2023 Whitehall Lane - Rassi Cabernet Sauvignon (750ml)

Whitehall Lane Winery was originally founded in 1979 on a St. Helena property with vineyard roots dating back to the 1800s, before the Leonardini family purchased the estate in 1993 and began building it into one of Napa Valley's most respected family owned producers. Today the winery farms more than two hundred acres across eight vineyard properties spanning Rutherford, St. Helena, Oak Knoll, and Sonoma Valley, with winemaker Jason Moulton overseeing a program that emphasizes elegant, well balanced Cabernet Sauvignon. Rassi Vineyard, added to the family's holdings in 2012, gives the winery a distinctive Sonoma Valley expression alongside its more familiar Napa bottlings.

Rassi Vineyard sits on the eastern slope of Sonoma Valley at the base of the Mayacamas Mountains, where gravelly, free draining soils and strong afternoon sun exposure suit Cabernet Sauvignon particularly well. The 2023 growing season followed a wet winter and spring that pulled California out of drought, delaying budbreak and setting up an even, healthy fruit set. A moderate summer and warm autumn pushed the grapes to a late but ideal harvest in mid-October. After hand harvesting, the fruit was destemmed and cold soaked before a warm, whole berry fermentation, then aged ten months in a mix of new and neutral French oak and bottled unfined and unfiltered.

The wine opens with fresh blueberry pie, blackberry, and Mission fig, layered with lavender and a touch of toasted bread. The palate is smooth and concentrated, with blackberry cobbler, black cherry, and toasted walnut carrying through a long finish. It pairs beautifully with grilled venison, braised beef short ribs, or aged Gouda.