HALL Winery St Helena

HALL Winery St. Helena was founded as Kathryn Hall Vineyards in 1996 with the name changed to HALL Wines in 2002. Their inaugural release, 1,200 cases of Cabernet Sauvignon from the HALL owned Sacrashe Vineyard and the 1997 vintage were both destroyed in a fire in 2000 at what is now the home of Frank Family Winery. The winery is owned by Craig and Kathryn Hall; both are extremely accomplished individuals in a variety of fields. Kathryn was the Ambassador to Austria for several years under the Clinton administration. She is a successful businesswoman, community activist, attorney and in 1991 ran for mayor of Dallas. In addition, Kathryn’s family has been in the wine industry for several decades (grape growers in Mendocino County); she and her brother managed their family property for 10 years.

Craig was raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan; his life is an incredible success story with a long list of accomplishments. At the age of 18 in 1968 he created the HALL Group – a business whose specialty was originally college rooming houses and apartment buildings. Over time the company has diversified into the HALL Park in Frisco Texas, the KPMG Plaza at HALL Arts in downtown Dallas and various financial services offered through one of his companies, HALL Structured Finance. In addition to real estate, over the years Craig has invested in a diversity of other businesses and ventures including oil, American Airlines and the Dallas Cowboys.

Craig remains active overseeing projects relating to real estate, venture capital, technology and hotels. What was HALL Financial helped fund several local hotel projects including the River Terrace Inn near downtown Napa and the Hilton Garden Inn, also in Napa. Craig is also an accomplished author, having written a number of well-known books about entrepreneurial practices, several of which are often available for sale in the tasting room including A Perfect Score: The Art, Soul, and Business of a 21st-Century Winery which he co-authored with Kathryn and was a a New York Times best-seller.

Both Craig and Kathryn are prolific art collectors; this is quickly evident when guests visit the winery or any of the HALL Group owned properties; some 35+ pieces of art are on display at HALL Winery St. Helena.

Hospitality
HALL Winery is located a few minutes’ drive south of the town of St Helena along the busy “wine strip”, a section of Highway 29 that features some of the larger, historic and more well-known wineries in the valley. And the winery is a short drive or walk north of Press Restaurant and the Napa Valley Museum of Art & Culture with a short trail through a vineyard block access from the south parking lot on the property.

The winery and hospitality center are set back from the highway; with such a large property, it never feels overly busy here. Based on the raised landscaping near highway 29 – it is very difficult to gauge the size of this winery, grounds and hospitality center from the highway.

Pull in the long driveway, wave to the prominent Bunny Foo Foo metal rabbit sculpture on your left, or pull over for a photo as thoughtfully, the entrance driveway conveniently widens opposite the statue. This 35-foot-tall gleaming metal statue was created by the artist Lawrence Argent who died far too young at age 60 in 2017. The Halls were first introduced to his work when they saw one of his works at the Sacramento Airport.

A warm spring day complemented by all the flowers and blossoming trees makes for an ideal time to visit. Note the number of intriguing sculptures and other art including both indoor and outdoor. The Hall’s collect eclectic and upbeat works of art from artists who typically are not well known. Incidentally the paint on the prominent white camel near the entrance is industrial paint used in high-end automobiles. Don’t try to ride this camel; we were told that apparently some guests have tried to do this.

After a major multi-year construction project HALL opened a contemporary and world-class hospitality center in early 2014, of which there are only a few of this size and scope in Napa Valley. By Napa winery standards this is a very large building; it houses part of the winery as well as the tasting room and an outdoor terrace overlooking west onto their vineyards. The historic Bergfeld stone ghost winery was also restored and is located next to the hospitality center.

The temporary tasting room which hosted visitors during construction has since been converted into an employee lounge and is located slightly to the south of the existing hospitality center.

This old winery building is historically rich with a number of owners over the years. Originally built in 1885 by a sea captain named William Peterson; he did not enjoy the fruits of his labor very long. Phylloxera destroyed his vineyard, and he sold the property in 1894 to the second owner, a San Francisco based building contractor by the name of Robert Bergfeld. He soon changed the name of the winery, naming it after himself.

The next owner, Theodore Gier, used to own what is now the site of Hess Collection Winery, operated Bergfeld Winery until the start of prohibition. Immediately following prohibition in 1933, a select group of Napa Valley based vintners purchased this property and a year later founded the Napa Valley Cooperative Winery converting the site into a major production facility for some 60+ years. Members/vineyard owners would bring their grapes to be processed here and then receive proceeds from the overall sales of the cooperative’s wine production. Starting in 1955 all the grapes processed here sold to GALLO who marketed the resulting wines as their own; the co-op at one point was producing over a million cases of wine a year and at the height of its production was responsible for producing about 40% of all the Napa Valley wines. The Hall’s purchased this property in 2003 from Golden State Vintners; prior to their purchase the property was more recently known as Edgewood Estate Winery.

HALL focuses on growing Bordeaux red varieties including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc which form what they call The Napa Valley Collection. The Hall’s own approximately 500 planted vineyard acres in Napa Valley including the Bergfield Vineyard (surrounding the winery – all valley floor land) and the hillside Sacrashe Vineyard at their other winery in Rutherford near Auberge du Soleil Resort – see our review of that winery, also listed on this site.

For visitors, the property offers a diversity of spaces, and it is worth spending some time wandering the grounds either before or after a tasting. The Farm includes planter beds containing seasonal vegetables and annual herbs, the Olive Grove is a romantic place for couples especially for those younger couples who enjoy kissing and the Ocean View Terrace is an ideal place for relaxing and taking photographs especially selfies with the Reflection on Life Fountain and the rows of vineyards as the backdrop to the west.

