WHITEHALL LANE WINERY, St. Helena, Napa
Founded in 1979, and owned by the Leonardini family since 1993, Whitehall Lane is one of the most identifiable wineries in Napa. Located on Hwy 29, just south of St. Helena, this striking yellow winery is actually in the Rutherford appellation.
Seven diverse vineyards, comprising 160 planted acres, are situated primarily on the valley floor — Napa VALLEY being the Leonardini’s hallmark. These estate-owned and managed vineyards represent a remarkable resource:
- Leonardini Vineyard, St. Helena AVA, adjacent to the Leonardini Sr. family home
- Fawn Park Vineyard, St. Helena AVA, on Silverado Trail
- Estate Vineyard, Rutherford AVA – where the winery is located
- Bommarito Vineyard, Rutherford AVA
- Millennium MM Vineyard, Rutherford AVA
- Oak Glen Vineyard, Oak Knoll District AVA
- Rassi Vineyard, 12 acres on Sonoma Mountain AVA
Tom Leonardini Sr. is a native of San Francisco, and a serial entrepreneur. His love of wine inspired him to open the Napa Valley Winery Exchange in 1987, one of the premier wine shops in the city (and still owned by the family). This intro into the world of wine was obviously not enough, and he took the full plunge 6 years later. Tom Jr. and his sisters are now fully immersed in the winery, as it has matured into a vineyard-driven benchmark for valley-floor Napa Cabernet. The full range of wines totals about 50,000 cases annually. In 2010, Wine Spectator included Whitehall Lane in their survey of the 50 Best Cabernet Producers.
Jason Moulton joined Whitehall Lane in 2016, taking over from original Leonardini-era winemaker Dean Sylvester, and the results are already quite dramatic. He finished and bottled the 2014 Cabs, and has taken the white wines in an entirely new and exciting direction. Jason has extensive experience – including a stint at Quail Ridge in Kelowna – and counts icons David Ramey and Philippe Melka among his mentors. He has experience at both Long Meadow Ranch and Cliff Lede in Napa, as well as Sonoma, South Africa and Bordeaux. His degree is from the Lincoln University Viticulture & Enology program in New Zealand. And he’s a Certified Sommelier (Court of Master Sommeliers).
