Bread & Butter Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

When Gregory Ahn launched Bread & Butter in 2013, he encoded the winemaking philosophy directly into the brand name: oak = bread, malolactic fermentation = butter — a deliberate manifesto against the lean, unoaked California style that had dominated the preceding decade. This Howell Mountain expression applies that same doctrine to one of Napa's most demanding sub-appellations. Howell Mountain sits above the fog line on the eastern Vaca Range, where volcanic, iron-rich soils with minimal water retention force deep root development and produce naturally small-berried Cabernet with concentrated pigment and firm, fine-grained tannin — a structural profile that distinguishes it sharply from valley-floor fruit. Fermentation in stainless steel preserves primary fruit integrity before the wine moves into a combination of French and American oak barrels for aging; 100% malolactic fermentation converts the mountain's inherent tartaric sharpness into a rounder lactic texture without softening the tannin architecture. What sets this expression apart within the Bread & Butter portfolio is the site itself: Howell Mountain's elevation-driven phenolic density gives the wine a structural backbone that the brand's house style — built for approachability — rarely encounters at this tier. The 2019 vintage in Napa delivered a long, even growing season with no major heat events at harvest, producing fruit with both ripeness and natural acidity intact; drink now through 2027.