Lokoya Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2013  £450.00

Lokoya Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 

Established in 1995, Lokoya is a collection of four distinct Cabernet Sauvignons from four of Napa Valley’s most celebrated mountain appellations: Mount Veeder, Howell Mountain, Spring Mountain and Diamond Mountain. These limited-production wines are 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, fermented with native yeast, and bottled unfined and unfiltered, resulting in the purest expression of place.

Cabernet Sauvignon as lens, site as conveyor—the grape variety and winemaking for the four wines remain consistent, allowing the vineyard sites to shine with the climate, soils and sunlight all fully expressed in the glass.

Given the high elevation of the sites, the vineyards demand constant attention. The deep understanding of the vineyard trajectory in each vintage comes from Winemaker Christopher Carpenter’s years of expertise. Intervention is kept to a minimum both in the vineyard and in the cellar, leaving the fruit to express itself as naturally and eloquently as possible.

At the northeastern side of Napa Valley’s Vaca Range, the Howell Mountain appellation peaks at 2,500 feet. Our estate W.S. Keyes Vineyard was planted in 1888 and has been the exclusive source for the Lokoya Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon since its first vintage in 1995. The vineyard sits at 1,825 feet, high above the fog line, where temperatures are cool but moderate, and Cabernet Sauvignon, in particular, thrives with extra time to ripen. The vines bask in a steady breeze and sunlight, surrounded by a forest of ponderosa pine. Lean, quick-draining soils force the vines to struggle, yielding small grapes that possess deep, concentrated flavour with a signature minerality and earthy undertone.

Critic Review

Rating 100

Drink Date 2015 - 2045

Reviewed by Robert M. Parker, Jr.

Source The Wine Advocate

One of two perfect wines ended my mini-tasting of the offerings from Lokoya in 2013. The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain from the Keyes Vineyard is an amazing wine. Thick purple in colour with a stunning nose of lead pencil shavings, blackcurrants, mulberries and blackberries, the wine has a steely structure, yet enormous concentration, skyscraper-like mouth texture, and builds incrementally to a stunning finish of close to a minute. The purity, the richness, the overall equilibrium are unreal, but then this is Lokoya. Drink it over the next 30+ years.

One of the superstars of the Kendall-Jackson portfolio, the Lokoya wines all come from four microclimates in Napa Valley, are made by the brilliant Chris Carpenter, and range in size (production-wise) from a low of 340 cases for the Diamond Mountain to 1,750 for the Mt. Veeder. All of these wines are 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from some of the best parcels of vines available, aged in 100% new oak and bottled unfiltered. They have been on an absolute qualitative tear for a number of years and seem to go from strength to strength. We’re dealing with possibly the greatest vintage I have tasted in 37 years of visits to Napa Valley – 2013. So, I suppose these reviews are not that unusual. Tel. (707) 948-1968; www.lokoya.com

*Product excluded from further discounts