Join Us: Taste selections from HALLS Napa Valley with Tony Gatti

Hall has become one of the relatively few Napa Valley producers offering single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons from multiple mountain appellations. Under winemaker Megan Gunderson, Hall produces a broad Cabernet portfolio that includes wines from Howell Mountain, Diamond Mountain District, and, more recently, Mount Veeder. The Mount Veeder bottling comes from Beller Vineyard, a site Hall began leasing in 2012 and eventually recognized as distinctive enough to merit its own single-vineyard wine beginning with the 2019 vintage.

Beller Vineyard sits at about 1,200 feet on the northeastern side of Mount Veeder, where morning fog gives way to extended sunlight, making it somewhat warmer than many sites in the typically cooler mountain appellation. Hall has adapted the vineyard through replanting, higher trellising, wider row spacing, and fuller canopies to protect the fruit from excessive heat while preserving freshness. The oldest vines, planted in 1994, continue to provide the core fruit for the single-vineyard bottling, producing Cabernet with dark fruit, freshness, elegance, and the structure expected from Mount Veeder.

Gunderson has also steadily refined the winemaking approach, reducing new oak from 100% to about 70% and incorporating concrete tanks to retain brighter fruit while softening the firm tannins common in mountain Cabernet. The results have shown clear improvement, with the Beller Vineyard Cabernet rising from 92 points for the 2019 vintage to 94 points in 2021 and 96 points in 2023. Produced in very small quantities, the wine remains powerful and age-worthy, but Hall’s lighter touch has brought greater balance, complexity, and refinement to its expression of Mount Veeder.