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Country: | United States |
Regions: | California California (Napa) |
Winery: | Clos du Val |
Grape Type: | Cabernet Sauvignon |
Vintage: | 2019 |
Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
Opening with fresh aromas of blueberry and black cherry, this classic Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon showcases plush tannins and a rich, velvety mouthfeel. Vibrant flavors of blackberry, plum, and toasty oak are followed by a long, smooth finish.
Review:
This shows lots of ripe dark and blue fruit on the nose, together with some leafy character. Notes of spices, cedar wood and walnuts, too. Medium-to full-bodied with firm tannins and a fresh, juicy-fruit profile. Polished and smooth with an array of succulent berries and blue flowers in the aftertaste. Drinkable now, but better in two or three years. Try after 2024.
-James Suckling 93 Points
At the heart of Clos du Val is an epic love story. Wine, after all, is a product of passion, and ours is the passion project of John and Henrietta Goelet, together with winemaker Bernard Portet.
It was the early 1970s in France. The young couple were world travelers, patrons of the arts, and entrepreneurs who brought a visionary spirit to their every endeavor. They adored the wine culture of France, where they lived for many years, and shared family ties to some of Bordeaux’s most storied wine merchants, Barton & Guestier. They dreamt of founding a winery outside the insular world of the French wine industry, and sharing their love for French-style wines with the world. At the time, it was a daring idea–fine wine was still synonymous with France, and it was widely believed that nowhere else on earth could rival such terroir, tradition, and winemaking excellence.
The two took a chance, and challenged a young Bernard Portet–fresh out of winemaking school and steeped in the Bordeaux tradition–to travel the world and find a place where they could grow Cabernet Sauvignon that would rival the world’s best. A two-year global search ensued, ultimately leading Portet to the Napa Valley before it was recognized as a world-class wine region. Together with Bernard, the couple planted their first vineyard and began production of their beloved Bordeaux-style wines. Soon, early vintages of Clos du Val were turning heads at top competitions in France and the U.S., kickstarting what would become one of the couple’s biggest adventures yet.
Over the last half of a century, Clos du Val has seen three generations of Goelet family ownership. The winery is now held by John and Henrietta’s six grandchildren, including our Head of Winegrowing and Chairman, Olav Goelet.
Enemigo El Enemigo Gran Enemigo is made from 50% Malbec, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot.
In the spectrum of people who pay attention to detail, winemakers are often incredibly detail-oriented. This can sometimes spill over to become an internal battled, and, as Alejandro Vigil and Adrianna Catena state, "We are our own worst enemy." El Enemigo pays homage to this internal struggle.
The nose presents sweet aromas of black ripen fruits with hints of vanilla and chocolate, which appear after the oak ageing. The mouthfeel is sweet with structured, persistent tannins due to the natural acidity of this wine, leading into an excellent long finish.
Review:
A refined, medium-to full-bodied red with aromas of blackberry, bitter chocolate, violets, tar and tobacco. Ultra fine tannins, interwoven with silky and seamless layers of dark berries. So elegant and fine. Long. Serious and focused with fantastic depth and structure. Drink or hold.
-James Suckling 97 Points
Morlet Family Vineyards Ma Princesse Chardonnay is made from 100 Chardonnay.
Straw yellow color. Aromas of lemon drop, Reinette apple skin and fresh herbs (chamomile). Full-bodied and concentrated, this wine displays a creamy and rich texture which coats the palate for a very long time. Built to age gracefully for over a decade, this wine will gain being cellared for 6 months to a year before starting to reveal itself.
Reviews:
A deep and rich hue of golden straw gives the first clue that this is a serious Chardonnay. Aromas of pear, green apple, and lime peel jump out of the glass followed by more nuanced fragrances of orange blossom, ginger root, and brioche. The sensation on the palate casually demonstrates both broad depth and laser like focus. An assertive core of acid and saline minerality rests completely ensconced in rich flavors of pie crust, clotted cream, and burnt caramel. Drink now for fresh vibrance, or in ten years for wild complexity. This wine is a perfect white to be enjoyed year-round.
