Zeitgeist Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain 2023

Zeitgeist Cellars is a brilliant collaboration between husband-and-wife winemaking team, Mark Porembski (Unwritten, formerly of Far Niente and Araujo Estate) and Jennifer Williams (Arrow & Branch, formerly of Spottswoode). Founded in 2005 by Mark, who was joined shortly after by Jennifer, Zeitgeist Cellars makes roughly 1,000 cases of wine per year, all offered at great price points without missing a beat on quality. To make this work, the dynamic duo does nearly every step themselves — from working hands-on in the vineyards with the farmers to processing the fruit by hand, overseeing the entire fermentation process, then blending and bottling with very little help from others — their story is an inspiration, and their wines confirm the talent of their craft. And if making their wines and consulting for several small premium Napa Valley-based wineries isn’t enough, they are raising three daughters at home. With three kids and full-time responsibilities at their day jobs, how this rock-star winemaking couple finds the time to craft these gorgeous Zeitgeist wines is beyond us!

2023 is the second vintage Mark and Jennifer have made a Howell Mountain wine for Zeitgeist, and they’ve leveled up with fruit from David Abreu’s famed Las Posadas vineyard. Those familiar with Napa’s “cult wine” classics are no strangers to David’s name, whose insights and expertise are so highly sought-after that one could dub him “vineyard manager to the stars!” High above the morning fog, the 2000-ft-elevation Las Posadas vineyard is tucked unassumingly within a forest of fir and pine trees. David purchased the property in 2000, which had lain fallow for years, and immediately began rehabilitating its Red Aiken and white tufa soils. In the years since, David’s Las Posadas Cabernet Sauvignon has established a reputation that precedes it, often noted as a “benchmark Howell Mountain.” To the joy of Mark and Jennifer, David granted their wish for Cabernet Sauvignon; however, this is the one and only vintage from Las Posadas, due to David’s exclusivity contract in 2024 with Trinchero.

Over 22 months in 75% new French oak barrels, the 100% Cabernet Sauvignon has woven layers of firm, bold tannins, building a full-bodied scaffolding to lift a line of tension and hold a long, lingering finish. Jeb Dunnuck notes, “the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain delivers savory aromatics of red and black fruits, dried herbs, spicy oak, Asian spice, and lead pencil. It's medium to full-bodied, with a layered, complex mouthfeel, ripe yet still classic Mountain tannins, and a great finish.”