1994 Dunn Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain
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Note di degustazione
Good full red. Mellow, musky scents of raspberry, black cherry, spices, mocha and leather. Still a bit youthfully brooding and unyielding, with dark berry, licorice and tobacco flavors taking on leather and earth notes with aeration. Conveys a seamless texture but the wine's chewy, tongue-drying tannins take over on the back end, with the fruit remaining in the background. Will this yet blossom in bottle or will the tannins continue to hold the upper hand? A rather tough vintage for Dunn Howell Mountain but this wine reveals building intensity with air. Incidentally, this bottle very much tracks a bottle I tasted three years ago in my horizontal tasting of the '94s. I find it hard to recommend holding a 23-year-old wine--but in this instance further aging should be constructive. This rather Pauillac-like wine will certainly be long-lived. (13% alcohol)
Punteggi della critica
Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Altre recensioni e punteggi
(13% alcohol): Good full red. Old World funk to the aromas of black raspberry, leather, menthol, mocha, truffley underbrush and smoke. Tightly wound and a bit lacking in pliancy, with intense redcurrant, tobacco, dark chocolate, herb, licorice and leather flavors leading to a seriously tannic, dusty finish. Lovely restrained sweetness. The tannins dust the tongue and teeth. Will this loosen up with more time in bottle?
The 1994s might be ready to drink within 10-15 years. It is hard to believe these wines spend 30 months in oak casks before bottling as they are incredibly unevolved and backward when released. Look out for the behemoth 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain. This black/purple-colored wine adds a few more nuances (minerals, licorice, and floral scents) to the lavish display of creme de cassis. Full-bodied, with a blockbuster level of extract and density, this is an outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon for readers with patience, good genes for longevity, or the foresight to purchase it for their children. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2030. One of the issues about which Randy Dunn is sensitive is the fact that his wines are so remarkably consistent that it is often difficult to tell vintages apart. I think the vintage character will become more apparent when the wines are 15-20 years of age. Even the most professional palate will be inundated with a furious blast of tannin and concentrated cassis and blackberry fruit when these wines are young. With that in mind, the notes for the wines reviewed in this segment do sound similar, but I feel 1994 may turn out to be Dunn's finest of the three most recent vintages. At present, 1995 looks to be the most tannic, and 1996, similar to, but softer than 1994. Given the fact that both of Dunn's debut vintages of 1979 and 1980 are still relative infants in terms of development, in all likelihood, the 1994s, 1995s, and 1996s possess a minimum of 25-30 years of aging potential! Tel. (707) 965-3642; Fax (707) 965-3805