Whitehall Lane Cellars Winery Visit and Tasting

Whitehall Lane Cellars Rutherford Winery Visit and Tasting

We hold Whitehall Lane Napa 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



Wineflight labels:

 

https://whitehalllane.com/

Scenes from Whitehall Lane Estate Winery and Vineyards, Rutherford

Whitehall Lane tasting room

Whitehall Lane Barrel Room

 

REDD Napa Valley Wine Pairing Tasting Dinner

REDD Napa Valley Wine Pairing Tasting Dinner

We dined at REDD in Yountville and had their Pric Fixe tasting dinner with wine pairing. While there
were six courses with six different wines, they prepared a different course with different wine pairings so we go to sample twice as many pairing selections!

REDD is the project of chef Richard Reddington, formerly of Masa’s and Jardiniere in San Francisco, and Auberge du Soleil in Napa Valley. His dishes feature an what he calls 'wine country cuisine' with influences from Asia, Europe, and Mexico. The atmosphere is contemporary elegant yet casual and relaxing, unpretentious for such sophisticated and serious cuisine. REDD is on Washington Street the main street in Yountville with an outdoor court, bar, the dining room and a semi-private dining room.



Our entree courses are pictured below:

Tuna Tartare

Sishimi Hemachi

Diver Scallops

Duck Confit

Alaskan Halibut

Pork Belly

NY Strip Steak

Lamb

http://reddnapavalley.com/

Del Dotto Piazza DELICACIES Food and Wine Experience

Del Dotto Piazza DELICACIES Food and Wine Experience

We've been fans of Del Dotto wines since their earliest days back in the early nineties. We started acquiring their wines starting with their inaugural release back in 1993. They gained notoriety when they were featured in the Wine Spectator feature, "Twelve Up and Comers to Watch". We met Dave and Yolanda Del Dotto and then winemaker Nils Venge during several of our Napa Valley wine producer events and winery and vineyard visits. From those meetings, we worked with Dave and Yolanda and Desiree in the earliest days in their web marketing launch.

Del Dotto is one of the largest holdings in our collection. So when they opened their new property, Del Dotto Piazza, it was on the shortlist for our Napa Valley Wine Experience 2018.

Del Dotto has grown remarkably beyond their Rutherford Estate at the corner of St Helena Highway and Zinfandel Lane. Their expansion now encompasses seven other appellations. Today, Del Dotto's footprint consists of 437 acres with 121 acres planted of varietals including chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, pinot noir, syrah, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot and sangiovese.

Del Dotto are known for extraordinary sensational wine tasting experiences with their Wine Cave tasting as an example. So its no surprise their new Piazza winery culinary experience follows suit. Hence it was our first stop and appointment during this last week's Napa Valley Wine Experience, the Piazza Delicacies wine and food tasting.

The Delicacies food and wine pairing is at the heart of Piazza Del Dotto, embodying Dave Del Dotto’s philosophy that wine tasting should be a complete sensory experience. Delicacies by Del Dotto is a premium tasting of seven wines, 

accompanied by five small plates featuring the very best ingredients from Petrossian caviar and Hudson Valley foie gras, to Snake River Farms beef and vegetables sourced from our Estate garden. The final pairing course of the Delicacies tasting featured Del Dotto port wine with a dessert pairing.

The food at Piazza if crafted by executive chef Joshua Schwartz, formerly of The French Laundry, Per Se, Bouchon and Bouley. He has  been with Del Dotto for more than a decade and his inspired cuisine has become one of the focal points of the wide array of wine and food events and offerings of the Del Dotto enterprise. 

Every course of our wine and food experience was spectacular, as was the setting, and of course the wine pairings were exceptional!

Our course as shown right featured:

Spot Prawn Tartare with
Cinghiale Sonoma Coast Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2017

Maine Lobster Roll on Toasted Brioche with 

Piazza Fort Ross Seaview Sonoma Vineyard Chardonnay 2016

 Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras with Mousse

with Cinghiale Sonoma Coast Vineyard Pinot Noir 2012

Snake River Farms Wagyu Beef Piccoburger
with House Cured Bacon with

Piazza American Oak Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

Raspberry Truffle, Dulcey Semi-Freddo and Garden Berries Buffalo Garden Torte with

Piazza Fort Ross Seaview Sonoma Vineyard Sparkling Brut Rose' 2016

The atmosphere and setting is spectacular, dining out on the veranda looking over the gardens with the vineyards in the distance. 

