2019 Howell Mountain Estate Merlot
This Merlot is perhaps the wine that expresses the nature of Howell Mountain more than any other wine in the Robert Craig portfolio. It is estate grown and estate bottled. Sourced primarily from the Candlestick Ridge Vineyard along the summit of Howell Mountain it also includes Merlot from Block 3 on the Winery Estate Vineyard. The team at Robert Craig actually use some Cabernet Sauvignon from more elegant lots to soften this wine as it can be a bruiser at the outset.
Interested in a library vintage?
Contact us to see what's available. Exclusively for Melier members.
The story
Robert Craig founder Robert (Bob) Craig began his long and storied career in wine at The Hess Collection on Mount Veeder in the 1980s. Prior to starting his eponymous winery, Bob’s passion for Napa Valley Mountain Cabernet had him spearheading the official recognition of both the Mount Veeder and Spring Mountain District AVAs.
In 1990, with the help of three friends he met at business school in Chicago 25 years earlier, Bob founded Robert Craig Winery and arranged to purchase fruit and custom crush his first commercial release of the 1992 vintage. The 1993 vintage release introduced three Cabernets that remain the core of our business today: Howell Mountain, Mount Veeder and Affinity. Now, four decades later, Bob Craig remains one of the most important figures in Mountain Cabernet development and production in the history of the Napa Valley.
The team
Bob & Lynn Craig
Co-Owners
Elton Slone
President & CEO
