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Whitehall Lane Winery
Rating Details »
1563 St Helena Hwy S
St Helena, CA 94574
(707) 963-9454
St Helena, CA 94574
(707) 963-9454
Complimentary Tastings
Mention you saw us on Yelp and receive complimentary…
Announced 6 days agoMore »
- Hours:
Mon-Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
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"My Bf and I went here this past weekend- and it's beautiful! It was the perfect ending to our day. Tasting/Entrance fee was $30 for two (…" read more »
23 reviews for Whitehall Lane Winery
My first visit was on Saturday. It was very nice. We were well taken care of, there weren't too many other visitors and they waived our tasting fee and gave us a nice "friend" discount on the wines we had purchased. A great little find on the strip of wineries they call Napa....
As a follow up, Katie from the winery has thanked me for my very short and summarized review and I think that goes a long way in promoting and spreading the word about wineries such as Whitehall.
A little busy but the wines were nearing awesomeness. Love the font: very Batman/gothic/20s.
came here once about a year ago. don't remember the tastings but we did go home with a nice bottle of their '05 merlot.
I liked the wine here and then recalled I can get it back home and was sorry I wasted my time. Either way it was good, we just wanted to try stuff we can't buy.
We ended up here when we needed to kill time before a dinner reservation.
GI Joe says, Knowledge is power.
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Fantastic as always - got a great tour...try the Belforte. It's yummmy. Also loved the Pinot and yes, the reserve Cab.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
5/13/2007
Disclaimer: not a wino. prefer whites. and yes, i like the sweet stuff.
so...with that said, i… Read more »
So I agree with all the other folks that this doesn't wreak of old Napa wealth and opulence. Is a modern winery that is easy to get to that horrible, I don't think so.
Normally I dislike whites, but they actually have a pretty tasty chardonnay. Although not in the same class as Grgich and Rombauer it is still worth the taste. Their reserve cabernet $75 was terrific as could be expected since the rest of their ok tasty wine was very affordable.
It was civilized and the service was excellent. I concur with prior reviewers that this isn't a good winery to "get hammered at," but is that the purpose? This is worth a visit since you have to drive by every time you go to other wineries anyway.
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I didn't expect this winery to prompt such a weird polarization of reviews. We were there during a slow period right around lunch and were the only ones in the tasting room, and the staff seemed cool enough to us. It was a solid little stop on 29, plus the Pinot Noir was the shiznit.
It's true that if you think Yellowtail is the bomb, Whitehall is probably not for you. (Boone's Farm should really do tastings. I would be right there.) And Paul L. is right about the weird smell in one of the wines -- if I were one of those dudes who writes wine reviews, I'd note that the Chardonnay had slight notes of tuna with an essence of expired cat treats. That was the only drawback for us, though -- I liked Whitehall just fine, especially the pinot and the laid-back vibe.
Thursday, March 18, 2004
Whitehall Lane
2002 Sauvignon Blanc
Ripe melon aroma. Ripe cantaloupe and honeydew with a touch of spice. A very ripe and tropical Sauv Blanc.
Worth a shot.
2001 Merlot
Smoky with a touch of cedar and coffee bean on the nose. Medium-dark fruit, cherry, currant and cigar box spice.
Worth a shot.
2001 Cabernet Sauvignon
Aroma of cinnamon, cherry and clove. Firm tannin albeit a bit rough. Black cherry and exotic spice on palate. Needs time.
Worth a shot.
2000 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
Pencil shaving, clove and dark fruit on the nose. Firm, mouth coating tannin with black fruit hiding in the background. Good mid-palate and structure especially for a 2000 Cal Cab.
Worth a shot.
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Whitehall Lane has an unobtrusive modern styled tasting room off the 29... and while I wouldn't have imagined it to be "all-that" due to location, the Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the few wines that I have found to be purchase-worthy!
Equally good with a burger or a prime-rib dinner it's really an excellent choice in its price range.
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It's because of visitors like Carrie H. that I don't like to taste here anymore.
Located right off Highway 29, Whitehall Lane seems to attract every yahoo who is just looking to party it up and get wasted in Napa. These are the people who complain about the small pours (it's not called wine TASTING for nothing), could care less about the wine itself (other than the flavor and the buzz it creates), and who create the raucous environment that totally ruins it for everyone else. To those people, do yourself a favor: buy a few bottles of Yellowtail and get drunk at home. You'll save yourself a whole lot of time and money.
That said, something is seriously amiss at Whitehall Lane. The last time I tasted there, a number of the wines seemed inflected with brettanomyces, or brett for short, which is a spoilage yeast that often creates unpleasant aromas and flavors -- often described as barnyard, sweaty saddle, cheese, or just plain ol' poop. Not every wine I tried was bretty, but enough seemed to have that barnyard characteristic that made me wonder about the sanitation practices at this winery.
Of course, with people like Carrie H. coming through their tasting room, they probably figure that most people would not even notice. Maybe that explains why the stemware they use resembles shot glasses.
1 1/2 stars.
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For those of you that are not very serious about wine tasting, DON'T GO HERE. I paid $20 for a pretentious asshole to pour me about a sixteenth of an ounce of wine. Then he proceeded to tell me his fucking life story and how he likes to pair wine with fish. Who fucking cares? I came to taste the wine not listen to your crap. Truthfully, their wine was nice but the measly pour and the asshole behind the counter ruined it for me.
For you pretentious asshole wine connoisseurs, check this place out. Their $100 bottles really hit the spot.
Reason for the one star? Cool building!
UPDATE: Note to self: per Paul L.'s recommendation, stock up on Yellowtail. Thanks Paul!
