Wine in Review

By Brett Anderson

ALMOST WITHOUT EXCEPTION, the first remark every visitor makes upon arrival at O’Shaughnessy Estate Winery is on how difficult it is to find. Located in the northern half of Napa Valley, atop Howell Mountain, the winery can only be reached by means of a labyrinthine series of winding country roads that make hairpin turns through light-dappled forest. As one climbs, these begin more and more to resemble wilderness. One feels a bit like a pioneer——something not unknown to this appellation, where, starting in the 1880s, early Napa winemakers like Charles Krug and W.S. Keyes, founder of La Jota Winery, chose to plant vineyards.

It was in this same pioneering spirit that businesswoman Betty O’Shaughnessy decided to relocate to Napa from her native Minnesota. After growing grapes for other producers for a number of years, she acquired the first of two parcels on historic Howell Mountain with the intention of producing single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. She then hired Sean Capiaux, formerly of Pine Ridge and Peter Michael, as her winemaker.

Capiaux consulted with O’Shaughnessy and San Francisco architect Michael Guthrie on the design of the winemaking facility, a stunning stone-and-glass composition that not only houses state-of-the-art equipment but blends seamlessly into the mountainside, allowing the sweeping landscape and majestic views to take precedence. This emphasis on Howell Mountain’s natural beauty extends to the wines as well: Since the estate’s first release, the 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon, wine enthusiasts have praised its depth and elegantly intense fruit——classic characteristics of this mountain appellation.

The 2003 vintage of the Howell Mountain Cabernet (O’Shaughnessy introduced a Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon in 2002) adds yet another tier to an already impressive, if young, vertical of wines. A vibrant dark red, this well-poised wine gives off an elegant perfume of blueberry and cherry, along with forest-like scents of earth and spice. On the palate, the flavors——cherry, blueberry, creamy coffee and custard——are firm but subtle, graceful rather than forceful. The finish is long and as musical as a Rossini crescendo, with not a note out of place. O’Shaughnessy Estate Winery, 707-965-2898, or online at oshaughnessywinery.com.

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