HALL offers several tasting and tour options throughout the year ranging from their Wine Tasting 101 (an introduction to wine geared towards new wine enthusiasts), the Bergfeld Tour & Tasting (a guided tour on this historic property), Demystifying Wine & Food (farm to table culinary workshop), Wine & Art Exploration, a “Sunset Cruise” – no water involved but definitely a sunset and a tasting called the Ultimate Cabernet Collector.

Visitors check in either with the a host waiting outside, weather permitting, or on a slower day inside the reception area on the first floor. Walk-in tastings are available and are hosted at the bar upstairs. Any wines purchased here will be ready for pickup before you leave next to the reception area downstairs. And in great customer service and follow up, based on personal experience buying wines here, HALL will send a follow up email with videos highlighting wines purchased.

Select Wines
The HALL current releases tend to have a bit more age as compared to current releases at other wineries with the red wines often seeing 20 to 24 months in oak followed up by up to a year in bottled before being released. As a result, tastings are often of wines 4 years after their vintage date.

Whites
Sauvignon Blanc
The 2023 HALL Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley is medium straw in color; the energetic bouquet dances across one’s olfactory nerves like a vibrant salsa dancer who is physically and in terms of stamina, at the peak of her career. Its diverse aromas are of citrus blossom, honeysuckle, pineapple guava, honeydew melon, lemongrass, and lime and grapefruit. The nose is herbal but not overtly green or grassy and that is an important distinction with this variety. The palate is bright, refreshing, crisp and mouth watering. It is also richly flavored. It offers notes of not fully ripe pineapple, green apple, honeydew melon, lime juice and common guava. Its texture is gentle and supple. Balanced. We would love to pair this with a variety of fresh Thai seafood, especially Thai giant freshwater prawns paired with spicy nam prik sauce.

Reds
Eighteen Seventy Three
The 2021 HALL Eighteen Seventy Three is a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot. This wine was aged for 26 months in 70% new French oak barrels. It is deep ruby and nearly opaque; the bouquet is dark fruited and very much forward with the oak influences also noticeable. It offers aromas of dark cherry, blackberry and dark plum along with a floral component (violets and lilacs). And there are several other layers at play here including cinnamon stick, clove, mocha, espresso and sweet tobacco. On the palate there are flavors of bramble, dark cherry, crushed peppercorn and dried herbs including sage. This wine offers a dark and savory character but without the heavy hand of texture. Instead, the mouth feel is as soft as running one’s hands over the gentle fur of a young miniature schnauzer. We are enjoying this outdoors on a fine warm December day at HALL Palm Springs, thinking about drinking this with a well marbled medium rare steak and a BBQ.

The 2015 HALL Eighteen Seventy Three Cabernet Sauvignon is named in tribute to when the first vines were planted on their St. Helena property. However, this wine is composed entirely of hillside grapes from the Vaca mountains, the mountain range on the eastern side of the valley. It is a blend of 99% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Petit Verdot. The bouquet initially sports a sweetness of aromas (cassis) with hints of brown sugar, chocolate, vanilla black licorice and white pepper. It is highly approachable in its youth offering flavors of plum. The tannins integrate nicely on the finish but with a noticeable density and a persistent firm grip. They are not edgy or course in their textural feel.

Katherine Hall
The 2019 HALL, Katherine Hall Cabernet Sauvignon is 96% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Merlot, with grapes sourced primarily from the Sacrache Vineyard. It was aged in 75% new French oak barrels (primarily from the cooperage, Taransaud). This wine is deep ruby in color; first notes that we jotted down were that this wine smells like the variety. The bouquet offers floral scents including violets and lavender and opens up to a layer of toffee and Graham cracker. Supple on the entry. Supple mid palate. And supple on the finish. The tannin texture is as smooth as cashmere. The palate reveals flavors of blackberry, cherry cola, root beer, and raspberries. The finish is filled with fruit in union with toasted oak and darker spices including smoked sage and white pepper. Drinks easily and comfortably five years post vintage.

Mt. Veeder
The 2018 HALL Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc; it was aged 26 months in 85% new French oak barrels. This wine is deep ruby and opaque in the glass; dark fruited with a generous bouquet of black plum, dark cherry, boysenberry and blackberry – all at the peak of their ripeness. Other scents include dark pepper, mocha, melting brown chocolate, cinnamon, nutmeg and chocolate brownie. Flavors include plum, blackberry and dark cherry. This is a dark, savory and texturally rich bottling. One can feel a density of tannins sporting a persistent grippy chalky-character; but instead of being ‘edgy’ their texture is more rounded/gravelly. Lingers with a notes of toasted oak, dried herbs and an earthy/drying character which ultimately out paces the fruit on the finish.

Terra Secca
The 2018 HALL Terra Secca Cabernet Sauvignon. Terra Secca is Italian for ‘dry earth’; the grapes for this wine were sourced from vineyards on the eastern hillsides of the Vaca mountain range along Soda Canyon. It is 96% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Merlot and was aged 26 Months in 65% new French oak barrels. This wine is deep ruby and opaque in the glass; generous in terms of its aromatic presentation, its ripely fruited scents could be described as opulent and a bit hedonistic. It throws out all the dark fruits one can extract from this variety including notes of dark cherry, blackberry jam, boysenberry, and dark plum. Secondary aromas include cedar, cocoa powder, mocha, vanilla and espresso. Plush across the palate, perfectly showcasing the quintessential ‘HALL structure’, the highly polished tannins sport a creamy and velvety texture. Its flavors include dark coral cherry at the ripe end of the flavor spectrum (one of our favorite cherry varieties which we harvest significant amounts of in June, in Brentwood, CA), blackberry, dark Pakistani mulberry, and boysenberry. Lingers with a subtle warmth on the back of the throat.

