Kathryn Hall Wine Dinner with Special Guest winemaker Steve Leveque

Thursday, February 8, 2018 - 07:30 PM

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"A house where neither wine nor welcome is served to friends, soon will have none".-Rob Hutchison
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We have been touting the wines from Katheryn Hall Winery for over the last few decades and when we heard that the winemaker Steve Leveque was coming to town we jumped at the chance to host an event with him at the Wine Bar.

Although many wine lovers are familiar with the Napa Valley wines some of the most exciting things coming from Kathryn Hall Winery are the new wines from their Walt label that features some of the top single vineyard Pinot Noir and Chardonnay made in the North coast of California.

Join us as we welcome Steve to South Florida as we taste through the new releases from both Kathryn Hall Napa and Sonoma with a special menu prepared by chef Toni Lampasone.

 

image004_1502.jpg Image result for winemaker Steve Leveque

Kathryn Hall Wine Dinner with Special Guest winemaker Steve Leveque
Thursday, February 8, 2018
7:30 PM
Image result for Hall Sauvignon Blanc 2016 Napa Valley

Hall Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley 2016
Price: $22.50  Sale $19.80
our “T Bar T Ranch” Sauvignon Blanc has aromas of lemon blossom, vanilla bean, passion fruit, gooseberry and ripe pineapple laced with honeycomb. The palate is bright, with rich tropical fruit that lingers through the long finish. We crafted this wine without fining, filtration, or malolactic fermentation to maintain its intrinsic energy and purity. It was fermented in 20% new French oak with the balance fermented in neutral French oak and stainless steel drums.

Image result for Walt Chardonnay Sonoma Coast 2016

Walt Chardonnay Sonoma Coast 2016
Price: $31.25  Sale $27.50
Our 2016 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay has aromas of toasted hazelnuts, white flowers, lemon verbena, and peach. Battonage and sur lees aging provide a texture that resonates with tension and length. On the palate, the wine unfolds with flavors of lemon curd and stone fruit. Subtle oak and bright minerality provide nuance to this rich and elegant wine.
The fruit is sourced from our estate vineyard, Bob’s Ranch, located within the Sonoma Coast Appellation. The dominant characteristics of this AVA are cool morning fog and light sandy cotati soils, which bring depth and uniqueness to the finished wine.

Image result for Walt La Brisa Pinot Noir Sonoma 2016

Walt La Brisa Pinot Noir Sonoma 2016
Price: $31.25  Sale $27.50
The vineyards in our La Brisa blend are farmed meticulously for low yields and balance in order to capitalize on their distinctive sites. Each vineyard is blessed with cool maritime conditions and limiting soil profiles.
As with all of our Pinot Noirs, we double-sort every berry before gravity-feeding it to tank to undergo an extensive cold soak period. Primary and malolactic fermentations are conducted using only native yeast and resident malolactic bacteria from the vineyard. The wines are never racked and during the long malolactic fermentation, we top and stir each barrel weekly. Prior to bottling, we blend the wines without fining or filtering. All of these natural, gentle processes are exacting and arduous, but vital when crafting the most honest expression of the vineyard.
The WALT “La Brisa” Sonoma County Pinot Noir articulates the signature characters of Sonoma: vibrant and opulent with an underlying brightness and length to the palate. Teeming with ripe red berries and spicy toasted aromas, the wine is lush and persistent on the mid-palate while long-lasting and delicate on the finish.

Image result for Walt Blue Jay Pinot Noir Anderson Valley 2016

Walt Blue Jay Pinot Noir Anderson Valley 2016
Price: $37.50  Sale $33.00
This wine is deep garnet in color with fresh aromatics of African violet, sassafras, and smoked paprika. The palate is dense and rich, with roasted stem inclusion bringing intensity and length. Concentrated flavors of baked pomegranate, wild blueberry, and allspice bring this wine to a delicious and distinctive finish.
Our 2016 Blue Jay is sourced from The Corners Vineyard, located on the outskirts of Boonville. Planted to hillside slopes with southern exposure, cobbled clay loam soils and rock outcroppings, the vineyard is at a high elevation of 500 to 800 feet above sea level.

Image result for Walt Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2014

Walt Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2014
Price: $75.00  Sale $66.00
"This great Pinot Noir begins with beautiful feminine aromatics of red cherry, prune, red raspberry and guava. There are bright flavors of red raspberry, Shitake mushroom, forest floor, guava puree and pomegranate. The finish lingers, as the heat of this great vintage in Willamette shines through."
Shea Vineyard’s sedimentary soils and unique aspect produce wines of excellent concentration and depth in one of the Pacific Coast’s most premier and extreme growing regions.

