Summit Lake Winery Howell Mountain Estate Red 2+1 Pack
$49.99
+ $5 shipping


Products:
1 2006 Emily Kestrel Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
2 2006 Summit Lake Howell Mountain Zinfandel

Winery Website

So we all know 2005 was great and so is 2007 for the most part, but how does 2006 fit in for these specific wines?

Did anyone else notice how late the new deal went up?

Wow, only 306 cases of the Cab made.

lassow wrote:Did anyone else notice how late the new deal went up?

Seemed on time to me. The twitter notice got posted exactly at midnight at least.

Love the labels!

Imagine4vr wrote:Love the labels!

Agree, the labels are penguinrific.

Well according to the CT values this is an excellent deal. According to my not double checked math this is worth north of $90

lassow wrote:So we all know 2005 was great and so is 2007 for the most part, but how does 2006 fit in for these specific wines?

This is from the winery website regarding the Cabernet:

"One of our best vintages ever, the 2006 is medium-bodied and well structured, with a chewy texture and robust, yet approachable tannins. This wine has tightly focused aromatics of cedar, tea leaf, white pepper, dried cherry and rhubarb, and ripe flavors including raspberry, black cherry and cranberries with a lasting finish of dense plum and toffee."

http://shop.summitlakevineyards.com/2003emilykestrelcabernetsauvignon-1.aspx

Ooh, Howell Mountain! Tempting. I will wait for more info, though. Is there rattage on Tuesday offerings?

redwinefan wrote:This is from the winery website regarding the Cabernet:

"One of our best vintages ever, the 2006 is medium-bodied and well structured, with a chewy texture and robust, yet approachable tannins. This wine has tightly focused aromatics of cedar, tea leaf, white pepper, dried cherry and rhubarb, and ripe flavors including raspberry, black cherry and cranberries with a lasting finish of dense plum and toffee."

http://shop.summitlakevineyards.com/2003emilykestrelcabernetsauvignon-1.aspx

This is one of my favorite vintages of Cab that we have made. A great example of mountain fruit~

Hi Wooters~
I am so excited to have our wine with woot. I will be online for a while if there are any questions let me know!

So it says it will age gracefully for the next 20 years--do you recommend waiting at least a few years then, or is this ready for drinking now?

wrensmom wrote:So it says it will age gracefully for the next 20 years--do you recommend waiting at least a few years then, or is this ready for drinking now?

rpm would say drink soonish, as this is a classic ripe Napa cab, and Zins are rarely for keeping). Therefore IMHO. annd given the descriptions given above, expect an International-style high-Parker-scoring Napa cab with plenty of chewiness in the mouth and dense fruit-forward flavours, but which will not age like a more subtle old-world-style Cab. Still, if it's a godo one it might give you ten years or so.

redwinefan wrote:Agree, the labels are penguinrific.

Thank you, we love our labels too. The Zin label is one my mom picked out and sent to the printer without showing anyone. And the Cab label was done by a family friend for Emily, the first grand daughter of the family.

lassow wrote:So we all know 2005 was great and so is 2007 for the most part, but how does 2006 fit in for these specific wines?

for most CA makers I've seen over the past year or so on woot, and talking to one or two others, 06 was a pretty good year, generally a little more fruit-forward and not as "great" as the other two you mention, and probably drinking a little younger than the others. Still a tasty year by all accounts.

heathergriffin wrote:Hi Wooters~
I am so excited to have our wine with woot. I will be online for a while if there are any questions let me know!

Great! TA, pH and Brix harvested? :D

Edit: I see Brix is 26% which is high, as expected from a chewy tasty Napa Cab. You have TA and pH figs?

Love to hear some tasting info on the Zin too!

wrensmom wrote:Ooh, Howell Mountain! Tempting. I will wait for more info, though. Is there rattage on Tuesday offerings?

No rattage. The only rattage is for the deal that goes up on Fridays. Though if you buy this (on any other offering for that matter) you are eligible to rat the upcoming Friday offering, assuming you are duly registered and have been assimilated.

*******

Personally, I would like to see the Friday stay up a bit longer - to give more time for the rats 6o check in and for wooters to decide.

heathergriffin wrote:Hi Wooters~
I am so excited to have our wine with woot. I will be online for a while if there are any questions let me know!

Is this Zin just another berry bomb I could procure for under $10, or is it something more complex?

The one thing I've always loved about buying Zin is that there is some super delicious stuff out there for very reasonable prices. I used to love Zin because it was one of the only wines I could really "taste", but now that my palate has evolved I like it for much different reasons.

Also-- where is the winery? Do you have tastings?

wrensmom wrote:So it says it will age gracefully for the next 20 years--do you recommend waiting at least a few years then, or is this ready for drinking now?

I believe it really depends on personaly preference. The wine is drinking very well now, lots of fruit, spice, minerality and tannins. Personally, I like a little more age on our wines (I am drinking my stash of 2002 and 2003's right now)
We did also open a 1992 (first year we produced a Cab) at the wine club pig roast and it was amazing!

Also wooters, please note this is Summit Lake Vineyards & Winery (in CA), not Summit Lake Winery (in Mizzou)

airjesse123 wrote:Is this Zin just another berry bomb I could procure for under $10, or is it something more complex?

