A Leonardini Family Selection Wine
Blend: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
The Appellation:
St. Helena is a small town and a world class growing region for
Cabernet Sauvignon. It is made up of vineyards on hillsides,
mountains and the Napa Valley floor. The hillside and mountain
vineyards offer fruit with great structure while the valley floor
vines produce fruit with stunning finesse.
The Vineyards:
The grapes were grown in three St. Helena vineyards including
Whitehall Lane's Leonardini Vineyard and Fawn Park Vineyard. These
two properties offer the best that Napa Valley has to offer. The
Leonardini Vineyard is on a gravel stratum on the west side of the
Valley Floor and produces ripe, powerful fruit. The Fawn Park
Vineyard is a gently sloping hillside vineyard on the eastern side
of the Napa Valley and produces jammy grapes with great
complexity.
The Vintage:
2005 was an outstanding growing year that began with cool, wet
weather, followed by mild summer months. With ample moisture in the
soil and warm days, the fruit ripened slowly and evenly. After
extended hangtime for ripe flavor development, the Cabernet
Sauvignon grapes were harvested from October 8th to November
5th.
Winemaking:
The wine was made in three separate barrel lots and blended
together after 16 months. The oak treatment was 100% French Oak of
which 40% was new oak and 60% was aged in two year old barrels. The
barrels came from several coopers and with different toast levels
and were carefully selected to match this wine. The wine was racked
three times during the aging process and was bottled in late
November 2007 after 25 months in barrel.
Tasting Notes:
The combination of hillside and valley floor fruit balances
beautifully in this offering. The wine has gently floral and sweet
ripe aromas that grandly and elegantly expand to flavors of black
cherry, plum and cedary earth tones. The plushness of this wine
extends through the long, graceful finish. Wonderful to enjoy now,
but will continue improving and evolving through 2019.
The Closure:
The premiere bottlings of Whitehall Lane Cabernet Sauvignons are
sealed with the revolutionary glass closure, Vino-Seal. This
elegant alternative to cork offers an ideal seal that allows the
wine to retain its purity of flavor and aroma. Whitehall Lane was
the first to use this revolutionary closure beginning with the 2003
vintage of Reserve Cabernet.