Image result for Walt Clos Pepe Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills 2015

 
Walt Clos Pepe Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills 2015
Price: $75.00  Sale $66.00
“Dark as night in the glass, this lavish take on Pinot Noir, which would work great in a steak house, shows black cherry, licorice, black sage and crushed asphalt on the nose. Lush tones of black cherry and creamy caramel also show on the sip, but there is earthy minerality, roasted meat umami tones and vibrant spearmint touches as well.”
The iconic Clos Pepe vineyard is situated in a cool enclave within the Sta. Rita Hills. The prevailing winds coming from the Pacific slow the ripening of these vines, allowing for saturated flavors to accumulate throughout the decidedly long growing season.

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Hall Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2014
Price: $54.00  Sale $47.52

(91 Points) The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon (96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc) represents the least expensive wine in the Hall portfolio at $55. The color is a saturated purple, and the wine rich, chewy and unctuously textured, with ripe tannin and a round, juicy mouthfeel. For a generic Napa, it has plenty of upside to it and will actually benefit from several more years of bottle age and keep for 15-20 years.  Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Image result for Kathryn Hall Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 Napa Valley

Kathryn Hall Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 Napa Valley
Price: $192.50  Sale $169.40
 (95 Points) Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Kathryn Hall opens with intense crème de cassis, mulberries and plum preserves notions over hints of Chinese five spice, tapenade and smoky bacon, plus a touch of dried Provence herbs. Full-bodied, concentrated and powerfully fruited on the palate, it has a soft, inviting frame of fine-grained tannins and loads of spice and savory layers coming through on the long finish.  Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

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Menu
Macadamia Nut Goat Cheese Salad over mixed Harpke Farms Micro Greens Granny Smith Apple Vinaigrette
Mushroom and Polenta Napoleon with Cherry Pinot Noir Demi Glaze
Duck and Smoked Mozzarella Ravioli with Sundried Currant browned butter and Beemster Gouda sprinkle

The fee for this tasting is $125 + tax for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.

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A bit about Hall Winery:

The Hall winery in St. Helena has a rich and colorful history in the Napa Valley dating back to the 19th century.  The original property was founded in 1885 and for many years was known as the Napa Valley Co-op.  The original stone winery, which still stands on the property today, was built by New England sea captain William Peterson.  He was the best-known and longest tenured owner which, under the direction of renowned winemaker and Napa Valley pioneer Charles Forni, produced 40 percent of all Napa Valley wines in the late 1930s.

With its acquisition by Kathryn and Craig Hall in 2003, a new chapter began for the storied winery, one that preserves its place in the annals of Napa Valley wine history yet adds a modern-day dimension of excellence in winemaking and an unparalleled visitor experience. Craig Hall, a Texas developer who helped finance both the new Hilton in Napa and the new hotel next to Copia, and Kathryn Hall, his lovely wife, who was ambassador to Austria under Bill Clinton have been making superb wines from the 14-acre Sacrashe Vineyard, a 20-year-old mountain vineyard on their incredible 40-acre estate high above Auberge du Soleil in Rutherford.

Today, as Hall, the winery is dedicated to the production of ultra-premium Bordeaux varietal wines from Kathryn and Craig Hall's vineyards in Napa Valley and Alexander Valley. They have remodeled the tasting room, where visitors can try Hall wines, relax in the arbor-covered courtyards and take in the original works of art and sculpture from the Halls' collection. After acquiring the estate in 2003, the Halls began work on designs to replace the existing winery with a modern winemaking facility, while at the same time restoring the 1885 stone winery on the site to its original glory for future generations to appreciate. To this end, the Halls have engaged renowned architect Frank Gehry and his firm, along with local architect Jon Lail, to design a new Hall St. Helena winery.

They bought the vineyard property in 1995, a 250-acre Napa River Ranch on the Silverado Trail plus 405 acres with 54 acres of grapes in Alexander Valley and began making small lots of wine the next year. Unfortunately, however, the stock of their 1996 and 1997 vintages was destroyed in a warehouse fire in June 2000.  After the fire, they rededicated themselves to producing world-class wine from the site, which certainly has that potential.

Though relatively new to Napa, Kathryn Hall has long been involved in the wine business.  For more than 30 years, as her family has long grown grapes in Mendocino County. The Walt family owns 63 acres of Gamay, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc in the Redwood Valley and has sold their grapes to wineries such as Fetzer, Parducci and Beringer.

An attorney by training and practice, Kathryn Hall is a successful business executive, community activist and mother who served as U.S. Ambassador to Austria from 1997 to 2001. She is active in managing the winery, working closely with the winemaker to determine the wine style and overseeing sales and marketing.  She managed the vineyard from 1982 to 1992, also producing a limited quantity of Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc under the label of Walt Vineyards.

Hall wines are crafted to capture the absolute essence of the appellation, varietal and vineyard. Through meticulous cultivation in the field and intense harvesting practices at the winery, including delicate hand-sorting of grapes at harvest allow the winemaking team the ability to utilize the finest grapes available to them, often at the expense of quantity. The focus of the winemaking team is to craft and extract exuberant wines that clearly reflect both their place of origin and true varietal character.