The one thing I've always loved about buying Zin is that there is some super delicious stuff out there for very reasonable prices. I used to love Zin because it was one of the only wines I could really "taste", but now that my palate has evolved I like it for much different reasons.

Also-- where is the winery? Do you have tastings?

This is not a jammy style Zin. My dad, Bob Brakesman, started producing Zin in the early 70's and this wine follows in that "classically made" style. Good fruit that is well balanced with spice and tannins.

heathergriffin wrote:This is not a jammy style Zin. My dad, Bob Brakesman, started producing Zin in the early 70's and this wine follows in that "classically made" style. Good fruit that is well balanced with spice and tannins.

Ooops~ forgot the second half!
We are located up on Angwin, on Howell Mountain. And yes we do tastings by appointment, so give us a call if you are close and come visit!

heathergriffin wrote:This is not a jammy style Zin. My dad, Bob Brakesman, started producing Zin in the early 70's and this wine follows in that "classically made" style. Good fruit that is well balanced with spice and tannins.

Great! In4One (to split). Thanks for being an active Winery on here! (p.s. it sends to drive sales!)

heathergriffin wrote:This is not a jammy style Zin. My dad, Bob Brakesman, started producing Zin in the early 70's and this wine follows in that "classically made" style. Good fruit that is well balanced with spice and tannins.

Aha.. so, what kind of spice does it give us, and can you characterise the fruit?

And here's a question I sometimes like to ask of winemakers: what other winemakers' wines do you like? and whose wines are yours most like?

richardhod wrote:Great! TA, pH and Brix harvested? :D

Edit: I see Brix is 26% which is high, as expected from a chewy tasty Napa Cab. You have TA and pH figs?

Love to hear some tasting info on the Zin too!

I will have to get that info for you in the morning when the boys are available. I'll see what I can dig up

Sorry to be pesky; but says wine was fined... did you use Gelatin at all (I have a friend that is vegetarian)?

Alright, can't resist. Everything I have had from Howell Mountain has been really good and interesting, and also more $ than this deal. In for 2 (so I can get 2 of the cab).

Thanks to the winery for showing up right away and answering questions too! There is something to be said for the personal touch.

richardhod wrote:Aha.. so, what kind of spice does it give us, and can you characterise the fruit?

And here's a question I sometimes like to ask of winemakers: what other winemakers' wines do you like? and whose wines are yours most like?

The Cab has some nice white pepper notes to it and a good mix of red and black fruits, a very elegant style of Cab.

The Zin has more black pepper and the darker fruits, cherry and plum.

I like the second question, but geez that's tough! I just got back from a wine road trip and was able to taste lots of wines, which is a treat~
There are so many good wines out there, but if I had to pick a couple of winemakers...Randy Dunn, Heidi Barrett, oh and Mike Dunn for Petite Sirah

wrensmom wrote:Alright, can't resist. Everything I have had from Howell Mountain has been really good and interesting, and also more $ than this deal. In for 2 (so I can get 2 of the cab).

Thanks to the winery for showing up right away and answering questions too! There is something to be said for the personal touch.

Thank you~It is really fun to be able to talk to people directly about what we are doing up here!

airjesse123 wrote:Sorry to be pesky; but says wine was fined... did you use Gelatin at all (I have a friend that is vegetarian)?

generally we use egg white as it works better for our wines, are they vegan If it makes you feel any better allt he eggs came from the ranch too!

heathergriffin wrote:generally we use egg white as it works better for our wines, are they vegan If it makes you feel any better allt he eggs came from the ranch too!

Nope just vegetarian, so I guess they are still OK to have it. Thanks for the disclosure. I was V&E undergrad at Davis so I know all the strange things used in fining!

I'll be back in the morning...thanks for all the posts night owls!

heathergriffin wrote:generally we use egg white as it works better for our wines, are they vegan If it makes you feel any better allt he eggs came from the ranch too!

Heather, I suppose someone has to ask: do you have a son who looks like this?

airjesse123 wrote:Nope just vegetarian, so I guess they are still OK to have it. Thanks for the disclosure. I was V&E undergrad at Davis so I know all the strange things used in fining!

No problem, that is about as "strange" as we get up here. We like to share as much info as we can with our customers, we know you appreciate it! We only have one real secret ingredient, and that is in our port!

richardhod wrote:Heather, I suppose someone has to ask: do you have a son who looks like this?

No, that would be my brother, his son looks just like that! Did you see Ben's picture on the website?

My family and I just returned to Ohio from our visit out to California. One of our main stops was Summit Lake.

Heather and her father Bob are such great people. We spent a wonderful afternoon drinking wine, playing with their two dogs and watching my 9 month old son enjoy the other animals on the land (horses, mini-goats, pigs, chickens, etc).

The zin was absolutely fantastic...Just what I like in a zin, great spices and black pepper on the pallet, which hold up excellent with the fruit. Not just another "berry bomb."

The cab is an excellent example of Howell Mountain cabernet's. We have had a few bottles at dinner over at the in-laws house and enjoy it every time. The wine is drinking well right now.

The Hershbergers family

This looks very interesting, but... no GA shipping!
Guess I'll have to sit this one out. Bummer.

I love Howell Mountain AVA wines so I'm in for 2 packs. Excited to try them, I'm low on Zin too.