| Producer | Arkenstone |
| Country | United States |
| Region | Napa Valley |
| Subregion | Howell Mountain |
| Varietal | Sauvignon Blanc |
| Vintage | 2017 |
| Sku | 13934 |
| Size | 750ml |
The recently released 2017 Sauvignon Blanc Estate Reserve is a Dagueneau-inpired 100% Sauvignon Blanc fermented and aged in demi-muid. Classy notes of pencil shavings accent honeyed pineapple fruit on the nose, while the medium to full-bodied palate is marked by its streamlined shape, a wonderfully silky texture and tremendous length and elegance on the finish. Wow.
One of the don't-miss projects on Howell Mountain is Arkenstone, a gem of a winery and 12-acre vineyard planted in the late 1990s. Winemaker Sam Kaplan came on board in 2006, in time to consult on the construction of the winery, and has been there ever since, with an estate vineyard team. "It's a nice, manageable amount of land to do in house," he said.
In general, the optically sorted Cabernet-based wines here spend 11 months in oak as separate lots, then are blended and returned to barrel for another 11 months of aging prior to bottling. The range covers the Howell Mountain Estate Red Blend (formerly known as Obsidian), several single-vineyard wines, and the NVD bottling. There are tiny quantities of estate-grown Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah as well. An impressive new single-vineyard wine debuts this year, with the 2020 and 2021 vintages of a Cabernet Sauvignon from the Godward Vineyard in Rutherford.
On this visit, Kaplan and I focused largely on the Cabernets, tasting through the 2020s and barrel samples of the 2021s, plus looking back at the 2019, 2018 and 2013 (Obsidian) vintages of the Estate Red Blend. I was pleased to see those wines lining up nicely with how my predecessors had reviewed them, so I haven't re-reviewed them here. These are impeccably balanced, elegant expressions of Howell Mountain that shouldn't be missed.
Arriving in 2006, winemaker Sam Kaplan continues to fashion rock star wines from this Howell Mountain estate. One of the best whites from Napa, as well as one of the most ageworthy, the 2017 Sauvignon Blanc Estate gives up serious notes of stone fruits, lime, orange blossom, and some obvious minerality on the nose. Made from 94% Sauvignon Blanc and 6% Semillon aged in a mix of barrel and concrete eggs, it’s full-bodied, concentrated, and textured, all while staying pure and incredibly precise on the palate. It’s a brilliant wine that I suspect will evolve for two decades.
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