Enjoying wine - perspectives on wine buying, collecting, tasting, a study in wine marketing & branding; observations, experiences and ruminations of a winegeek & frequent traveler. Sharing so others can 'unwindwine' for greater wine discovery, understanding and appreciation.
After the sensational Petit Verdot tasting with dinner the other evening, I pulled another 100% Petit Verdot from the cellar for a repeat, comparison tasting experience. We tasted another Napa Valley Petit Verdot, this time from Whitehall Lane which is just up the Route 29 Napa Highway from Piazza Del Dotto. This was the same vintage, 2014, as the Piazza Del Dotto we tasted the other evening.
Whitehall Vineyards Napa Valley Rutherford Fawn Park Vineyard Petit Verdot 2014
This is 100% Petit Verdot, sourced from the Whitehall estate Fawn
Park Vineyard, located in the Rutherford AVA, just off the Napa Valley floor on the eastern
hillside in St. Helena. It is one of seven vineyards on the Whitehall Lane estate.
Like the traditional Bordeaux producers, consistent with the percentage of fruit in a typical Bordeaux Blend, the vineyard is
planted primarily to high-power Cabernet Sauvignon with just a small two-acre
block of Petit Verdot. As I wrote the other evening, Petit Verdot is usually added to the blend in a small portion, usually less than ten percent, to add color and structure to the mix.
According to Whitehall Lane, the vineyard has been producing for about twenty-five years but the
property’s history pre-dates the vines or its buildings. It’s been told
that local Native Americans mined the neighboring Glass Mountain where
they turned the mined obsidian into tools and arrowheads. There is a
home on the property that was constructed in 1865 with a second story
addition made when Judge Chiles owned the estate in 1915.
A
vintage barn pre-dates the house and was constructed in 1905 using
timbers harvested from Howell Mountain. The property
was originally used as a dairy to supply milk to the nearby St. Helena Sanitarium—now
known as St. Helena Hospital.
The property was owned by the Hultman Family from
1928 to 1978, and they ran the dairy and raised chickens there. In
1978, Loren Sorenson purchased the land, planted the vineyard, dug a
spring-fed pond and continued a small farm for the local 4-H program.
Whitehall Lane was founded in 1979 and was acquired in 1993 by the current owners, the Leonardini Family of San Francisco and Saint Helena.
The
property is named Fawn Park Vineyard after the road that borders the
southern side of the estate. This road was originally the stagecoach
road going up and over Howell Mountain to Angwin and Pope Valley.
Tasting this again, I wish I had bought more as this is a big bold expressive fruit forward style that we love.
Consistent with our original tasting of this wine back in 2018, "Dark inky blackish purple, full bodied, structured concentrated rich
tongue coating black fruits, hints of clove spice and earth, with tongue
puckering chalky tannins that form distinct 'legs' on the glass. This
wine begs for hearty cheese, grilled steak or darkest mocha chocolate."
Searching for a sipping wine with cheese and fruits and a movie, son Alec was looking through our Cellartracker cellar selections. "Petit Verdot?", he asked. I explained that Petit Verdot is one of the Bordeaux varietals but subordinate to the primary Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and lesser than Cabernet Franc which is used in the blend to add a bit of depth and spiciness. Petit Verdot, I explained is blended in, usually in small amounts, to add color and tannin structure, depth and concentration and flavor. It is characterized as adding intense black and blue fruit flavors and tones of pencil shavings, violet and leather. And some producers will bottle 100% Petit Verdot as a wine with special character. Sounds perfect for such an occasion, so we pulled a bottle of Whitehall Lane Napa Valley Petit Verdot.
Whitehall Lane Napa Valley Petit Verdot 2014
We discovered, tasted and acquired this wine during our Whitehall Lane winery visit and tasting at the Estate on Hwy 29, St Helena Highway just south of St Helena, Napa Valley. Whitehall Lane is the small road that abuts the property. They have 140 acres of vineyards of which just 2.4 acres are planted in this Petit Verdot varietal grapes which is used primarily for blending in the Bordeaux blends and for this special bottling.
Winemaker Jason Moulton says of this wine, "This Petit Verdot is like experiencing the dark side…with concentrated,
full-bodied flavors. It is extraordinarily balanced with aromas of black
currants, clove, blackberry pie, Agen prunes, cedar, and a hint of
earth and dust. Its palate exudes flavors of black cherry cola, crème de
cassis, tar, fresh black plums and toasted almond croissant. Its
powerful chalky tannin mouthfeel truly lets you know THIS is Petit
Verdot."
