Castiel Estate 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain Napa Valley 99 Points

Jeb Dunnuck 99 Points: Another masterpiece from the talents of Celia Welch, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain comes from a site on Howell Mountain and spent 20 months in new French oak. It’s a full-bodied, concentrated, powerful Mountain Cabernet revealing ample smoked black fruits, notes of graphite, tobacco, spicy wood, and bouquet garni, a dense, layered mid-palate, building tannins, and a gorgeous overall profile that will benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age. It will unquestionably have two decades or more of prime drinking.”

Celia Welch (Winemaker notes): “ The 2021 Castiel Cabernet Sauvignon shows mulberry, fresh boysenberry, bay leaf, and forest floor aromas, with a touch of baked cherry pie and notes of cocoa dust. At entry, the fruit flavors are profound and complex, with juicy blackberry fruit dominant, then supported with baking spices, cocoa dust, a nuance of dried leaves and bark. Bright fruit acidity adds lift throughout the palate impression, and the finish is a mixture of nubby, slightly sinewy tannins, juicy cherry and cola flavors, and fresh raspberries. Three clones of Cabernet Sauvignon were harvested between September 13 and 24, 2021. Each lot was vinified individually and kept separate in barrels until after the first year in oak. The wines were blended and then returned to their barrels for an additional eight months prior to bottling in May 2023. The wine was bottled without fining or filtration