Jack’s Masterpiece
Jack’s masterpiece was originally a painting created by then 18-month-old Jack, the son of HALL’s former winemaker and current president Mike Reynolds. This vibrant and colorful piece of art is the label on a wine created in honor of both Jack and his artistic skills. While Mike is no longer directly involved in the hands-on day to day winemaking at HALL, he makes all the blending decisions for this particular wine.

The 2021 HALL Jack’s Masterpiece Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley is 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Merlot. This wine was aged for 26 Months in 70% new French oak barrels. It is deep ruby and nearly opaque; the bouquet sports scents of dried tobacco leaf, dried sage, petrichor, blackberry, boysenberry, dark plum, vanilla, mocha and white chocolate. Some of the savory attributes on the bouquet are also evident on the palate; it reveals flavors of smoked sage, a light pepper spice, blackberry and lingers with a light but persistent woodsy spice. The tannins are grainy and chewy, sporting a persistent gravelly character. Medium bodied. Dark and layered, this wine pairs particularly well with the braised lamb sphere, a small bite offered at their Palm Springs tasting room at the time of our visit.

The 2015 HALL Jack’s Masterpiece is 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc. Noticeably dark red in the glass, its aromatics are primarily dark fruited with a potpourri of both bright fruit aromas and dessert spices. Also dried rose petal and mocha as the wine continues to breathe. A sweetness of fruit shows on the palate with flavors of red licorice, blackberry and baking spices. This wine packs plenty of flavor anchored by a firm grip of finer grained tannins spread over a very long finish. A very nice showing.

Bergfield
Their Bergfield Cabernet Sauvignon is from vineyards surrounding the winery, with the majority of the vines directly to the west of the winery. This is the “sea” of vines as seen from the balcony outside of the tasting room. It is all valley floor fruit.

The 2015 HALL Bergfield is initially savory or meaty on the bouquet; oak is a companion component of the aromas rather than imparting any dominating influence. And it offers subtle aromas of Graham cracker. The nose becomes less meaty and more elegant as it opens further. Shows plenty of red fruit on the palate including cherry, currant and dried cranberries. It is mouthwatering with excellent acidity. A slight tartness on the finish is anchored by a robust grip of slightly dusty tannins which linger for some time. Cellar this one for a few years.

Ellie’s
The 2015 HALL Ellie’s Cabernet Sauvignon (named after Craig’s mother) shows a diversity of spices on the bouquet including cloves, a hint of mocha, brown chocolate along with aromas of cherry. A pleasing texture from start to finish on the palate, with a noticeable smoothness or softness if you will. Plush, ripe and slightly earthy tannins anchor the finish along with hints of cedar and a dark spice nuance.

There is a reason why when people ask us for our top Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon wines, we invariably recommend some of HALL’s premium Cabernet Sauvignon. Most of their wines fit our palate like a glove, are sourced from carefully managed vineyards and in the winery are made with great attention to detail.

HALL is also known for hosting a variety of events throughout the year including probably the most well-known event, the Cabernet Cookoff. Founded in 2011 this event features prominent chefs who create a variety of dishes – the top dish is voted upon by celebrity judges. All proceeds from ticket sales to this event are donated to Napa Valley based charities and over the years hundreds of thousands of dollars have been raised.

In July 2009, HALL Winery St. Helena received the prestigious Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certification, becoming the first winery in California to be distinguished as a Gold certified facility by the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Green Building Rating System. A winery must meet a number of requirements before becoming Gold LEED certified including installing radiant floors (allow for temperature control), solar energy (the cells are located on the top of the barrel cellar and fermentation building), local building materials (most came from within 500 miles of the winery), and water conservation (drought tolerant plants for landscaping and all water used in the vineyards as well as the landscaping is recycled).

The bathrooms in the hospitality center are not your normal Napa bathrooms. Perhaps they borrowed some ideas from Jean Charles Boisset at Raymond Winery’s red room. One color dominates inside: red.

In 2018 the BACA Lounge opened on site featuring BACA Wines (a California Zinfandel brand owned by the Halls with mostly non-Napa Valley vineyard sources). This lounge offers a number of experiences in addition to wine tasting including several games including Jenga, bocce ball, dominoes and dice. It is a space carefully crafted to facilitate conversation and interaction among guests.

Kathryn Hall Harvest Celebration
Once a year in September (typically in the midst of the throes of harvest), HALL Winery St. Helena hosts a sizable harvest party to celebrate the release of Hall’s flagship wine, the Kathryn Hall Cabernet Sauvignon. This lively event features loud live music and a dance floor accompanied with beach balloons hosted on the Great Lawn, lots of delicious food served by a variety of vendors, tastings of the Kathryn Hall Cabernet Sauvignon and access to a photo both to take home a souvenir photograph.

Several other passes allow access to more private areas within the winery including the Library Pass (access to library vintages) and the Platinum Pass providing access to a special tasting hosted of their Platinum Collection wines by Kathryn and her team of winemakers prior to the main celebration + access throughout the event to the Platinum Lounge located inside the historic Bergfeld winery building.