 

The extended wines from our tasting flight:

We're VIP members of the Del Dotto Wine Club and holders of a substantial collection of Del Dotto wines. As such we were interested in tasting the latest release vintages of several labels from our collection. Our extended wine tasting flight is shown below:

 

 More to come ...

Napa Valley Wine Experience 2018

Napa Valley Wine Experience 2018

Watch for upcoming posts on winery visits and wine tastings from our just completed Napa Wine Experience 2018.

We visited these restaurants and wineries during our visit:

Wineries - 

Andretti

Bennessere Vineyards

Cakebread Cellars

Caymus Vineyards

Del Dotto Piazza Cellars

Plumpjack Cellars

Whitehall Lane 

And, dined at the following eateries:

Boulevard Restaurant San Francisco

Brasswood Kitchen and Winery - Calistoga

Redd - Yountville

Sam's Chowder House - Half Moon Bay

Vivace Restaurant - Belmont

Reserve Wine Tasting at Cakebread Cellars

Bogle Phantom Red Blend

Bogle Phantom Red Blend for Burgers - Oh My!

Summer means burgers on the grill and bbq. What's a wine lover to do? For grand-daughter Marleigh's birthday party, son Ryan grilled burgers and dogs on the grill. I took over this Bogle Phantom Red Blend which was a perfect accompaniment.

My wine snobbery, I'd prefer to call it sophistication, pooh-poohs wines from the inner central valley of California, often released as bulk wines, relegating them to pizza wine, or as in this case, burger wines.

The Bogle family have farmed their property for over a hundred years in Clarksburg in the central valley North Central California. Clarksburg has its own AVA - Agricultural Viticulture Area or appellation. They started growing wine grape on their property of 1500 acres. The area proved well suited for grapes which do well in the fertile soils and climate of warm days and cooling breezes that roll up the valley from the nearby San Franciso Bay. They grow grape varietals Merlot, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Petite Sirah and Riesling. 

They eventually started producing wines sourced from their Estate as well as from suppliers across the state. Today they have a dozen labels, sourced from grapes from the estate and a wide range of sites. Their sources include well known high profile wine regions as Sonoma and the Russian River Valley, as well as lesser known areas, not as high profile or as prestigious such as Amador County Lodi, Mendocino, Eldorado County, Monterey, Oakley and Clarksburg. These areas have and are know for their own specialties such as El Dorado and Amador County in the Sierra foothills, known for high quality Zinfandels. The result is quality wines of great value that provide high QPR - Quality Price Ratios.

Bogle is a family operation run by Warren Bogle, President and Vineyard Director who grew up working the fields with his father Chris. He studied agricultural business at California State University, then took over the business in 1997 at the young age of 21. He is assisted by sister Jody who manages Public Relations who also grew working in the fields with younger brother Warren. After a career in Education, and working in the tasting room on weekends, she joined the family business full time in 1999. She has grown the business through her promotional efforts as well as international distribution. They were joined in 2006 by Ryan Bogle who graduated with a degree in Business and Economic and a post-graduate degree in accounting and now serves as Chief Financial Officer of the company.

I keep several Bogle labels on hand for every day drinking, with pizza, burgers and BBQ. This label, Phantom is one of my favorites and is a dependable go-to wine for such occasions that provides great value QPR.

Phantom is a complex sophisticated Red Blend comprised of Petit Sirah, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

According to Bogle, which give the Phantom brand its own website, Phantom is "the mysterious apparition of ripe berry and relentless spice, returns to haunt wine lovers."


Bogle Phantom Proprietary Red Blend 2013

Dark inky garnet colored, full bodied, complex and concentrated with forward brambly blue and black raspberry fruits with tones of mocha chocolate and a layer of vanilla with hints of pepper, spice and cinnamon on a rich full flavorful finish with silky smooth fine grained tannins.

RM 91 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2385626

http://www.boglewinery.com/

http://phantomwine.com/wines/

Conundrum California Rosé 2017

Conundrum California Rosé 2017

This is the first Rosé wine reviewed in these pages, and my first in several thousand tastings notes published in my wine journal here and on unwindwine.com.

Conundrum was a project from Chuck Wagner of Caymus legend that has become a major brand with Red, White and this Rose' wine that are sourced from various suppliers throughout California - Napa, Monterey, Santa Barbara, San Benito, Solano and Tulare Counties.

Conundrum was founded in 1989 with Conundrum White, Conundrum Red came along in 2011. Today, Charlie’s grandson, Charlie Wagner II, manages Conundrum and is Winemaker for this wine.

