Appellation · United States
Howell Mountain
Napa’s first sub-AVA, above the fog line on the eastern ridge, making the valley’s most tannic Cabernet.
Full-bodied, dense Cabernet Sauvignon with black fruit, mountain herbs and formidable tannin. Needs time.
About Howell Mountain
Howell Mountain sits above 1,400 feet on Napa’s eastern ridge, and its defining feature is that it is above the fog. Where the valley floor is cooled by morning fog and warmed in the afternoon, the mountain gets steady sun and cooler nights.
The soils are volcanic tuff and red clay, poor and free-draining, and yields are very low.
The wines are the most structured in Napa — denser, more tannic and slower to open than anything from the valley floor, and they need a decade.
What the name means
- Legal name
- Howell Mountain AVA
- Type
- American Viticultural Area (AVA)
- Set by
- Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB)
- Recognised
- 1983
- Regulates
- Origin only. It sets no rules about varieties, yields, ageing or winemaking.
Only where the grapes were grown, plus the percentage that must come from the named area. An AVA sets no varietal, yield, ageing or winemaking rules whatsoever — the single most commonly misunderstood fact about US wine labels.
Napa’s first sub-AVA. The boundary begins at 1,400 feet — above the fog line — which is unusual in being defined by elevation rather than by a watershed.
Grapes
Wines from here
What to eat, and how to serve it
Derived from this region’s signature styles. Each is listed separately, because a region does not have one serving temperature.
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Serve at 16–18°C (cool room temperature).
Try with steak, ribeye steak or roast chicken.
Where to go next
Places worth trying if you like this one — neighbours, rivals, and the obvious step across.
- Mount Veeder — Steep, cool, sedimentary slopes on Napa’s western ridge, and the coolest of the valley’s mountain AVAs.
- Spring Mountain District — A cool, wet, wooded stretch of the Mayacamas above St Helena, and the wettest AVA in Napa.
- Napa Valley — California’s most prestigious AVA, and the reference point for New World Cabernet Sauvignon.
Sources
Sources consulted
- American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) — Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), US Department of the Treasury
- Napa Valley Vintners — Napa Valley Vintners