Hall Ambassador Program
This program was setup for Hall wine enthusiasts who maintain an audience of at least 7,500 followers on social media or other digital memberships. Personalities who work well for promoting and selling the Hall wines include lifestyle bloggers, wine experts and influencers, chefs and foodie enthusiasts and certain business owners.

For approved ambassadors, HALL sends quarterly shipments of select wines and offers educational information to help sell the wines. A dedicated marketing specialist is also available to assist with content and ideas.

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In the spirit of being a “green” winery, HALL was the first Napa winery to install an ECOtality electric charging vehicle station on site. HALL maintains a sizeable shipping operation south of the city of Napa in a business park for all their wine brands. For more information or to join one of their wine club membership offerings (with membership perks provided at their other tasting rooms), visit: www.hallwines.com.

HALL WINERY, ST. HELENA
Historic Bergfeld Winery

Grounds

Hospitality Center

Winery

The Many Costumes of Bunny Foo Foo

OTHER HALL OWNED TASTING ROOMS
WALT Wines, Napa
was the second tasting room for WALT Wines; this opened on June 22, 2019, at 605 First Street in the city of Napa. The Napa tasting room is conveniently located in Napa’s Oxbow District – a short ride or walk from downtown, crossing over the Napa River. WALT Wines is located almost across the street from the Oxbow Public Market and just down the street from the former COPIA property – now owned and operated by the Culinary Institute of America. A select number of parking spaces are available for tasting room customers in the small parking lot next to the tasting room.

This is a very centrally located part of town for both food and wine experiences, with numerous tasting rooms within easy walking distance of WALT Wines. Their tasting room is located in a historic home that dates from 1900 and is part of 3 tiny homes that were joined together many years ago. This house has been remodeled several times; the prior tenant Uncorked at Oxbow, also operated a tasting room here. The interior offers a fun and cozy tasting atmosphere.

WALT Wines was founded in 2009 by Kathryn Hall to honor her parents, Bob and Dolores Walt. Bob was originally from Oakland who began growing grapes in Redwood Valley, Mendocino County in 1974. Bob was a World War II veteran; he passed at age 64 in 1981. He was a member of the northern California Pharmaceutical Association and used to be the proprietor of several Walt’s Drug Stores in Berkeley, CA including at 1265 and 1600 University Avenue.

WALT is known for their Pinot Noir, but they also produce several Chardonnay wines from select vineyard sources in Sonoma County. They source grapes up and down the west coast of the USA from prime Pinot Noir growing regions including the Willamette Valley in the north to the Santa Rita Hills in the south with a number of vineyards in between including in Mendocino, Sonoma, Napa, Monterey and Santa Barbara counties.

WALT owns several vineyards but also works with growers to purchase additional grapes. The largest of their properties was Walt Ranch at 2,300 acres, formerly known as the Miranda Leonard Ranch. As of 2023, this land is now owned by the Land Trust of Napa County. It is located in the Atlas Peak sub-appellation; we have visited this property before. Parts of this land feature excellent views looking east and from several vistas, one can even see into the Central Valley and on clear days parts of the snowcapped Sierra Nevada mountains far in the distance.

While most of their wines are not from Napa Valley, the production for WALT Wines is at HALL Winery in St. Helena. Their one Napa Valley vineyard is the 40-acre Brown Ranch Vineyard located on the Napa Valley side of the Carneros District. This vineyard is owned by long time Napa Valley family, the Renterias (also vintners).

Tastings are held in several spaces inside including a sit down area inside, exterior seating when weather permits, a side room next to the entrance and or at the long bar. Walk in tastings are welcome – private tastings by appointment are held in the tiny tasting salon room in the rear of the home. Two special by appointment only tastings are offered including a Wine & Chocolate Pairing through a partnership with Napa based Earth & Sky Chocolate and Root 101 Wine & Food Pairing Experience. Root 101 is offered at all the WALT tasting rooms through partnerships with local chefs. This elevated and intimate experience pairs select WALT Pinot Noir with small bites.

WALT Wines, Sonoma
is located about 1/4 a block off the main Sonoma Plaza (the northwest corner of the plaza)- about a 25–30-minute drive from the WALT Wines tasting room in downtown Napa. This is an ideal location; it is easy to walk to from anywhere in the Sonoma Plaza area with numerous other tasting rooms and close restaurant neighbors including the iconic girl and the fig. And Sonoma is home to the northernmost of the 21 California Missions (Mission San Francisco Solano), a series of missions built in the 1700s and 1800s about a day’s wagon ride apart – with the southernmost mission located in San Diego.

One of the tasting experiences at this WALT Wines tasting room is a pairing with select bites prepared by a local chef. The tasting room is open daily from 11-6pm; reservations are recommended for busier weekend visits. Walk-ins are gladly accepted anytime during their normal business hours if they are not already full. Parking is available curbside or in several spots within an adjacent parking lot. Tastings are held either inside, outside on their front porch or on the north side of the building outdoors under giant redwood trees. The wooden outdoor tables used to be at HALL Winery in St. Helena.

WALT focuses on Pinot Noir; at the time of our last update to this review they were producing 14 different Pinot Noirs. We’ve tried a number of them, and these are absolutely not cookie-cutter wines from this variety, rather each is unique and very reflective of their particular terroir. The 1,000 Miles of Pinot Noir, a catchy tagline, references the approximate distance between their vineyard in the north, Willamette Valley, Oregon and their furthest vineyard in the south, Sta. Rita Hills in Santa Barbara County. One of the tasting room staff told us the actual mileage is 1,038 but 1,000 is a catchier number. But in actuality, if you map the distance between Portland and Santa Barbara (distances slightly longer than the distance between their two furthest located vineyards) the mileage calculates to 939. In some of their literature, each of their vineyard sites is labeled with its own mile marker.