 This Conundrum Rosé is made primarily from Valdigué, a unique and rare grape varietal grown in limited quantities, sourced from near Paso Robles in Central California. The varietal was originally thought to be Gamay until its provenance and pedigree were validated.

This is moderate, light, crisp and refreshing, an ideal summer wine for sunny days on the veranda. Golden, rust-orange, rose colored, light, dry, modest notes of strawberry, hints of pear and tropical fruits with lively acidic finish.

RM 87 points

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2970209

http://www.conundrumwines.com/wines/



  

Mr Riggs McLaren Vale Shiraz 2004

Mr Riggs McLaren Vale Shiraz 2004

Friday night wine and cheese evening in front of a movie, we chose our favorite casual sipping wine, Shiraz, from the cellar. I pulled this Mr Riggs McLaren Vale Shiraz 2004. Linda prepared a selection of artisan cheeses, nuts and fresh pear slices. 

Unlike earlier tasting notes where blueberry was predominant, tonight the black berry lead with accents from plum and more red fruit notes. The plum and red fruit notes were more subdued and less sweet than previous tasting according to my notes, the sweeter blue tones subsiding. Perhaps this is due to bottle or lot variation, or aging deeper into the tasting window, or both. The remainder was consistent with previous tasting notes posted back in 2014. "Dark inky purple colored, full bodied, rich, complex, full forward sweet black and blue berry fruits, accented by a layer of mineral and tones of graphite on a lingering tongue coating full tannin finish."



RM 90 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=128274

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2014/09/mr-riggs-mclaren-vale-shiraz-2004.html

Prodigo Riserva Sangiovese di Romagna DOC 2013

Prodigo Riserva Sangiovese di Romagna DOC 2013

For casual midweek, holiday eve dining at our favorite neighborhood trattoria, Angelis' Italian, we normally do BYOB but tonight ordered their Tuesday Night Wine Special, this Prodigo Riserva Sangiovese di Romagna DOC.

Decent QPR (quality price ratio) in this casual everyday sipper ... 100% Sangiovese - garnet colored, medium bodied, red cherry fruits with notes of smoke, tar, wood and spice on a modest finish. Best with some tangy Italian sauces with pasta or Italian sausage.

RM 85 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2470300

http://www.angeliscatering.com/
 

Double Diamond Diamond Mtn Meritage - Thurston Geologist Premium Red 2012

 Double Diamond (Midsummer Cellars) Diamond Mtn Meritage 2000 - Thurston Geologist Premium Red 2012

 Just returned from a week in Florida and the Magic Kingdom, son Ryan and Michelle invited me over to dinner. Ryan grilled bbq ribs on his new incredible Spectrum Series Webber Grill. He served a Thomas Thurston "The Geologist" Premium Red. I brought a Double Diamond Diamond Mtn Meritage.

Thomas Thurston "The Geologist" Premium Red 2012

According to the producer, "The Geologist was inspired by the dramatic volcanic and fluvial geology of eastern Washington’s viticulture regions. The front label shows a key component, the Snipes Mountain growing area, with its unique ancestral Columbia River conglomerate soils directly overlying ancient weathered basalt. The Geologist captures in the bottle this viticultural legacy as well as recognizing the professional inspiration of one of our family members; geoscientist, Michael Yeaman. This is the fifth vintage of this blend and was aged 22 months in French oak and three years in the bottle before release. Limited production of 104 cases with release October 2016."

This is a blend of:

• CABERNET SAUVIGNON (49%) – Upland Vineyard
• MERLOT (27%) – Crawford Vineyard
• CABERNET FRANC (15%) – Burgess Vineyard
• PETITE SIRAH (9%) – Zephyr Ridge Vineyard

Ryan said this had been opened for a day and had closed down since initial opening. It was bright garnet colored, medium bodied with bright expressive Bing Cherry fruit accented by bright acidity and a layer of smoke. The structure was a bit flabby masking the potential complexity of the blend. I sense and wonder if this would integrate and show better after a couple more years of settling.

RM 88 points. 

Double Diamond Diamond Mountain (Midsummer Cellars) Meritage 2000

Since Ryan married a Diamond, I have fun collecting 'Diamond' labels and sharing them with him and wife Michelle. The Double Diamond Brand was marketed by Schrader Vineyards for several vintage releases from 2002 onward to this day. We hold a half dozen releases of Shrader Double Diamond during this period. This particular release in 2000 was 295 cases produced by Midsummer Cellars of Sebastapol, CA. The blend was 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 25% Petit Verdot. 

