I have always enjoyed the wines of Whitehall Lane located just off of the main highway running through Napa Valley. My penchant for their wines was cemented several years ago during one of our many trips through wine country. At this one point in time, they offered a "special" tasting for $25. Four vintages of their Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, the 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999. Of course I was "all in". We already had been in Napa Valley for 2 days and most wineries were pouring their 1998 vintage in the tasting rooms. For those not very familiar with Napa Valley vintages, 1998 was a very tough year due to marginal growing conditions - sun at wrong time, rain at the wrong time and most 1998 Cabernet tasted thin and simple at the very least. In spite of the challenging conditions, Whitehall Lane still produced a very good Cabernet Sauvignon... and this was tasting it alongside the phenomenal 1997 and 1999 vintages. Of course I was already trying to collect what I could find... which was not very much. I started with the 1995 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and collected every vintage up to the 2003.
This past weekend I decided to uncork the lone bottle of 1995 that I had cellared. Assuming that a lot of Napa Cabernet is great within the first 7 to 10 years but can fade into oblivion after that, I wasn't expecting "stars". Life (and wine) does throw us curves sometimes. And the 1995 is glorious to say the least. A rich nose of boysenberry and currants with dried herbs - sage and a touch of thyme with a very balanced palate and omnipresent but not overbearing soft tannins and a very long finish. This could go another 3 to 5 years easily without fading and it's already 14 plus years. Of course, since I wasn't expecting a blockbuster wine, I didn't prepare the perfect food accompaniment... maybe USDA Prime steak tartare or a nice tenderloin at the very least... of well, one Reserve down and eight counting...
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