The Napa Wine Project explains:
The site ranges from about 700 feet to 2,400 feet in elevation. The vines are certified organic and are farmed biodynamically. This is the largest Demeter certified Biodynamic Ranch in Napa Valley.
This rare and rugged piece of Napa Valley is truly a special site. It remains one with the surrounding forested hillsides, where grapes are grown but are not the dominating feature of the rocky landscape.
The Ink Grade wines are crafted to showcase richness without heaviness, and texture without coarseness; these are wines that are fresh both on the bouquet and the palate. Each wine is labeled with an image from a painting created by various well-known artists. And some of these original pieces are displayed in the tasting room. While Heitz Cellars had been producing wines from the Ink Grade estate including blending into their Cabernet Sauvignon and also creating a port-style wine (our first introduction to this vineyard many years ago), 2017 was the first vintage bottled as Ink Grade.
The 2019 Ink Grade Napa Valley Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon and 12% Merlot. This wine is noticeably dark ruby in color; the elegant bouquet offers scents of plum skin, black raspberry, cigar spices and blue berries along with a hint of leather. We also noticed a rose stem like character, a scent that was first mentioned to us when describing one of the Opus One wines by winemaker Michael Silacci. The image for this wine label is of a California Quail male from one of James Audubon’s watercolor paintings.
Forbes says:
Winemaker Matt Taylor, who cut his teeth at Joseph Swan and Domaine Dujac before he transplanted back to California, truly believes that these high-altitude sites offer incredible, grand cru potential with immense intensity of fruit, a gripping depth, and a singing minerality.
Again, the Wine Spectator awarded this as one of their Top 100 Wines of 2023, saying:
Expressive, with bramble and black licorice notes leading off, followed quickly by fresh black cherry and currant preserves. Features flashes of bay leaf and mesquite on the sleek finish, with a strong mineral underpinning as well. Drink now through 2035.
And Suckling rates it even higher. As does Decanter, which says:
Heady and explosive red and black fruit notes are intermixed with an enticing graham cracker crust and toasty oak element. Full-bodied and overflowing with pure black fruits and more savoury-sweet oak spices. Powerful mountain tannins are burly and grippy, like the vines clinging to the rocks.
