NAPA VALLEY WINEMAKER MAKES CASE FOR TAMPING DOWN THE HEAT
But Apparently a Nerve Has Been Struck
(THIS NEWSLETTER HAS BEEN 100% WRITTEN BY A HUMAN -- ME)
Whitehall Lane director of winemaking & viticulture Jason Moulton: “Napa Valley is on the offensive and not the defensive.”
It apparently touched some nerve, my prior newsletter – “Napa Valley Feeling the Heat from Something Other Than Fires” (https://alangoldfarb2424.substack.com/p/napa-valley-feeling-heat-from-something) -- because two days after the piece posted I received a phone call and an email on the same day from two Napa Valley wine people.
The call came from the publicist for the Napa Valley Vintners – the most powerful marketing group within the AVA – and the email from a Napa Valley winemaker.
I thought the article would generate some controversy – and it still may – but the senders of those messages, I believe, merely wished to clarify a reference I made to a marketing video that had the imprimatur of the Vintners. The two Napans pointed out, the clip was created by a de facto group of young winemakers and growers, not the NVV per se.
The PR person merely wanted me to clarify who made the video. I did so at the bottom of the above referenced writing. (BTW: As of this posting, my “Napa Valley Feeling the Heat” piece has been viewed by 613 folks – my most read newsletter thus far.)
The winemaker, Jason Moulton at Whitehall Lane Winery, invited me to visit, to taste some of his wines, and walk the property. I also expected pushback on the article.
What I got was a measured confirmation – “I agree with almost everything you wrote” – and a chance to sample some fine wines in a setting that was Napa Valley idyllic. I must confess I was too enraptured by Moulton’s repartee, that I didn’t bother to write down the “almost” objections he may have had of my writing; or if in fact, if he even voiced them.
What ensued was a very long and broad discussion with a sweet, smart, knowledgeable, kind man; who amazingly to both of us, turned out to be a fellow Saluki!
Moulton, who became Whitehall’s winemaker 10 years ago, was elevated in 2022 to winemaking & viticulture director. He produces about 40K-to-45K cases a year from eight estate vineyards in Napa and Sonoma. The wines are priced reasonably, especially for Napa – from $30 to $125 – and they are balanced.
I think he may have taken exception to the part of my post that pointed to Napa’s high prices and montotonal wines. I also took a poke at characterizing many of them as being out-of-balance. Moulton, a sincere fellow, simply wanted to show me that the region’s wines, and his, can be in balance; and reasonably priced.
He also was keen -- as did the PR flack (who also seems sincere and without rancor) -- to clarify the video, in which he participated in its creation as well as being one of its talking heads.
Moulton believed in the clip so earnestly, that I fear I may have wounded him – and his colleagues involved in the video – when I told him what I thought of it.
I believed the effort was heartfelt, but that it had missed the mark. Perhaps arrogantly, I said it was horsepucky, using another word. I told him the words and verbiage were of another time – fervent talking points that were put forth by Robert Mondavi more than a quarter-century ago. I know he and his compatriots know where they should be aiming all its marketing efforts now -- at 30- and 40-somethings -- because that is the constituency that its wringing its hands over, and hoping to appeal.
Instead, the message was presented with phrases such as the ones I cited in my previous piece: “unique, passionate, authenticity, everyone loves everyone, people support each other, environmental stewardship, sustainability, jobs for everyone, place of opportunity.” While almost all of the forementioned have truisms and sincerity, I don’t think the sought-after clientele resonates with those concepts.
Moulton knows this and otherwise is on the exact right track with his own winery. Take a look at his back labels. They say this wine is, “Vegan, gluten-free, no sugar”. Brave that. He says he’s trying to adapt, and “get out in front” with that message. Why weren’t those words and health-conscious verbiages shouted out in the video?
Moulton himself is gluten intolerant and is allergic to gelatin, elements that may creep into wine via the heads (lids) of barrels, which are sealed with wheat flour. Moulton insists on buckwheat flour on his barrels; and no egg whites – used in fining – in his red wines. He even goes way deep into the filled-with-wine barrel itself to determine if the barrel’s efficacy is made the way he ordered. He calls it “barrel contol quality”. To do that, he drops a light down into the barrel — looking for inconsistencies, blisters, hot spots (uneven toasting), or over over-toasting — which could affect the wine.
“I peak in on them (the barrels),” he explains with a laugh. “… I’m protecting the wine and retaining the fruit and aromatics.”
It’s apparent he’s also trying to safeguard Napa Valley’s reputation – still at a high level as the most important wine region in America — but for the first time in my memory, whose status is now being challenged.
After telling him I think the king of U.S. wine is being put to a new kind of test, Moulton parries with, “I feel Napa Valley is on the offensive and not the defensive.”
In the end, we exchange the secret Saluki handshake.
A COUPLE OF WHITEHALL LANE WINES
2025 Semillon Napa Valley, $38
Very light in color, which translates to the aromas of perfumed pear fragrance in the nose, which jump out of the glass. It’s elegant with good acidity; and is wonderfully idiosyncratic.
2023 Millennium Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, $125
The most expensive wine in Whitehall’s portfolio. It has gorgeous dark red fruit that manifests in softness on the palate, with very good balance. Four-percent Petit Verdot was blended to it. The alcohol level surprised me at a listed 14.8%. But it is well integrated as to not be evidenced. Drink now through 2038.