Please review our shipping policy, we are limited to where we can ship to due to state licensing laws.
Your cart is currently empty
Product image slideshow Items
Minerally and savory, with dark currants, black cherry and blueberry, wet stones, graphite, bay laurel, dried herbs, licorice and bitter chocolate. Round and layered, with velvety yet firm tannins and a long, harmonious finish. Unusually approachable.
Available in store
Close100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Food pairings: Ribeye or other grilled steak, roast lamb, braised short ribs, and aged cheddar; decant for an hour or two in its youth.
Scores:
Winemaking: Dunn makes only Cabernet Sauvignon, always 100% varietal, in two bottlings, Howell Mountain and Napa Valley, both made the same way. The lots are kept separate during about 32 months in barrel and racked every six months, letting a little oxygen slowly finesse the tannins, and they age in caves dug into Howell Mountain in 1989, kept at 56°F and high humidity year-round. The 2022 saw 84% new French oak, the first vintage in a while not raised in 100% new oak. Keeping alcohol moderate has always been essential to the Dunn style. The Howell Mountain bottle is hand-dipped in red wax.
Vineyards and terroir: The Howell Mountain Cabernet comes entirely from Dunn's own vineyards around Angwin, at 1,800 to 2,100 feet on primarily east-facing slopes, above the fog line. Cooler temperatures but more hours of sunlight give small, thick-skinned berries, and the meager, shallow soils hold yields to about half those of the valley floor. Organic practices have been used since 2016, and the family is now focused on regenerative farming and on preserving the forest around the vines.
Family and history: Randy and Lori Dunn bought their first land on Howell Mountain in 1978, with Cabernet vines already planted at 2,000 feet, and made one wine in 1979: the first Dunn Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. Randy and fellow vintners defined the Howell Mountain AVA in 1983. Their son Mike Dunn returned to the winery around 2000 and revitalized the cellar, and the family business is now in its third generation, with Ted Kizor as winemaker since 2023.