Midsummer Cellars is Rollie and Sally Heitz who started Midsummer Cellars that year, 2000 with the goal of making small lot handcrafted wines of distinction that reflect the terroir of and individuality of their vineyard sources.

Today, Midsummer Cellars produces only vineyard-designated Cabernet Sauvignon from three vineyards -- their own Cañon Creek Vineyard, as well as the Tomasson, and Clark-Claudon Vineyards; all of which show their distinct characteristics in the wines created from them.

Rollie Heitz has a lifetime of winemaking experience having grown up in the business at his family’s Napa Valley winery. He learned how to make fine wines while working alongside his father, Joe Heitz, for several years before deciding to leave the family business and establish his own winery in 2000.

Today, Midsummer Cellars is located at the base of the foothills north of Saint Helena, just off the Silverado Trail. The winery is small --  with beautiful vistas to the east -- and within this small space we are able to produce true wines of distinction that we hope you will enjoy.

So this was the inaugural vintage release of Rollie Heitz with grapes sourced from this  Diamond Mountain vineyard. I picked this up at auction from a lot of only three bottles so its not likely you'll see or find this soon.

This was dark garnet colored, medium full bodied with bright expressive black berry and black cherry fruits with a layer of tar, leather, smoke and tobacco leaf with moderate tannins on the finish. 

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=442292

http://midsummercellars.com/

P.S. I wrote to Rollie Heitz to see if we could meet during our upcoming trip to Napa. He promptly responded with the following note:

Good Morning Rick,

We actually just closed down Midsummer Cellars last month and have opened a new venture "Tenuta Montorsolo.

We have purchased a small vineyard, winery and home just outside of the small town of Todi in Umbria and we will begin making wine there beginning with the 2018 harvest.

I'm sorry that we missed you.  If you find yourself heading to Umbria please look us up.

Thank you,

Rollie

In a message dated 7/6/2018 5:06:47 PM Pacific Standard Time

We wish Rollie and company the best in their new venture in Umbria! 

Cakebread Cellars Napa Chardonnay at Il Postino NYC

Cakebread Cellars Napa Valley Carneros Chardonnay at Il Postino NYC

For the second time in as many months, I found myself in NYC and a special dinner at what is becoming one of my favorites dinesites there, Il Postino Ristorant Italiano. Once again, the food and service were spectacular in a classic cosmopolitan setting, ideal for a special business dinner.


As with my last visit, I ordered the Dover Sole, one of my favorite dishes, although I am happy with a less extravagant regular sole, or SFO native Petrale, or my absolute favorite, Sand Dabs, also known as Rex Sole, which is primarily found on the middle west coast Pacific from Monterey (CA) up to San Francisco.

Tonight, they prepared the dish to my request, in a lemon caper

butter white wine sauce. It was spectacular, just the way I like prefer. I might have opted for a lighter Sauvignon Blanc but I opted for a Chardonnay in consideration of my guests and mates who were having Calamari, Pasta and Shrimp, and Pasta with Lobster.

From the winelist we ordered Cakebread Napa Valley Chardonnay and Sonoma Cutrer Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2015.


Cakebread Napa Valley Chardonnay 2015

The 2015 Cakebread Napa Valley Chardonnay consists of 90% of the grapes came from the cool-climate Carneros district at the southern tip of the valley, with 40% of the fruit from Cakebread estate Carneros vineyards. Situated down at the bottom of Napa Valley where it meets Sonoma, off the San Pablo Bay estuary, the cool breezes and fog waft in, giving Carneros a long, cool growing season. This allows the fruit to fully ripen while retaining the bright acidity that gives Carneros Napa Valley Chardonnay its freshness and vitality. For this vintage, Cakebread blended fruit from Carneros with chardonnay grapes from just north of the city of Napa that yield especially luscious wines resulting in a elegant and complex chardonnay.

The 2015 vintage produced a light crop with small chardonnay berries and clusters yielding bright, intense varietal flavors.. A warm, dry winter brought early bud-break, and consistently mild summer weather, with a few late-season heat spikes, led to the earliest harvest in Cakebread Cellars forty-five vintages dating back to their inaugural release in 1973.

Straw colored, medium-full bodied this has aromas of green and golden apple, pear and citrus with hints of mineral. Complex and crisp with nice depth and balance, the long finish highlights notes of pear with hints of lemon, peach, vanilla, and spicy oak.

RM 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2470938

https://www.cakebread.com/