Dunn Vineyards — Napa Valley / Howell Mountain Winery & Tasting Room

Napa Valley / Howell Mountain · Howell Mountain AVA
🥂 Estate Wines
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Hours
Not open to the public
📞
Phone
(707) 965-3642
💰
Tasting Fee
Mailing list only
📅
Reservations
Mailing list only
🌿
Est.
1979

About Dunn Vineyards

Dunn Vineyards is a dedicated estate winery in the rugged, high-elevation Howell Mountain appellation above the Napa Valley fog, producing wines that reflect the character of volcanic, iron-rich soils and cool elevations that extend the growing season. Randy Dunn’s 1979 Howell Mountain cult Cabernet estate — the winemaker who built Caymus Vineyards’ reputation before est. The estate's commitment to quality viticulture and site-specific winemaking has earned Dunn Vineyards a respected place among the region's most consistent and genuinely food-friendly producers.

The Howell Mountain growing environment shapes everything Dunn Vineyards produces. Volcanic, iron-rich soils and cool elevations that extend the growing season define the estate's vineyard character, contributing the structure, natural acidity, and terroir specificity that distinguish the finest wines from this appellation. Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Merlot form the backbone of the portfolio, with each variety expressing a distinct facet of the estate's unique growing conditions. Winemaking at Dunn Vineyards prioritizes transparency and balance over extraction, allowing the appellation's natural character to lead rather than winemaker intervention.

Visitors to Dunn Vineyards can expect a genuine and unhurried tasting experience that reflects the estate's commitment to quality and hospitality. The tasting room provides an authentic introduction to the estate wines and the Howell Mountain appellation. Whether visiting for a focused flight or a deeper exploration of the estate's vineyard programs, Dunn Vineyards offers the kind of direct producer experience that wine tourism in California wine country is built on — knowledgeable, welcoming, and genuinely connected to the land and the wines it produces.

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What WinoNotion Loved
Visit pending — based on winery profile & reputation
Dunn Vineyards isDunn Vineyards is Howell Mountain’s most celebrated and historically significant cult Cabernet Sauvignon estate.
Randy Dunn —Randy Dunn — who spent years as the winemaker at Caymus Vineyards, helping build its reputation before establishing his own Howell Mountain property in 1979 — has produced tiny quantities of estate Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon from volcanic mountain terrain at 2,000 feet elevation that Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate have consistently scored at 95–99 points across four decades of continuous production.
The Howell MountainThe Howell Mountain AVA — established in 1984 as Napa Valley’s first single-mountain appellation, specifically to recognize the distinctive growing environment above the 1,400-foot fog line on the eastern Napa Valley mountain range — produces Cabernet Sauvignon of extraordinary volcanic mineral intensity, structural depth, and age-worthiness that valley-floor Napa Valley Cabernet cannot approximate.
"Randy Dunn’s 1979 Howell Mountain cult Cabernet estate — the winemaker who built Caymus Vineyards’ reputation before est"
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Featured Wines

Cabernet Sauvignon
Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
Howell Mountain / Dunn Estate
The Dunn flagship — Howell Mountain estate Cabernet Sauvignon consistently earning 95–99 points from Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate for the volcanic basalt mineral intensity and structural depth that Randy Dunn’s 40-year minimal-intervention mountain winemaking produces from Napa Valley’s most dramatically elevated and age-worthy Cabernet appellation.
Estate
★★★★☆
Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley / Howell Mountain
Dunn’s most broadly expressive Napa Valley Cabernet — blending Howell Mountain estate fruit with Napa Valley valley-floor sourcing partnerships to produce a more immediately approachable expression of Randy Dunn’s minimal-intervention mountain winemaking philosophy at a slightly earlier drinking window than the flagship Howell Mountain estate.
Estate
★★★★☆

Tasting Experiences

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🥂
Mailing List Only
Dunn Vineyards is not open to the public and sells exclusively through a fully subscribed mailing list. Wines appear at auction. For Howell Mountain tasting experiences, consider La Jota Vineyard Co. or Robert Craig Winery, whose mountain Cabernet programs share the volcanic Howell Mountain terroir that Randy Dunn’s estate pioneered.
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