Building Up Howell Mountain
Randy Dunn started as an oenologist for Caymus Vineyards and worked as a consultant for several different wineries. He began his own winemaking career by purchasing 4 hectares in Angwin in 1978, using only the fruit for three vintages, 1979, 1980, and 1981, along with purchased fruit from a neighboring farm and some grapes from Beatty Ranch. The wines were made at Caymus and then stored at Dunn. In 1984, Howell Mountain was approved as a sub-AVA of Napa Valley, largely due to the efforts of Randy Dunn and Bill Smith from La Jota. It didn’t take long for Dunn Howell Mountain Cabernet to become a market success, and their production grew rapidly. Today, there is a cellar next to the house that Dunn built in 1989, where all the barrels and wines are now stored. The tunnel has a constant temperature of 13 degrees and natural humidity that minimizes evaporation. Dunn believes that the typical characteristics of his wines are more about the soil in Howell Mountain than how he makes his wines.