94 Points | International Wine Cellar , May/June 2011

Full red-ruby.  Complex, vibrant nose combines redcurrant, brown spices, flowers, minerals and crushed stone (the vines are planted on bedrock).  Enters the mouth thick but shapely, then shows terrific mid-palate sweetness and richness leavened by penetrating but integrated acidity.  Excellent spine here but the tannins are quite suave for Howell Mountain.  Perhaps most impressive today on the very long, sweet, energetic aftertaste, which features a note of bitter chocolate.  Under the winemaking of Thomas Brown, this bottling has become one of Howell Mountain's elite cabernets in recent years.

96 Points | Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate