Tasting Notes
The 2022 vintage was an early and warm one. A heat dome hit during Labor Day, catapulting sugars—and, therefore, harvest. While some blocks fared well through the heat, others with rocky soils and low water-holding capacity had to be picked. The benefit of being at elevation was clear in 2022. Our vineyards did not get as hot as those on the valley floor. We were able to maintain great color and tannin, although slightly lower than average, due to the intense heat in September 2022. But, Howell Mountain always offers more tannin than we need, so having a bit less tannin naturally allowed us to ferment on the skins slightly longer than normal, while still exhibiting that classic Howell Mountain structure and mouthfeel.
About Cade
With a shared vision, Gavin Newsom, Gordon Getty and John Conover imagined the addition of a complementary estate vineyard to the valley floor terroir of their Oakville estate at PlumpJack Estate Winery. In 2005, that dream came to fruition in the form of a 54-acre estate, elevated high above the fog line, on the dramatic slopes of Howell Mountain – it would become CADE Estate Winery.
Given the opportunity to build the winery from the ground up, Newsom, Getty and Conover were committed to constructing a state-of-the-art winery that would pay tribute to the land, both aesthetically and ecologically. This commitment would go above and beyond the standard benchmark of environmental responsibility, especially in the world of wine. The end goal, to construct the first CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers) organically farmed, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Certified Estate Winery in the Napa Valley.
As an homage to our first winery, the caves at CADE Estate were designed in the shape of the PlumpJack shield. CADE Estate, similar to PlumpJack, also takes its name from Shakespeare, who used the term to refer to the wine casks– or cades– shipped from Bordeaux to England during Elizabethan times.
The CADE Estate logo can also trace its inception to the property, where a particular Manzanita tree, rooted in front of the winery building, gave birth to the red tree symbol, both in shape and color. In fact, the path towards the winery is intentionally carved around this special tree, in order to preserve the interplay between natural and architectural spaces.
Today, Winemaker Danielle Cyrot continues to craft high elevation cabernet sauvignon that articulates the intense, powerful character of our estate while maintaining a balance of mountain fruit, firm acidity and judicious oak for layered, complex wines that reflect approachability and age ability – this nuanced, artisanal expression that we refer to as Modern Howell Mountain.