For more information, to purchase wine or to join the WALT Membership, either the WALT Vintner’s Club or WALT Appellation Club, visit: www.waltwines.com

Select WALT Wines
Chardonnay
The 2021 WALT Bob’s Ranch Chardonnay, Russian River Valley (this ranch also produces Pinot Noir); this is aged in 30% new French oak and 70% neutral oak with the oak complementing rather than dominating. This wine is medium gold in color; on the bouquet there some honeyed notes including of honeycomb and honeysuckle accompanied by golden delicious apples, pineapple guava, lychee, white peach, apricot, a light kiss of both creme Brule, popcorn butter and toasted oak. While it shows nuances of California Chardonnay it is not overtly buttery or oaky. Balanced, bright, beautiful and thoroughly refreshing, the palate is lifted by its lively acidity. Its flavors include apple, comise pear, honeycomb, yellow nectarine, apricot, Alphonso mango and papaya. Its texture is rounded with a light creamy textural feel. Finishes bright, ripe and intensely flavored. Consistently this is one of their lower ABV wines.

The 2020 WALT Chardonnay Sonoma Coast, Sonoma County was sourced from Bob’s Ranch and Sangiacomo Vineyard; it was aged for 5 months in 25% new French oak barrels. This wine is medium golden in color. The bouquet immediately offers a note of bruised apple, a sweet and sour aromatic initially leading us to believe this wine might be a little bit aromatically oxidized, the resulting juice of freshly cored Golden delicious apple, pineapple, baked pear, sweet ripe nectarines, lychee, dried apricot and creme Brulé. The palate offers very much a perceived sweetness of ripe stone fruited characteristics including flavors of nectarine, yellow peach, and apricot along with pear, Golden delicious apple, honeycomb and crystalized ginger soft candy. The ripeness is tempered somewhat by its bright acidity. This wine goes down easily, quickly and enjoyably, four years post vintage at the time of our tasting.

Pinot Noir
The 2023 WALT Rosé of Pinot Noir is medium copper in color; the minerally bouquet leads with citrus aromas including of kumquat, kaffir lime leaf and lemon zest. And there are additional scents of graphite, raspberry, mint and as the wine evolves in the glass a hint of watermelon jolly rancher. We love the zippy acidity combined with the fleshy texture – sporting a rounded, supple and almost oily character. On the palate there are flavors of mint, raspberry, pomegranate, ruby grapefruit and red cherry. The finish lingers bright and refreshing and immediately begs another sip.

Shea
The 2021 WALT Shea Vineyard Willamette Valley Pinot Noir; this is their only dry farmed Pinot Noir vineyard. It is a lighter styled expression of the variety. This wine is pale ruby in color; higher toned, its aromatics include raspberry, cranberry sauce, sour cherry, red currant and light note of white sage. Texturally, this is a soft and supple expression of the variety from the entry through to the finish. On the palate there are flavors of cranberry, pomegranate, red cherry and raspberry. This is an easy drinking and highly approachable wine in its youth. Seamless is by far the best descriptor to highlight how the tannins feel on the finish. We enjoyed this wine with a delicious ratatouille, pepper and tomato pesto on a 10 grain crostini.

Sierra Mar
The 2021 WALT Sierra Mar Santa Lucia Highlands Gary’s Vineyard, Pinot Noir is pale to medium ruby; aromatically an elegant expression of the variety; this is their only single clone Pinot Noir, made from the Pisoni selection. Its scents include spicy plum skin, rose petals, lilacs, raspberry, currant and white pepper. The palate offers layers of flavor including Santa Rosa plum, raspberry and red cherry. It finishes with darker spice thread including of sage and white pepper. Balanced and bright, this wine is singing in a sweet spot four years post vintage. Complements nicely a duck sausage and prosciutto, quinoa salad and especially the bright acidity of the wine pairing well with the tanginess of the port sauce.

Gap’s Crown
The 2022 WALT Gap’s Crown Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir (Petaluma Gap) is distinctive based on its color; it is medium ruby with a pinkish/purplish rim. The bouquet offers layers of red berry fruits including raspberry, cranberry and red currants. Highly perky, this wine smells lively, bright and fresh. Regardless of vintage, there is always a long age-ability window on this particular wine. Typically WALT harvests slightly earlier than other producers who source grapes from this vineyard. And this shows on the energetic, bright and crunchy palate. Its flavors mimic the bouquet to some extent with currant, Icelandic crowberry (look that one up if you are not familiar with that fruit… and who really is except Icelandic people), not fully ripe blueberry, cranberry and sour cherry. Lingers brightly lit with plenty of freshness and already integrated tannins, 3 years post vintage. Their texture lingers with a well-rounded and very subtle gravelly character. The wine was complemented nicely by a cheesy polenta, wild mushrooms and fiscalini creme small bite.

Clos Pepe
The 2021 WALT Clos Pepe Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir; this is from one of their estate-owned vineyards. This wine is pale ruby in color; it immediately smells savory with scents of smoked meats, a hint of dried mushroom, lilac, lavender, dried thyme, and sage. Its fruit is higher toned and includes notes of raspberry and red cherry. It is well layered and featuring loads of flavors including both fruit and spice; these include white sage, smoked cedar, red plum, currant, red licorice, white pepper and dried tobacco leaf. The tannins are rounded, soft and align smoothly into the finish like a perfectly fitting puzzle piece. This was paired with the most robust bite, the pork belly slider, smoked soy bacon, jam and arugula. And it can hold up to to that, especially the fat in the pork belly and its accompanying salt.

