The Flag
94 POINTS
James Suckling, March 2022
We are proud to introduce a new Cabernet Sauvignon made from the select blocks and barrels that represent the pinnacle of wines Bell Mountain Vineyard produces.
The Flag is named in honor of Co-founder Ames Morison's great-great-grandfather, John Gilson Howell, who owned and published the Russian River Flag newspaper in Healdsburg in the 1860-1870s. This wine epitomizes the bedrock of the idealism and commitment for preserving Bell Mountain and the peak of wines this land produces for generations.
To honor the wine and our history, each bottle is adorned with the reprint of the original publisher’s editorial on the first edition that was printed by John Gilson Howell on November 19, 1868.
THE ORIGINAL EDITORIAL OF THE RUSSIAN RIVER FLAG, PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 19, 1868
"This issue begins the existence of the Russian River Flag, which we propose to make a permanent institution. The growing interests of Healdsburg and vicinity call for it; our families look for it; our professionals need it; our business people require it, and the community at large demands a paper devoted especially to the interests of this region. To supply these wants and make of this a first class country publication will be our earnest endeavor. It shall be our aim to give, in each number of the Flag, a synopsis of the foreign and domestic news, and to keep our readers informed on current events generally and on local matters particularly. We shall give each week choice selections of entertaining and instructive miscellany and also carefully corrected tables of market reports. In short, we will try to make the Flag a necessity to the people of Sonoma county. While we may differ with many of our compatriots, and even with a majority of our friends in this county on questions of public policy, yet we propose to accord to every person the same conscientious impulses, and wish them to enjoy the fullest freedom of thought and speech that we claim for ourself. In business relations we shall know no one's politics, but when political questions arise we will be and abide with that party of progress whose motto is: “Excelsior,’’ and on whose banner appear the inscriptions, “Universal Liberty"—“Equality of all people before the law", “Restoration of political privilege” to all who hereafter will in good faith support the Government and obey the laws”—“Donation of public land to the pioneer"—“Protection to naturalized citizens,” and “Vindication of American honor in the face of all nations”. In the hope that our number may meet with a kind reaction, followed by generous patronage from an intelligent public, we set it forth with a promise to do better as the paper advances in age." JOHN G. HOWELL, EDITOR