Dark inky blackish purple, full bodied, structured concentrated rich tongue coating black fruits, hints of clove spice and earth, with tongue puckering chalky tannins that form distinct 'legs' on the glass. This wine begs for hearty cheese, grilled steak or darkest mocha chocolate.
Whitehall Lane Cellars Rutherford Winery Visit and Tasting
We hold Whitehall LaneNapa Valley wines dating back to the turn of the century - Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, Estate and Reserve. We've passed by the Estate and Winery on St Helena Highway in Rutherford dozens of times during our trips to Napa Valley so this trip we decided to visit there during our Napa Valley Wine Experience 2018.
We try to support the family owned and operated producers and Whitehall Lane has been such since Tom Leonardini acquired Whitehall Lane Winery in March of 1993 and has been a hands on active proprietor every since with his wife and their five children. Tom was joined by son Tom Leonardini II in 1994. Tom had the
Estate vineyard replanted and bought four additional vineyards including
the Leonardini Vineyard. Tom II is responsible for distribution and has been instrumental in increasing sales from 15,000 cases to
almost 50,000 cases today. Sister, Katie Leonardini oversees direct sales and hospitality at the winery after college and a career in the financial services industry. They are joined by eldest sibling Kristin who opened the Napa Valley Winery Exchange, a premiere retail wine shop in San Francisco. She assists Katie in public relation and hospitality events at the winery.
Whitehall Lane wines have been recognized in Wine Spectator Magazine's year-end ranking of wines, having been honored an unprecedented three times in five years for
producing wines rated among the top five in the world. The winery has
also been voted Winery of the Year from the Quarterly Review of Wines
and Wine and Spirits Magazine.
The estate and winery in Napa Valley's historic Rutherford appellation consists of approximately 140 acres in seven prime vineyards that include the Whitehall
Lane Estate Vineyard, Millenium MM Vineyard and Bommarito Vineyard in
the Rutherford Appellation, the Leonardini Vineyard and Fawn Park
Vineyard in St. Helena, Oak Glen Vineyard in the Oak Knoll District and
Rassi Vineyard in Sonoma.
The flagship and main Estate Vineyard at adjacent to the winery is 25 acres of "Rutherford
Dust" and is planted in Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc grapes. The
Millenium MM Vineyard is Cabernet Sauvignon fruit while
the Bommarito Vineyard is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot,
Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. The Leonardini Vineyard is 14 acres of
gravely soil yielding powerful Cabernet Sauvignon fruit and elegant yet
intense Merlot grapes that go into the "Leonardini Vineyard"
vineyard-designated wine. The Fawn Park Vineyard is on a gentle slope of
Eastern hillside and produces intense Cabernet Sauvignon. The 25-acre
Oak Glen Vineyard produces flavorful Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet
Sauvignon grapes.
We wanted to focus on Estate and Vineyard Designated Select wines so we had a private estate tasting. This also allowed us to taste some of their limited release vineyard designated select wines as well as some of their flagship signature wines.
The Tasting Flight:
Pre-tasting: Whitehall Lane Napa Valley Rutherford Sauvignon Blanc 2016 Whitehall Lane Napa Valley Chardonnay 2016
Private tasting, shown left: Whitehall Lane Las Brisas Carneros Vineyard Pinot Noir 2016 Whitehall Lane Napa Valley Merlot 2014 Whitehall Lane Mancino Lanciatore Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 Whitehall Lane Napa Valley Syrah 2014 Whitehall Lane Napa Valley Petit Verdot 2014
We tasted and acquired this label during our visit to the winery during our Napa Wine Experience in 2018.
According to Whitehall Lane, the vineyard has been producing for about twenty-five years but the
property’s history pre-dates the vines or its buildings. It’s been told
that local Native Americans mined the neighboring Glass Mountain where
they turned the mined obsidian into tools and arrowheads. There is a
home on the property that was constructed in 1865 with a second story
addition made when Judge Chiles owned the estate in 1915.
According to Whitehall Lane, the vineyard has been producing for about twenty-five years but the
property’s history pre-dates the vines or its buildings. It’s been told
that local Native Americans mined the neighboring Glass Mountain where
they turned the mined obsidian into tools and arrowheads. There is a
home on the property that was constructed in 1865 with a second story
addition made when Judge Chiles owned the estate in 1915.