Bob’s Ranch
The 2022 WALT Bob’s Ranch Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is medium ruby in color; this vineyard is located close to Sebastopol and experiences a bit of the wind influence from the Petaluma Gap. This is a thoughtful and carefully produced Pinot Noir, based on its diversity of clones. Each year, this wine is produced from 6 clones, each fermented and aged separately before being blended. And 10% of this wine was aged in concrete vessels. It immediately smells layered with a pleasing union of both fruit and darker spices. These aromatics include plum, raspberry, smoked sage, old cedar box, cherry and tobacco. Its flavors are higher toned red fruits including cherry, plum, currant, cranberry and a brambly character. Finishes bright but with a balanced acidity, shows lightly gravelly but well integrated tannins and a note of dried herbs and a light layer of pink peppercorn. And to celebrate this wine, the annual Bob’s Block Party is held the first Saturday in May at WALT Napa where guests try the individual clones before they are blended into the final bottling.

Brown Ranch
The 2017 WALT Brown Ranch Vineyard Pinot Noir is ruby red in color; the wine initially offers some earth and spice notes including aromas of white pepper, truffle oil, hints of cedar and perhaps a floral nuance. More fruit is revealed after the wine has had some time in the glass. Shows a density of flavor without any harsh wood tannins that sometimes can disrupt the finish of wines from this variety. The palate is well-layered and deftly balanced featuring darker spices and a hint of a wood spice on the lively finish. Its flavors include red cherry. The finish is supple and seamless.

The Corners
The 2021 WALT The Corners Anderson Valley Pinot Noir, Mendocino County; its color intensity is noticeable, sporting a medium to deep ruby hue. This wine was fermented with 10% stem inclusion. These stems are slow roasted in a chili roaster, not charring, making the stems more pliable and removing the green character. The ripe and sweetly fruited bouquet, perhaps the ripest of the WALT bottlings we have tried over the years, offers aromas of fig jam, blackberry preserve, boysenberry and cherry pie accompanied by assorted baking spices including clove and nutmeg. Deeper in the aromas there is a thread of light cedar. As ripe as the bouquet, the first flavor we noted was of Santa Rosa plum and plum jam along with cherry pie, raspberry and pomegranate. If the palate was just left to its ripe character, it perhaps would be flabby, but this wine is buoyed high by its bright and refreshing acidity. And its tannins are more evident than in some of the other WALT Pinot Noir wines. They persist with lightly grainy character. Enjoy in front of a roaring fire in a log cabin in the mountains in the middle of a winter snow storm.

The 2016 WALT The Corners Pinot Noir (Anderson Valley); after the grapes have been removed from the stems, the stems are roasted separately in a chili roaster and then about 15% of the stems were put back into the fermentation. The bouquet offers ripe raspberry and cherry, red licorice, and rhubarb framed by notes of brown chocolate, baking spices and a hint of mushroom and old cedar box. Its texture is highly appealing texture, with an ethereal density which while quickly noticeable, is also not heavy at the same time. Balanced across the palate, this wine lingers with darker notes on the finish including flavors of cloves, white pepper and tasted oak and baking spices.

BACA/WALT Wines, Healdsburg
A tasting room for both BACA and WALT Wines opened in mid-September 2019 at 776 Westside Road mere minutes from downtown Healdsburg in neighboring Sonoma County. This tasting room is located in the Dry Creek appellation within a short walk of the storied Madrona Manor, a gorgeous Victorian mansion that dates from the early 1880s. Soon after it opened, this tasting room transitioned into a space dedicated to BACA wines, but then again in June 2025, the space transitioned back into a home for both BACA and WALT wines.

BACA means ‘berry’ in Latin. This space was the former tasting room of Uptick Vineyards. No winery is currently on the property although there are plans to build a winery which will be exclusively used for the BACA wines. The property is 22 acres and was planted to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir; grapes were sold to other producers for several years after BACA purchased the property. Once the contracts for these grapes ended, 13.5 acres were replanted in 2022 to Zinfandel, Carignan, Petite Sirah and Alicante Bouschet, all head trained.

Several tasting experiences were initially offered including a single-vineyard WALT Pinot Noir and Chardonnay flight, a BACA flight and The Crossroads tasting focusing on wines from all three of their brands. Today the flights focus on BACA and WALT wines. The tasting room and bar faces to the north with views overlooking their vineyards and an outdoor patio with seating also offers similar views along with a select number of games (non-digital) that guests can enjoy playing.

BACA focuses entirely on single vineyard Zinfandel sourced from vineyards as far south as Paso Robles and as far north as Sonoma County. Several of the BACA wines are sourced from premium vineyards in the Napa Valley. Every BACA wine is named after a game and perhaps a bit surprising, these wines are all in Burgundian bottles.

BACA Wines
The 2023 BACA Stargazing White is a blend of Marsanne and Roussanne. This wine is medium to deep gold in color; on the bouquet there are scents of honeysuckle, star jasmine, orange blossom, pineapple, pineapple guava and a light herbal note including of lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf. Crisp and bright, the palate offers flavors of pineapple, Golden delicious apple, honeydew melon, guava, pink pomelo, cucumber infused water and lemon/lime. The texture is lightly rounded; the finish lingers with a subtle drying character which persists beyond the fruit on the finish, showing more on the front of the palate than the back. Pair with grilled scallops, a dash of olive oil and lemon juice and a sprinkle of sea salt.

