensure many years of fine drinking. The 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is another fine choice for drinking today. It is a touch slender relative to the other wines in this tasting, a reflection of a year marked by cold weather and rain that required dropping nearly half the crop to get the fruit ripe. Dried herbs, flowers and mocha open in the bouquet in this especially aromatic, mid-weight Cabernet Sauvignon from Dunn. All things considered, the 1998 has aged impeccably.

The 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain takes things to another level. Powerful, dense and explosive to the core, the 1994 captures Randy Dunn’s style at its most expressive. Gravel, incense, tobacco, scorched earth and licorice meld into a core of dark fruit in this brooding beauty. This 1994 has always been superb. It is all that again tonight. In a word: tremendous. Tasted next to the 1994, the 1992 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain presents a slightly more linear build. I imagine some of that is the 1992 just losing some of the voluptuous fruit it showed in its youth. Strong savory and earthy Howell Mountain inflections add layers of nuance throughout. The 1992 is another wine that is in fine shape today.

Moving into the 2000s

Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain 2005, 2006, 2009 & 2014

Seared Diver Scallops

Our second flight focused mostly on wines from the 2000s. I was not sure where to put the 2014, which I really wanted in this dinner, so it is a sort of outlier in the flight, but it is a wine that merits serious attention.

A dense, opulent wine, the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain comes across as quite young. Black cherry, plum, incense, licorice, new leather and chocolate all run through this decidedly unctuous Cabernet Sauvignon. Stylistically, the 2005 is very much on the riper side of things, with a feeling of glycerin richness that is evident. Readers who enjoy wines of nuance may want to give this a few more years in the cellar. The 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is packed with inky dark fruit, chocolate, saddle leather, incense, gravel and blackberry. It is one of the more linear wines in this tasting, but there’s plenty of Howell Mountain structure, that much is obvious. As a younger wine, the 2006 was a bit fruitier, but over time, some of that youthful exuberance has naturally begun to fade.

The 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is still an infant. Plush and deep, the 2009 offers a compelling mix of opulent fruit and huge tannins to match. Today, it is a bit rough around the edges. A few more years in bottle should help, although I don’t see the 2009 quite reaching the heights of the very best years here. I loved the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain on release. Tonight, it is every bit as compelling. Deep, virile and explosive, the 2014 is so expressive today. It is a young wine, but one with tremendous potential. Dark fruit and layers of Howell Mountain minerality take shape in the glass. The 2014 has long lived in the shadows of surrounding vintages, but it has always been a special wine. Some recent bottles have shown traces of low-level Brettanomyces that might bother readers who are especially sensitive.

Epic Dunn

Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain 2007, 2008, 2010 & 2013

Big Glory Bay King Salmon; Double R Strip Steak; Poussin Pressé

The third flight consists of some of my favorite relatively recent Dunn Cabernets. There’s not much more to add.

I am quite surprised, positively so, to see how delicate and understated the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is today. Dark red fruit, blood orange, flowers and dried herbs are all nicely laced together. Silky, polished tannins wrap it all up. The 2007 is one of the most sensual Howell Mountain Cabernets I have tasted from Dunn. The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is a total knockout. Severe frost wiped out more than 50% of the crop in a matter of a few days. As for the wine, well, it is magnificent. Dense and opulent to the core, the 2008 offers up an exotic mélange of inky dark fruit intermingled with sage, gravel, espresso, crushed rocks and menthol. Although an atypical wine for obvious reasons, the 2008 is utterly captivating.

The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is an infant. It shows all the character of a cold, late-ripening year marked by intense late-season heat spikes, an unusual combination that lends palpable exoticism. Blackberry jam, gravel, incense, licorice, chocolate, menthol, scorched earth and pencil shavings saturate the palate. The 2010 is a wine for readers who can be patient. Another captivating wine, the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is fascinating to taste next to the 2010, as the wines share huge structure and depth. The 2013 is perhaps just a touch less texturally plush than the 2010, but it has plenty of richness on its own. Espresso, inky dark fruit, gravel, sage and menthol stain the palate. Beams of supporting tannin and brisk acids shape the long, sustained finish. I would not dream of touching a bottle anytime soon.

A Blast from the Past

Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain 1990, 1989 & 1985

Chef’s Selection of Artisanal Cheese

Tasting older Dunn Cabernets is always a special occasion, as these wines benefit considerably from cellaring. That is especially true of the wines from the 1970s to the 1990s. On this night, the 1985 stole the show.