Review:
The 2021 MFN Blanc Chardonnay is very ripe in style with scents of banana chip, apple pie, jasmine, allspice and brown sugar. The full-bodied palate is packed with ripe, spicy fruits and plenty of refreshing acidity, and it finishes long with a satiny, mouth-coating texture. It's an old-school style reminiscent of Napa that fans of ripe, oaked Chardonnays will enjoy.
-Robert Parker 97 Points
Long Shadows Feather Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Washington State Cabernet.
Acclaimed Napa Valley vintner Randy Dunn has a reputation for producing world-class Cabernet Sauvignon. He brings more than four decades of winemaking experience to the Columbia Valley to produce Feather, his only wine made outside of California.
Tasting Notes: Deep crimson colored with pure and expressive Cabernet Sauvignon character. Generous aromas and flavors of dark fruits, violets, coffee and toasted herbs combine with a textured mid-palate to deliver a big, yet focused, wine with polished tannins and persistent finish.
Winemaking: Grapes were hand-harvested at the peak of ripeness, then lightly crushed and fermented in small stainless steel tanks. Once fermentation was underway, the cap was pumped over aggressively to extract color and structure. As fermentation neared completion, pump overs were handled more gently to further extract color and flavors without imparting harsh tannins. The finished wine was aged 22 months in 90% new Vicard French oak barrels (Randy's cooper of choice at Dunn Vineyards as well).
Alcohol: 14.4%
pH: 3.86
TA: 0.58 grams / 100ml
Review:
"The 100% Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Feather is a special project wine between Gilles Nicault and Randy Dunn of Dunn Vineyards. Aged for 22 months in all French oak barrels (90% new), it shows beautiful toasty oak alongside dark chocolate, Turkish coffee, crème de violette and tobacco leaf that all meld in the glass. The palate is dense and concentrated, delivering tons of black fruits that collide with minerals, menthol, scorched earth and salty undertones, and displaying beautiful length. This outstanding wine is really young right now and will benefit from another year or two in the bottle. - Owen Bargreen"
- Antonio Galloni's Vinous (March 2022), 95 pts
"The classic 2018 Feather (100% Cabernet Sauvignon) comes from the Weinbau and Wallula Vineyards and spent 22 months in 90% new French oak. It has a wonderfully pure nose of crème de cassis, new saddle leather, dried flowers, and tobacco that carries to a medium to full-bodied, seamless Cabernet with a wonderful sense of purity, balance, and elegance, all while bringing plenty of fruit and structure. I actually like it today, yet it has enough tannins to benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and should be long lived."
- Jeb Dunnuck (May 2021), 95 pts
DAOU Vineyards Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Petit Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc.
Hailing from the exemplary 2020 vintage, this DAOU Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon showcases Paso Robles as a world-class region for Bordeaux-style wines. Classic aromas of Oregon blackberry, Zante currant and cherry pipe tobacco anticipate subtle notes of cranberry, baking spice, licorice, slate and dark chocolate. The palate is voluptuous and velvety with a firm underlying structure. Lavish flavors of blueberry, black raspberry, wild cherry and cassis are beautifully integrated with hints of truffle, dried herbs and forest floor. A smooth, persistent finish lingers with impressions of of sweet cherry, black plum and mushroom. While polished and approachable now, this is a Cabernet Sauvignon that will continue to evolve with grace and nuance.
Review:
This is a widely available and reliably satisfying sip, offering dark and juicy aromas of baked berry along with toastier notes of hard spice and roasted cocoa nibs. The beefy palate is loaded with blackberry, roasted meat and rich fudge flavors, but it's the persistent acidity and tannic grip that elevates the experience.
-Wine Enthusiast 94 Points
The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, made entirely with free-run juice, is blended with 23% Petit Verdot, 1% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc and was matured for 16 months in 50% new French oak. Deep ruby-purple, it offers savory aromas of black cherries, charcuterie, cedar, mushroom, tobacco, dried herbs and pencil shavings. The medium-bodied palate is chalky and fresh with savory fruits and a mineral-driven finish.
-Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 93 Points
San Felice Vigorello Toscana IGT is made from Pugnitello 35%, Merlot 30%, Cabernet Sauvignon 30%, Petit Verdot 5%.