The 2017 BACA I Spy Howell Mountain Zinfandel is sourced from the Black Sears Vineyard. The name of this wine pays homage to the elevation of the Black Sears Vineyard – its uppermost vines top out at 2,400 feet, although the 10-acre block of Zinfandel that BACA sources from is around 1,800 feet in elevation. The 2017 BACA I Spy Howell Mountain Zinfandel, according to the tasting room staff is a terroir driven wine. And after smelling and tasting this wine the description is an appropriate one. Reddish purple in color the bouquet shows darker spice notes with raspberry aromas. Fairly soft and supple across the palate, the wine drinks nicely in its youth. Very balanced with flavors of red cherry and lingering notes of darker spices including tobacco leaf and dust. Features earthy tannins with a lively finish.

The 2017 BACA Marbles Pocai Vineyard Zinfandel is from a vineyard on the Silverado Trail owned by the Ballentine family, the same family that owns Ballentine Vineyards just north of St. Helena. Fairly purple in color, the nose offers pleasing aromas including violets, dried and fresh rose petal and a sweetness of fruit including raspberry. It sports a lovely texture with fine-grained well-integrated tannins anchoring a lively finish. Mouthwatering acidity.

The oldest vineyard they source from as of the time of this review is the Maffei Vineyard in Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Valley; the oldest of these vines date from 1928 and are still under the Maffei family ownership (since 1922). Appropriately named Tug O’ War – the earliest game known to humans, chosen to honor the vineyards’ age. This vineyard typically produces only 1.5 to 2 tons of grapes er acre. The 2017 BACA Maffei Vineyard Tug O’ War Zinfandel offers attractive fruit aromatics on the bouquet, a sweetness of cherry and raspberry and is riper than some of their other bottlings, but not overly ripe. Superbly balanced across the palate, this wine drinks very well in its youth. Offers a clean finish, fine tannins and a noticeable an intensity of fruit on the extended finish.

HALL Napa Valley, Thompson Hotel – Palm Springs
The Thompson Palm Springs is located in the heart of downtown Palm Springs in the Design District. Mimicking the overall architecture of Palm Springs, this hotel is built in a midcentury modern design. Rooms include suites with balconies or patios, two outdoor pools, a complete fitness center and the HALL Napa Valley tasting room among more than 35,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

After a number of delays, the HALL Wines tasting room opened on November 8, 2024 with the official ribbon cutting ceremony hosted on November 26th with Kathryn Hall attending. This slice of Napa Valley in Palm Springs is both indoors and outdoors and features a variety of wines from both HALL, WALT and BACA. And they offer several Champagne’s created especially for HALL. The space is located adjacent to the Thompson hotel lobby on the ground level with access between each space through a large windowed door open during the tasting room’s normal business hours.

The vibe is casual, friendly and upscale but always with an element of being a social destination. For example, during our first visit we overheard several couples engaged in conversation who were both staying at the Thompson Hotel but had randomly met while shopping during the course of the day and had agreed to meetup again at HALL. Weather permitting, guests tasting outdoors will have views of the nearby San Jacinto Mountains.

Small bites are prepared by the chefs at Lola Rose Grand Mezze, the restaurant on the second floor within the Thompson Hotel. The tasting menu will recommend specific pairings with specific wines. One of our favorites was the Peruvian scallop ceviche served in a seashell. The flexibility of what you can taste here is important to note. Guests can order from a number of flights ranging from white wines, red wines, or variety specific including Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, or Cabernet Sauvignon. And each wine can be ordered as a taste or a glass.

HALL Wines, Palm Springs

Thompson Hotel, Palm Springs

TEXAS LOCATIONS
HALL Park, Frisco Texas
HALL Park is located in Frisco Texas, about 30 minutes north of Dallas via the Dallas North Tollway or a similar driving time from DFW International Airport. Originally called the Hall Office Park, the roots of this business park date back to the late 1980s when the HALL Group purchased 160 acres of open land in this part of Frisco. From then until now, Frisco has seen remarkable growth from about 6,000 people at that time to over 150,000 today.

With the vision to develop a premiere workspace, HALL Park has become an integral part of Frisco. The first building was constructed in 1997 and in subsequent years additional buildings opened. Remarkably, today there are more than 2.5 million square feet of office space housed in 17 buildings with more than 180 companies located on site.

This is not your typical business park; driving through the park one is greeted by numerous pieces of outdoor works of art. Over 200 sculptures are located within the park collected by the HALL Group from a diverse group of international artists. Most of the works are outdoors however, additional pieces are located within all of the office buildings. Several works among the 200+ pieces stand out including Rose Petals by Dennis Oppenheim, Jaguar, a massive linear piece all in red by John Henry and the visually intriguing and odd Giant fish eating a House by Joe Barrington.

In addition, the Texas Sculpture Garden (directly outside of the 6801 Gaylord Parkway building address) contains 4 acres of contemporary works of art featuring Texas based artists. Visitors can download the Otocast app for more information about each of the sculptures and artists – this can be used during a walking and or driving tour of the park. And Dances on the Prairie, filmed in 2001 is a 30-minute documentary highlighting the creation of the Texas Sculpture Garden (available as DVD on Amazon).

Numerous other amenities are on site including HALL ACTIVE, a large fitness center offering monthly membership options, HALL CAR, a full-service car wash center, HALL MEET, featuring five separate meeting spaces spread throughout the park and HALL SIP, a wine lounge with wine lockers. When looking for cheap eats, often business parks are good destinations! The HALL Art Cafe is an ideal spot to grab a quick breakfast or lunch – offering reasonably priced options with sit down seating both in the cafe, in the adjoining HALL Sip Lounge and outdoors next to several pieces of art. In addition, a short drive away from the HALL Art Cafe, food trucks park in a coned off section of a parking lot near HALL CAR Care.