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Stop in here for a laid-back good time with the employees who like to shoot the shit with the crowds that stop by. Even though I say "crowds," a cold December day kept the large crowds away and allowed the visit to be enjoyable without having to scream at your friend next to you.
The wines are good and fairly affordable. They have a really good reserve cabernet that is $85. A little out of my price range. But some of their other wines are affordable to the weekend travel warriors who don't make the big bucks (like me). If you need crackers to eat with your wine, they don't have them here. They don't have a food license so bring your own food if you want.
They also sell t-shirts, hats and soaps (soaps!) in their little gift shop near the wine tasting room.
We were the first ones in here on a Saturday, and they were super friendly.
We chatted with the server about the wines, which were quite good, and also got some inside info about other nice places to visit in the valley.
My favorites were the Pinot Noir, the Reserve Cab, and surprisingly, the Belmuscato dessert wine. I'm not much for sweet wines, but this one was very nice.
I am becoming a service snob in my old age, and any place that has great wine and great service is somewhere I will happily recommend and return to.
The outside of this buildng looks more like a restaurant than a winery, with its bright yellow accents and flowing purple flowers. The vibe I got said "lets stop here, the traffic sucks and it's putting me in a foul mood. I could enjoy a quick tasting."
The tasting room was painted in bright blues and yellows, I loved the colors. It was very modern, from the tasting room you could see through large window into thier 'cave.'
Our taste guider, Chris, was very nice. He was only a little excited at the wide knowledge base he had about wine and didn't mind telling us how to taste their award winning wines.
in general I thought this was a very standard winery, I'm judging more on the atmosphere than on the wine. And the crowd here just gave off that "I know so much more than you about wine, let me show off" feel.
Standard tastings are $10.
Keep in mind that this was the last stop of the day for us, so I don't really have much to say about whether the wine is good or not. I had already consumed quite a bit of wine and my memory is a bit fuzzy. : )
I recommend this winery for two reasons - they are open til 6:00, and for the girls, there are super cute young hottie friendly pourers here.
My one experience here was very positive. I stopped there with my husband on our way home on a Sunday afternoon, and apparently got lucky not to have to endure any rowdy crowds (no appt needed, on major highway in Napa area). I would definitely go there again, IF it was as empty as it was for us again.
We opted for the reserve tasting ($25) and it was worth it. Our pourer was present just the right amount for us (which is not much, not sure how he'd be if we had wanted some chatting), and we splurged on an '01 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. We got a extra '00 tasting which was not on the plan, and the $25 was applied to our purchase (unfortunately, not always done anymore around Napa).
This winery looks very modern! We went there on a rainy day, on our way back from a lovely Spa treatment wkd in Calistoga. With me being the driver I didn't plan to do wine tasting but I were sooo curious about a certain reserved Cabinet Sauvignon so I asked about the difference of that compare to a regular $25 bottle (something like that) After listening to the difference I asked if I can taste the reserved wine ($99 a bottle baby) and my oh my~~ I've never tasted red wine like that! NOW I know what people meant by smooth. It's smooth when the liquid just glide past your throat without you noticing it!! I were so tempted to take out my $100 bill and just spoilt myself and my friends for a bottle... This place is cool, the wine expert will answer any questions you ask without thinking you are taking their time. When I feel like I want to spend $100 a bottle on a reserved red I know where to order :)
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We stumbled upon this place after our horrible experience down the street. It doesn't have that typical napa winery look where you're in awe as you drive up, but it didn't look crowded so we stopped by.
The tasting room isn't really anything special, but the staff was very nice. At one point in time we were the only people at the counter and all 3 attendants were talking to us and helping us learn more about their wines and wine in general.
They let us try to different years of the same cabernet sauvignon and what a difference it makes! We ended up buying a bottle of each. And at $75 a bottle they must be good!
We actually spent more time here than we had planned simply to talk with the staff.
Minus one star though for the tasting room being kind of blah. Otherwise great wine and great overall experience!
I wanted to visit this place because Whitehall Lane wines have a special place in my heart. When I first started drinking wine, I fell in love with their Cabernet Sauvignon. I bought a lot of it. When their 1999 Cab scored high in Wine Spectator I bought a bottle. When I visited the winery, I bought etched glasses so I could drink the bottle out of the special glasses. That moment has come and gone and now I have time to reflect. My winery experience with them was OK. Just OK. Nothing exciting. I could yawn. The tasting room attendants seemed like they didn't want to be there and their Sauvignon Blanc tasted funny. I ended up not buying wine, just glasses.
Another stop that really shouldn't be missed. We ended up with another special bottle, this time with a glass cork (apparently the first of its kind). The tasting are great here too, especially the cabs. Not as quaint and calm in the atmosphere department, but its really all about the wine here...
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Whitehall Lane Winery was the most unpretentious of the wineries in Napa we visited this weekend. The service was extremely friendly and prompt. The wines were tasty and the price tag wasn't too high.
the reserve cabernets are excellent. worth trying once if you like your reds to be heavy and full-bodied.
I really enjoyed my wine-tasting experience here. I docked off a star for the wait...but I guess it was worth it. We had approx. 10 people in our party and they decided to start giving private tours to larger parties so our group was the 2nd private tour ever. The tour guide, Wendy Day, was super chill and friendly. The winery is small and the amount of wine they make is very limited compared to its surrounding neighbors. It's run by very few staff members that look after every batch. It was interesting to see the vats the wines are stored in and how people literally go into the vats to clean them out. Wendy let us go into the VIP room and gave us chocolate covered almonds while we sipped our wine. We even got to taste the reserve wine with the new glass cork technology, which my boyfriend ended up purchasing because he liked it so much. Pretty spiffy and only $12/person and 5 different wines to taste. Remember to tip the friendly staff if you're ever on a tour =)
