Winemaker Notes
The blend focuses on fruit from our two Howell Mountain Estate vineyards-Stout and Candlestick Ridge-yielding a wine with exceptional structure and extracted aromatics of peppermint, chocolate, bramble, cedar, soy and ginger spice. On the palate, it is lush and mouth-filling, highlighting Howell Mountain’s signature wild berry and currant flavors, alongside notes of toasted marshmallow, espresso, earth, sage and sandalwood.
Production
The 2005 season began with a wet winter and spring, which led to annual rainfall totals that were well above average. We had an ideal fruit set, which produced an abundant number of full grape clusters. As a result, the vintage yielded exceptional fruit for the season. The harvest lasted over two months—into the early days of November. In many ways the 2005 season was reminiscent of the excellent 1997 vintage, which offered an abundant harvest of remarkable quality.