One can certainly get some exercise by visiting HALL Park; 3 miles of jogging and walking trails meander around the office buildings, past the art and along several ponds. Several bike share stations are located throughout the park – available for bike share services.

Outdoor

Indoor

HALL Arts Hotel, Dallas

After driving from the world-famous Napa Valley we pulled into downtown Dallas during one of the peaks of a *massively* over-hyped viral outbreak due to people’s inability to rationally control their own exacerbated fears based on the warped realities of the actual situation, in part fueled by media outlets and access to social media. It was also during a multi-day curfew enacted due to sometimes violent riots.

This made for some wildly strange times; few things will stop us from traveling. This was the 3rd extended Napa Valley focused domestic trip we took between March and June 2020 – taking full advantage of numerous stupid Shelter in Place policies across the country resulting in wonderful traffic conditions and remarkably low gas prices, while staying in several hotels and resorts connected to wineries in Napa Valley at significant discounts, and always one of only a handful of people booked each night.

Conveniently located in the 19-block Arts District in downtown Dallas (1717 Leonard Street) within walking distance of museums, the opera and the symphony, this modern arts focused hotel opened in late 2019. Features 183 spacious rooms (20+ room types) – all with large and comfortable beds, a workspace with plenty of outlets (great for business travelers) and various views of the city skyline. All rooms feature photos taken within the Dallas Arts District and a Leading Hotels of the World book, of which HALL Arts Hotel is a member.

The hotel also offers 6,000 square feet of meeting space, a well-stocked bar (including as expected, select HALL wines) and the airy Ellie’s Restaurant and adjacent lounge (named after Craig’s mother). Visitors should take advantage of small ‘roof’ pool – a lovely place to spend part of the evening, especially on a warm Dallas night. A fairly intimate space, it is easy to meet other travelers here and strike up a conversation. Also noteworthy is the large gym.

And the 28-story HALL Arts Residences adjacent to the hotel features a number of premium urban living spaces ranging in size from 1,600 to 10,000 square feet.

This is one of the country’s most significant art districts; HALL Arts Hotel is the first hotel in this part of Dallas. Craig developed the high-rise KPMG building (which he later sold), located directly across from the hotel. Worth visiting is the KPMG Plaza at HALL Arts, a small outdoor courtyard between HALL Arts Hotel and the KPMG building housing a diversity of original pieces of art by Texas based & other artists. Arguably the most intriguing of these pieces is PATHS, by Icelandic sculptor Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir featuring 7 aluminum men, including several scaling one of the walls. Access to this courtyard is from the hotel or from one of two street entrances.

All parking is valet with cars parked overnight in the HALL Arts Garage located underneath the hotel; cars can be accessed 24/7. In September 2021, it was announced that HALL Arts Hotel became a member of the Curio Collection by Hilton.

HALL Arts Hotel

KPMG Building + KPMG Plaza at HALL Arts

Craig’s First Real Estate Investment, House in Ann Arbor, Michigan
After visiting numerous other Hall properties, standing in front of this unassuming home is a humbling experience when one reflects on the fact that this was the space that began Craig’s impressive and far-reaching real estate career when he was only 18 years old, a career originally focused on Michigan rooming houses and apartment buildings and then later diversified in Texas. According to Craig in Boom: Bridging the Opportunity Gap to Reignite Startups his companies at one point owned more then 72,000 apartment buildings and many millions of office space square footage.

Located in a residential college neighborhood serving the University of Michigan, during a recent visit, remarkably decades after Craig’s purchase, it appears its main function is still a rooming house for college students.

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WINE VIDEOS
HALL Wines

BACA Wines

WALT Wines

High-Powered High Heels

ARCHIVED NOTES
Senza Hotel
This premium property is located only about 10-15 minutes north of downtown Napa along Highway 29. The property was formerly a Bed and Breakfast called La Residence – Kathryn and Craig purchased the B&B and set about completely renovating the structure and making significant improvements to the property. Today it is a luxury hotel on 2-acres and is a peaceful space surrounded by trees close to the often-busy nearby highway 29.

NOTE: in mid 2023 Senza Hotel was sold by the Halls to Dallas based investment firms Cienda Partners and Pendant Capital and this property is no longer owned by the Halls. We keep our notes here for historical reference.

The 40+ rooms and suites are spread among five buildings including the Parker Mansion which dates from 1870; there are good views of the nearby vineyards from some of the suites. Very pet friendly. A spa room (offering a number of massage treatments), a pool and hot tub are also on site. Like at both of the Napa Valley based HALL wineries, art is an integral part of the property with select sculptures placed throughout the grounds.

And one can walk to lunch or dinner at the nearby long-time restaurant, Bistro Don Giovanni – or enjoy a tasting at Ashes & Diamonds, also within an easy and short walking distance of the hotel. Guests at Senza receive complimentary tastings at HALL St. Helena or WALT Wines in the city of Napa.

In the evenings, one-hour wine tastings are hosted in the lobby area with a representative from a local winery pouring wines. From personal experience, both from pouring wines and from being an invited guest of one of the hotel patrons, these are fun gatherings and a great way to meet other guests. We have noticed consumers at these events fall into two sets of interests: those who just want to drink and have fun and those who are more serious about the wine and want to learn more of the backstory of the brands represented.