96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Merlot, 1% Malbec, 1% Petit Verdot

Food pairings: Grilled steak and roast beef, lamb, veal, and roasted poultry dishes.

Winemaking: The grapes were hand harvested in the early morning hours, destemmed and sent to tank for a whole-berry fermentation after a cold soak of four to seven days to build color, aroma and flavor. Fermentation ran warm with pump-overs twice a day for an even extraction. After pressing, the 2021 was aged for 20 months in French oak, half new and half neutral, and bottled unfined and unfiltered. The 2021 was a drought year: early budbreak in March, an ideal flowering and set, and a long, warm summer gave low yields and excellent concentration, with the Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot ripening from late September into October.

Vineyards and terroir: A classic, balanced valley-floor Napa Valley Cabernet with excellent fruit concentration, built to be enjoyed now or cellared through 2040. Whitehall Lane farms its estate vineyards with sustainable, Napa Green certified practices.

Family and history: Whitehall Lane is a family-owned winery in the Rutherford appellation of the Napa Valley. Tom Leonardini Sr. bought the winery in March 1993, declaring "This is not just a hobby. We're committed to making superior wines." Today the second generation, led by Katie Leonardini and Tom Leonardini II, runs the estate, and winemaker Jason Moulton, who trained in New Zealand and worked in Bordeaux, South Africa and across California, has made the wines since 2016.

In the pictures: The Whitehall Lane winery on Highway 29 at sunset (courtesy of Whitehall Lane Winery); and the Leonardini family, owners of Whitehall Lane (courtesy of Whitehall Lane Winery).