Winemaker Notes
Winemaking The summer of 2000 was ideal with warm days developing the grape flavors and ripening the fruit. The weather was perfect from bud break in May through the summer season. The Cabernet grapes were harvested at full maturity in October 2000 from vineyards in Rutherford, St. Helena and Napa. There is also 20% Merlot from Rutherford blended into this wine that was aged in American oak barrels for 14 months. This oak aging enhanced the fruit flavors and added length to the smooth finish. The Merlot increases the plush mid-palate of this wine.
Bommarito is an almost forgotten historic name in the Napa Valley. Dominic Bommarito, who was born in Sicily in 1889, immigrated to the United States in 1903 and moved to his Rutherford estate in 1929. He was a founding member of the Napa Valley Co-Op at Greystone and tended to his Rutherford vineyard until his death in 1963.
Tasting Notes This wine was made to be enjoyed young. It is splendid with aromas of spicy, perfumed blackberry and oak. On the palate it shows flavors of sweet cherry, blackberry and vanilla. It has a pleasing soft finish.
Whitehall Lane Winery was founded in 1979, but the history of the soil cultivation dates back two centuries. In the mid 1800's, Napa Valley settlers were drawn to the gravelly-loam soils and ideal climate, planting high quality grape vines at the Whitehall Lane Winery site. A barn constructed in the early 1900's for equipment storage is still used today. In 1979, two brothers started the winery and directed their winemaking efforts successfully to Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. They named the winery after the road that runs along the southern border of the property, Whitehall Lane.
In 1993, the Leonardini Family purchased the Whitehall Lane Winery estate. They updated the winemaking and barrel-aging program and introduced a scientific approach in the vineyards. The winery now owns seven prime vineyards that are the cornerstone on which the wines are made. They include two vineyards in the St. Helena Appellation, three vineyards (including the winery) in the Rutherford Appellation, one vineyard in the Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley and one vineyard in Sonoma Valley.
In its short history, Whitehall Lane has developed into a world-class winery. The efforts of the Leonardini Family are evident in the run of accolades from wine publications but are even more apparent in their elegant, beautifully made wines.
One of the most prestigious wines of the world capable of great power and grace, Napa Valley Cabernet is a leading force in the world of fine, famous, collectible red wine. Today the Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon are so intrinsically linked that it is difficult to discuss one without the other. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that this marriage came to light; sudden international recognition rained upon Napa with the victory of the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1976 Judgement of Paris.
Cabernet Sauvignon undoubtedly dominates Napa Valley today, covering half of the land under vine, commanding the highest prices per ton and earning the most critical acclaim. Cabernet Sauvignon’s structure, acidity, capacity to thrive in multiple environs and ability to express nuances of vintage make it perfect for Napa Valley where incredible soil and geographical diversity are found and the climate is perfect for grape growing. Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that express specific characteristics based on situation, slope and soil—as a perfect example, Rutherford’s famous dust or Stags Leap District's tart cherry flavors.