THE ORIGINS
It’s 1968, and an important time at San Felice: the first Super Tuscan ever produced in Chianti Classico, Vigorello, is born as a 100% Sangiovese.
Its birth represents both a breaking point with traditional production rules and the beginning of a period of appreciation and development of the entire region and its most prized variety.
THE EVOLUTION: 1968-2018
Since then, Vigorello has continued to evolve in a compelling and continuous way, along the path to date: in 1979, the wine becomes a blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon; in 2001, the inclusion of Merlot into the blend, which in 2006 will entirely replace Sangiovese; in 2011 the turning point, with the introduction of Pugnitello, a native vine rediscovered through studies in the Vitiarium, which since then has marked its uniqueness and the return to its most authentic Tuscan roots, blended with Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.
Review:
Still marked by vanilla and new oak, but this has loads of blackberry, black cherry and plum fruit. It's rich without overextraction, boasting dense tannins, superb balance and a long finish. Pugnitello, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. To be released in 2022 for Vigorello's 50th anniversary. —San Felice Vigorello Non-blind Retrospective (April 2021). Best from 2025 through 2050. 3,333 cases made, 500 cases imported. — BS
Wine Spectator 94 Points
This fresh and vibrant Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is brimming with aromas of blackberry, mulberry, cassis, and violet. On the palate, bright flavors of cranberry, red plum, cherry, and lavender are intertwined with supple tannins, balanced acidity, and a long, smooth finish.
Clos Du Val Yettalil is a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec
The 2019 Yettalil opens with aromas of fresh blackberry, ripe plum, and racy cassis layered with hints of violet, bay leaf, and thyme. Beautifully balanced and elegant on the palate, vibrant acidity and polished tannins give way to a concentrated core of black cherry, vanilla, and cedar. The texture is velvety and plush with a backbone of graphite and dark chocolate that lingers through a long finish.
Review:
A Bordeaux-inspired blend, the 2019 Yettalil Red Wine is considerably darker, deeper and richer than the Napa Valley Cabernet. Scents of cassis, pencil shavings, loam and mocha all appear on the nose, while the full-bodied palate is expansive and velvety without getting jammy or overly broad. Perhaps most important, for a wine that will presumably be consumed along savory dishes, it's nicely savory itself, with earthy notes and gentle tannins punctuating the long finish.
-Wine Advocate 94 Points
Dunn Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Cabernet.
This Napa Valley wine is a blend of their Howell Mountain fruit and a small quantity of valley floor fruit that they purchase. This valley floor fruit contributes to the wine’s earlier approachability and softer tannic structure.
Review:
“The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley) is a powerful, tannic wine. In some vintages, the Napa Valley bottling is quite accessible, but not here. Swaths of tannin wrap around a core of dark fruit, gravel, spice, dried flowers, lavender and charred earth are pushed forward, with firm, chocolatey tannins that wrap it all together. The 2019 is a bruiser, that is for sure.”
-Vinous 93+Points
Duckhorn Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 2 % Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot.
DuMOL Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Our 2016 Napa Valley Cabernet is a classically built wine typical of this wonderful Napa vintage: deep fruit, enveloping texture, mineral freshness and long supple structure. It’s a harmonious interweaving of four distinct vineyards that intricately balances power and finesse.
With its exceptional farming and rocky volcanic soil, Meteor Vineyard is one of the finest sites in Coombsville. Its fruit dominates the blend and ensures both intensity and delicacy, with soaring aromatics followed by succulent dark fruit.
True Dog Knoll serves as a new focal point in this vintage, its world-renowned west Oakville deep gravel soils bringing deep texture and mineral focus.
Layering in a small amount of Petit Verdot from our Roach Estate in St. Helena provides an element of blue fruit and refinement that balances beautifully with the darker brooding power of Ballard Vineyard’s mountaintop muscle and structure.
With its harmonious layers and textures, this wine reminds me of the 2012 Napa Valley vintage. Dark, inky and opaque, it presents aromas of plum, violets and graphite. Beautiful fruit cascades almost immediately to more savory flavors: crushed rock dustiness, cocoa and cedar. A good, firm mineral spine runs through to the long, bittersweet finish. Ever-evolving in the glass, this wine is poised now and will age beautifully over the next 10+ years.
