Aloft Cabernet Sauvignon 2012

Aloft Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 is a 750ml, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Cold Springs Vineyard on Howell Mountain in Napa Valley. Robert Parker awarded it 94 points, calling it "gorgeous, a flamboyant and dramatic wine with terrific fruit intensity." Produced in minuscule quantities under the direction of winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown, this library-release bottling represents a singular snapshot of the 2012 Howell Mountain growing season.

Quick Facts: Varietal: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon  |  Origin: Howell Mountain, Napa Valley, California  |  Vintage: 2012  |  Winemaker: Thomas Rivers Brown

Production & Heritage

Aloft is a collaboration between proprietor Marc Mondavi and winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown, who has earned more than 25 perfect 100-point scores across his career and was named Food & Wine Magazine's Winemaker of the Year in 2010. The fruit comes exclusively from Cold Springs Vineyard, perched roughly 1,600 feet above the Napa Valley floor on Howell Mountain — an AVA renowned for iron-rich, volcanic soils and mountain-grown tannin structure. Each vintage, Mondavi and Brown hand-select only their favorite blocks of Cold Springs fruit, yielding a mere 16 barrels of finished wine — a production level that makes Aloft one of Howell Mountain's most limited Cabernets.

Tasting Notes

Aroma: The nose opens with concentrated blackberry, cassis, and blueberry, followed by subtle background layers of vanilla and toast. A distinctive thread of lead pencil shavings and floral underpinnings — particularly violet — add complexity as the wine breathes.

Taste: On the palate, spicy ripe black plum and boysenberry lead the entry, building into a dense mid-palate of rich dark fruit and polished mountain tannins. The wine carries the flamboyant intensity Parker noted, yet maintains a structural elegance that speaks to its elevated vineyard origins.

Finish: The finish is juicy, spicy, and impressively long, with lingering cassis and fine-grained tannin. A decade-plus of bottle age has softened the edges while preserving the fruit concentration at the wine's core.

How to Drink Aloft 2012

A wine of this stature and age is best served neat in a large-bowled Bordeaux glass at cellar temperature (60–65°F), with 30–60 minutes of decanting to allow the mature aromatics to fully unfurl. Given its depth and age, cocktail use would be a disservice to the wine — enjoy it as the winemakers intended, alongside food or on its own.

Best For

• Gifting a serious Napa Valley Cabernet collector who values small-production bottlings
• Anchoring a special-occasion dinner with grilled or braised red meat
• Adding a library-release Howell Mountain wine to a cellar collection
• Celebrating a milestone tied to the 2012 vintage year

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Aloft 2012 taste like? The dominant profile centers on concentrated dark fruit — blackberry, cassis, boysenberry — layered with spice, vanilla, and floral violet notes, framed by firm but polished Howell Mountain tannins. Over a decade of aging has added integration and complexity to the fruit-driven core.

How does Aloft 2012 compare to Dunn Vineyards Howell Mountain Cabernet? Both are benchmark Howell Mountain Cabernets, but Dunn is known for a more austere, tannic style built for very long aging, while Aloft — shaped by Thomas Rivers Brown — tends toward richer, more approachable fruit intensity even in youth. At just 16 barrels, Aloft is also produced in significantly smaller quantities than Dunn's Howell Mountain bottling.

Is Aloft 2012 good for sipping neat? Yes — neat with a generous decant is the ideal way to experience this wine, as its decade-plus of bottle age has brought harmony to the tannins, fruit, and oak components.

Where is Aloft 2012 made? Aloft is produced from the Cold Springs Vineyard on Howell Mountain, a sub-appellation of Napa Valley in California, at an elevation of approximately 1,600 feet above the valley floor.

What foods pair well with Aloft 2012? Grilled ribeye steak complements the wine's dark fruit and tannic grip. Braised short ribs echo its rich, spicy character. Roasted lamb with herbs aligns well with the floral and savory undertones. Hard aged cheeses like Comté or aged Gouda mirror the wine's depth. Dark chocolate with a high cacao percentage brings out the cassis and subtle toast.

What sizes does Aloft 2012 come in? The Aloft Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 is available in the standard 750ml bottle format.

Is Aloft 2012 worth the price? Aloft positions as a premium, limited-production Howell Mountain Cabernet — just 16 barrels per vintage — made by one of Napa's most acclaimed winemakers, with a 94-point Parker score backing the 2012 vintage specifically. Within the competitive Howell Mountain category, it represents strong value relative to comparably rated peers produced in similarly small lots.

Why Aloft 2012?

The combination of Thomas Rivers Brown's winemaking pedigree and the distinct terroir of Cold Springs Vineyard at 1,600 feet on Howell Mountain gives Aloft a clarity of origin that few Napa Cabernets at this production scale can match. Robert Parker's 94-point assessment of this specific vintage confirms its quality among top-tier Howell Mountain reds. With only 16 barrels produced, locating a bottle of the 2012 — now a library release with over a decade of integration — is increasingly difficult. For collectors and drinkers drawn to mountain-grown Napa Cabernet with real provenance and verifiable critical acclaim, this bottling delivers precisely that.