Whitehall Lane
2018 Cabernet Sauvignon
, Napa Valley
Mancino Lanciatore

91 Points - Wine Spectator
91 Points - James Suckling

Deep garnet-purple color with enticing and fragrant with notes of blackberry pie, Bourbon soaked maraschino cherries, Madagascar vanilla bean, mission figs, graphite, candied walnut, and cedar.  The palate provides big, round juicy tannins, baked black plums, candied walnuts, toasted bread, cola, and fresh blackberry pie.  For those that like them big, rich, voluptuous, and powerful expression of Cabernet Sauvignon. 

We recommend decanting for a few hours before enjoying.
Will age gracefully in the cellar for 15-20 years.

WINEMAKING

The 2018 Mancino Lanciatore is a stunning wine of power and concentration. Its name translated from Italian means "left-handed thrower" and is an ode to the proprietor, Thomas Leonardini, Sr. and several other left-handed Leonardinis. Upon hand harvesting in the early morning hours, our grapes were carefully destemmed and sent to tank for a whole-berry fermentation. The grapes were cold-soaked in tank at 45 degrees for 4-7 days, allowing for increased color, aroma, and flavor extraction. After inoculation, the grape must (juice, skins, and seeds) fermented at 82 degrees, which allowed for a hot extraction on the skins. For fermentation cap management, the juice was pumped over the skins two times per day, wetting the cap evenly for a nice healthy fermentation. After fermentation and pressing, the wine was sent to 60% new French oak, 40% neutral oak barrels, aging for 26 months. The final blend for the 2018 Mancino Lanciatore is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and was unfined and unfiltered.

VINTAGE

The 2018 vintage was a near perfect growing season!  Bud break began in late March to early April, leading to a Spring that was mild and dry. Flowering proved to be long and gave way to a healthy set of uniform grape clusters.  Summer was also quite warm and long, leading to a cooling effect near the end of the season and into Fall. Throughout the vineyard growing season, there were no heat spikes, and the temperatures were steady and even-keel. The consistent summer weather encouraged our Cabernet Sauvignon grapes to ripen in late mid-September to late October when they were in perfect balance. The fruit is from our Estate vineyards in Rutherford, St. Helena, and the Oak Knoll District appellations. This 2018 wine was made from hand-selected grapes from our Cabernet Sauvignon small blocks of clone 8, clone 4, clone 30, and clone 169.

Winemaker: Jason Moulton
Vintage:  2018
Appellation:  100% Napa Valley
Varietal Composition:  100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Alcohol: 14.9%

Tasting Notes  PDF

More About Whitehall Lane