Review:
A ripe, friendly style, with a creamy-textured core of cassis and cherry preserve flavors underscored by anise and apple wood notes that stay nicely
melded with the fruit on the finish. There’s a lingering cast iron note keeping this grounded.
-Wine Spectator 93 Points
It is hard to imagine with the Lithology range receiving 298 points out of 300 for the three single-vineyard wines, that there could possibly be a wine above them. But there is, and it is our Estate wine. Blended several times very intently by masters of their craft Philippe Melka and Michel Rolland, this is the ultimate expression of our house’s work. Positive, full-bodied, and quite powerful, there’s the expected crème de cassis and blackberry from St. Helena Cabernets, with mineral, herb, subtle tobacco and vanilla, plum skins, and pie crust, purple flowers, forest-conifer notes, and very fine tannic structure. It is a magnificent, and magnificently elegant expression of this house, and when asked recently, Monsieur Rolland stated plainly to me, “oh yes indeed – this is the best one, the best yet…”
Review:
Pure perfection in Cabernet, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Alejandro Bulgheroni is all varietal and comes two-thirds from Oakville with the balance from sites in St. Helena and Rutherford. Aged 20 months in 70% new French oak and put together by Philippe Melka and Michel Rolland, it has an incredibly pure, full-bodied, massive yet weightless style that I suspect couldn’t be achieved anywhere outside of Napa Valley. Cassis, blackberries, leafy herbs, lead pencil shavings, and tobacco leaf are just some of the nuances here, and it’s full-bodied, deep, and concentrated on the palate while maintaining an ethereal, seamless, utterly perfect balance between its fruit, alcohol, tannins, and acidity. As good as it gets, it needs just 2-4 years in the cellar and will evolve gracefully for at least 20-25 years.
-Jeb Dunnuck 100 Points
When we consider the potential of a piece of land to grow world-class wine, we immerse ourselves in the physical characteristics of soil type, depth, texture and drainage, slope aspect, sun exposure, et cetera—myriad complex details. On site potential alone, Jentoft likely sits at the top of our entire vineyard portfolio.
The site’s coastal marine soils are remarkably shallow with underlying sandstone bedrock poking through the topsoil. Lean, “boney” soils generally yield low-vigor vines and powerful wines, and that’s what we have here. The potential is incredible, and now that these vines are mature, we’re seeing the promise realized.
Our new vintage of Jentoft Vineyard Ryan Pinot Noir is highly evocative of this steep hillside site high in the coastal mountains surrounded by the forest. To me, it represents the essence of coastal Russian River Pinot Noir: intensity, vibrancy, deeply pitched fruits with pulsating acidity and an incredible length of flavor. We’ve bottled Ryan Pinot Noir from several sites since 2002 , and this is the pinnacle of achievement for this wine so far.
The wine opens with a sense of tiny dark intense wild berries, tart and explosive, pine needle freshness and hints of cedar amplifying the aromas. The palate is sappy, dark and elevated with Rainier cherry, cassis and huckleberry fruits. There’s laser-like intensity to the wine’s driving flavors as they expand along the dry, firm palate, exotic floral, gravelly nuances extending the lingering finish. No need to decant. Drink between 2020 and 2027.
Review:
Another Russian River cuvée, the 2019 Pinot Noir Jentoft Vineyard Ryan is a deeper ruby, translucent color and has a gorgeous array of black raspberry and cherry fruits supported by ample spice box, savory flowers, rose petals, and dried bouquet garni-like nuances. Rich, medium to full-bodied, and fleshy, with the more rounded, supple style of the vintage, it's ideal for enjoying over the coming 7-8 years, probably longer, but there's no need to delay gratification more than a year or two. - Jeb Dunnuck 96 Points
This fresh and vibrant Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is brimming with aromas of blackberry, mulberry, cassis, and violet. On the palate, bright flavors of cranberry, red plum, cherry, and lavender are intertwined with supple tannins, balanced acidity, and a long, smooth finish.