In every profession we encounter a few individuals who strive to be "the best they can be." And fortunately for civilization, a small number of these individuals also have talent and ability; these are the people who define the state of their art. In the world of American wine, the highest eschelon has been dominated by, perhaps, a few dozen people who have made a sustained effort to produce the very best product possible. High on nearly everyone's list is Randy Dunn, who has been making enormously rich Cabernets since 1979.
Dunn's Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 1985 had been chosen to accompany a rich and savory Daube of Beef with Green Olives and Anchovies. The dinner was prepared at my wine friend Ken's home.
We had enjoyed several other vintages of Dunn Cabernets and had certain expectations for this one. It was the Howell Mountain, not Napa Valley designation, and carried a WS rating of 88, the lowest of any Dunn bottling we had previously enjoyed. I should say that, like every other object of distinction, Dunn's wines are not to everyone's liking. Many find them overstated, too intense. Such people might prefer Mozart's music to Beethoven's, too, for similar reasons. Dunn is Beethoven. His wines are always highly extracted, tannic behemoths with three times the fruit of more typical Cabernets. They are wines to lay down for a long, long time. Nevertheless, we were drinking this one in the years of its adolescence. The nose showed great promise, reminding me immediately of Chateau Latour. The taste followed the nose fairly closely, but it was clear that it had not yet come together and would not for a good long time. The pairing with the daube was ideal, its complex sauce finding resonant flavors in the wine.
