*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from Hall Winery
Oh the excellence or Exzellenz of Hall. I wrote about the 2006 Kathryn Hall Cabernet Sauvignon a couple months ago. I loved that wine. Well, that’s an understatement….I adored it. Since then, I’ve actually had a chance to visit Hall Winery (both the St. Helena and Rutherford locations) and I will need to tell you about that soon. For our anniversary, we decided to crack open the other bottle that Hall sent me as a sample to toast our 3rd year as a married couple. The 2006 Hall Exzellenz is a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, but my understanding is that Hall wanted the flexibility to change it to a blend in the future. I walked through the Sacrashe Vineyards at the Hall estate where the grapes are gone and heard from the Vineyard Manager about the farming. The Exzellenz had a real cork, clocked in at 14.5% alcohol by volume, and retails for $150.
On the nose I got black cherry, earth, spice, forest, fresh figs, cinnamon, dusty chocolate, and some red fruit hanging out in the background–I want to say some red berries. In the mouth I found black cherry, spice, black currants, black plum, dark chocolate, anise, earth, and a bit of blackberry. The fruit in the mouth showed as really juicy black with tannins to spare. Of the two Hall Cabs I’ve tried, the Kathryn Hall was much more approachable as a very young wine, and if I were to pick one to drink now, that would be it. If I wanted a wine to cellar and hold for years to come, I’d pick the Exzellenz and tuck it away for 15 years.
Sacrashe Vineyard
Filed under: Cabernet Sauvignon, California, Napa, Red, Wine | Tagged: California, Hall, Napa, Red Wine, Wine | Comments Off on Halls of Exzellenz
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