The 1990 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is the most forward of the three wines in our last flight. It’s a wine I bought heavily years ago. Sweet scents of saddle leather, cedar, mint, coffee and dried flowers lift from the glass. The 1990 has aged well, but it is also starting to fray around the edges. I would not wait too long. The 1989 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is a classic mature Dunn wine from this era. Still quite deep, the 1989 is peaking today. Dark-toned fruit, leather, espresso, dried herbs, menthol, gravel and crushed leaves build in a layered, super-expressive Cabernet Sauvignon that delivers the goods. Potent, somewhat angular tannins have never really softened fully. Perhaps that is why the 1989 has aged a bit better than the 1990 tasted alongside it in this flight. Even so, I would not push my luck on aging this too much further.

One of the highlights of the evening, the 1985 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is in a magical place where its youthful exuberance has developed gracefully into middle age. Spice, tobacco, cedar and saddle leather open first. Layered on the palate, with superb depth, the 1985 offers a striking combination of sensuality and power. Inky dark fruit, chocolate, gravel and dried herbs build as the 1985 soars. Randy Dunn sourced fruit from four vineyards for the 1985: Trailer, Harry Frank, Beatty Ranch and La Jota. The 1985 spent 30 months in French oak. What a wine.

Last-Minute Additions

These two wines were not part of the original program, but no one complained about tasting two of the Dunn family’s recent small-lot bottlings. These single-parcel Cabernet Sauvignons offer a rare glimpse into the individual character of specific sites.

Dunn’s 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Trailer Vineyard is one of the small, single-parcel bottlings the winery has begun releasing over the last dozen years or so, in this case from Trailer, Dunn's original Howell Mountain vineyard that was replanted after the 2013 harvest. Mike Dunn opted to pick this fruit a bit riper than the norm and chose not to remove alcohol, the standard practice here. The result is a sumptuous, exotically beautiful Cabernet Sauvignon of the highest level. Succulent, red-toned fruit, blood orange, cinnamon and a range of floral overtones captivate the senses. What a treat it is to taste this. The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Reserve El Camino is among the most profound—if not the most profound—Cabernet I have ever tasted from Randy and Mike Dunn. The El Camino is a 180-case blend from two historic blocks in the Frank Vineyard that Randy Dunn planted in 1989 and 1993. The vineyard was ripped out after the 2017 harvest, so in a sense, the El Camino (named after Randy Dunn's truck) preserves the legacy of historic blocks that informed the Howell Mountain Cabernet for decades. Opulent and dense to the core, the 2017 stains the palate with waves of inky dark fruit intermingled with graphite, menthol, espresso, bittersweet chocolate, sage, lavender and a kiss of French oak. It’s an unforgettable wine in every way.

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Trailer Vineyard and 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Reserve El Camino are among the small, single-parcel wines Dunn has released in recent years.

Coda: Napa in the City Gala Dinner Wines

As it turns out, I had the opportunity to taste three vintages from the early 2000s the following night at our Gala Dinner. All three were poured from magnum, which seems to help wines show at their best as they age.

The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain, tasted from magnum, is exquisitely elegant. This is more of a mid-weight Cabernet from Dunn, a wine that emphasizes aromatic presence and freshness more than size. Red/purplish fruit, lavender, rose petal, spice and blood orange all run through this decidedly elegant, polished Cabernet Sauvignon. From magnum, the 2004 is especially fine. Dunn’s 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is a dense, super-concentrated wine. I imagine the magnum format amplifies those qualities. Dark-toned fruit, iron, incense, licorice and chocolate build in a brooding, explosive Cabernet Sauvignon. From the big bottle, the 2003 comes across as quite young!

The 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is a fabulous example of the year. Dark, red-toned fruit, blood orange, spice, dried flowers and herbs saturate the palate. This is an especially ripe, dense wine from Dunn, and yet all the elements are so well balanced, so integrated. Huge tannins suggest a long life. I admire the interplay of intense fruit and vibrant mountain energy. This is an especially strong showing from the 2002. Then again, wines from magnum often have an extra touch of everything. That is certainly the case here.

I have been fortunate to taste the Dunn Cabernets way back to the early days and to also taste these wines within the context of the world’s greatest wines. Dunn’s Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain remains a reference point for Napa Valley, Howell Mountain and the artisan, family-driven values that inform so many of the world’s most compelling wines.

© 2024, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or re-distributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright, but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.

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