Hall Winery had a tasting Tuesday night at my neighborhood wine shop/wine bar. The winery tasting room is located on the south end of Saint Helena, next to Dean &Deluca.
2006 Sauvignon Blanc. Nice bright simple SB with good acidity. More fruit than many Napa SBs, but not the mouth puckering explosiveness of some New Zealand wines I've tried. I actually liked this "compromise" position.
2004 Merlot. Nice smooth, chocolatey Napa Merlot. Some prominent tannins. May be big enough in structure to put down for a few.
2003 Kathryn Hall Sacrashie Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Last vintage for this vineyard designate Cab-they are going to a "Reserve" "Bordeaux blend" with the 2004 vintage. A little disjointed right now. BUT: there are a lot of intriguing flavors and textures going on-this is no simple quaffer. Definitely more black fruit than many Stag's Leap Appellation cabs that I've tried. Already some savory notes and some pleasant cedar-which is one of my favorite flavors in a cab. A few hard green notes that seem too typical of the 2003 vintage, but just a hint, and the dark fruit and savory notes overcome any problems. I think this wine will be beautiful in five years+???