2021 Whitehall Lane - Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (750ml)

Whitehall Lane was founded in 1979 by Art Finklestein and Alan Stein on a 25-acre property in Rutherford originally planted with vines in the 1800s. The Leonardini family purchased the estate in 1993 and has since grown it into a substantial Napa Valley producer, now farming more than 200 acres across the Rutherford, St. Helena, Oak Knoll District, Sonoma Valley, and Petaluma Gap appellations. Under longtime winemaker Jason Moulton, the winery has built a reputation for consistent, well-balanced Cabernet Sauvignon that draws repeated recognition from Wine Spectator's year-end rankings.

This bottling blends fruit from Whitehall Lane's various Napa Valley vineyard holdings, built primarily around Cabernet Sauvignon with small additions of Merlot, Malbec, and Petit Verdot rounding out the final wine. The 2021 vintage was aged twenty months in French oak, roughly half of it new, then bottled unfined and unfiltered to preserve texture and character. The blend proportions shift slightly each year depending on how the individual vineyard blocks perform.

The wine offers a deep ruby hue with aromas of sweet blackberry, dried Mission fig, and black cherry, layered with toasted vanillin and a hint of cigar box. On the palate, rich, velvety tannins carry dark chocolate-covered cherries and mixed berry pie flavors through to a long, generous finish. Its plush structure pairs naturally with grilled ribeye, braised short ribs, or a wedge of aged gouda.