I’ve got a few Clos du Val Napa Valley Cabernets (a 2005, 2006 and 2007) that I was going to taste as a vertical at some point, but many of the CT notes say that the 2005 and 2006 wines are fading, devoid of fruit, and need to be consumed soon. Does anyone have a take on what to do?
I know these aren’t high end wines, but my understanding is that Clos du Val makes classic, balanced wines and even their basic Napa bottling would be well suited to a little bottle age (can’t find spec sheets for my wines, but many recent releases have pH of around 3.6). Is this an example of people buying a Napa wine expecting an extracted blockbuster and being let down, or do you find that these entry level wines just don’t have the stuffing to hold up? Or is it just a matter of tasters not appreciating tertiary flavors as much as primary flavors?
Call me naive, but I was hoping that I could put together a decent cellar by buying moderately priced wines from classically-styled producers and giving them some time to rest. I was going to wait until at least the 10-year mark on these wines, but the CT notes are making me have second thoughts. I only have one of each so opening a bottle to check it out isn’t an option.
Had an 06 about a month back and the fruit was completely gone. Last year I tried a 96 and that one was still rocking. No idea what happened to the style or production over that ten year span.
I also have an 05 that I plan to drink in the next couple months. I’ll post a follow-up once that happens.
I haven’t tasted these vintages, but would be greatly surprised to learn that, after all these years, Bernard Portet, Al Wagner & company have changed Clos du Val’s winegrowing/winemaking philosophy and style.
Clos du Val cabs are the more feminine side of the spectrum and will hold up and get better with time. You dont need to rush to drink. Made to be paired with food.
About two years ago, the 1985 was kick @$$ gorgeous. Graceful, generous, intense on nose and palate, balanced. Just a lovely wine that was ready to enjoy, but seemed set to age for many years longer if desired. Of course, the reviews at release from circa 1987 were a lot like what you saw in Cellartracker.
To address your question, Clos du Val has resisted the urge to make the OTT bombs that so many other producers have eagerly pursued. Let’s politely call this style “Getting points from Laube and Parker” Clos du Val has always made wines that are well balanced and they really don’t show their full fruit until later in life. I am just getting to my late 90s Clos du Val and I am hoping that they are not still to young. Of course, I have not tasted the 05 or 06 and probably won’t until they get about 12+ years on them. Just a preference, I prefer them a little older.
Give them much more time. Had the opportunity two years ago to participate in a wine dinner with about 10-12 Clos du Vals spanning at least a couple of decades. The older bottles were gorgeous. The hosts had not bought the bottles on release, but much later through a program at Clos deVal called their “Dusty Bottle Club.” All properly cellared by the winery.
Prompted by this thread, I went out and bought the 2008 ($28) and served it in a brown-bag group tonight.
I’m always interested in Napa cabs that aren’t over the top, but I was disappointed. On the nose, there was a scent of what seemed like untoasted oak and some tar. In the mouth, the tannins were rather hard – kind of like the (disappointing) line-up of 2008 Bordeaux I tasted in Tuesday. A hint of cherry, but not a lot of fruit of any sort. The finish seemed a bit thin with slightly hard tannins.
This was tasted with cold cuts and ham. I’m sure it would have been better with steak or roast beef or lamb, but still it came up short.
Perhaps this will evolve. I’m not looking for fruit bombs, and I’d far rather have this than similarly priced wines like the regular Mondavi and the Beringer Knights Valley, which were once reliable, balanced values but which are now over-alcoholic dreck. But I won’t go back for more of this.
These need time … 10 years from bottling at least. These notes are classic shut down Napa Cab being evaluated by amatuers.
I say bury these bots (05, 06 & 07) for 7-8 more years.
Just to chime in, I’ve had a few Clos du Vals from these here aughts (2004, 2006) and am not an amateur that can’t place a shut down cab. This isn’t Ridge Montebello or older vintages of Dominus that were far cries from a Napa fruit bomb, more classically structured, and just in dire need of some years in the cellar. These aren’t Corison cabs that jam-lovers don’t appreciate, but that contain red fruit, acid, and balance. These are simply cheaper Napa attempts at fitting that bill. They’re like $25-30. You’re not buying stylish retro Chuck Taylors. You’re buying Spalding knock-offs that are kind of the same, but obviously not great quality. They’ll be interesting in ten years, but don’t expect them to compete with their like-styled superiors. But, as you mention, if price is the issue, they will probably compete with/beat a fair number of $25 Napa cabs ten years down the road.
Their production is at ~30k cases for the entry level Cab. What was it 15 years ago? Generally it seems nature is not too kind to those who make an elegant style but can’t pay attention to detail due to volume. You can’t cover weaknesses in the wine as easily when you eschew gobs of fruit and oak. 30k isn’t a ton of wine, but it’s significant.
The 2007 was delicious for its price when I had it twelve months ago – perfumed, floral, cherry, very Stag’s Leap in style – although it also probably benefited from the prodigiousness of that vintage.
I agree with the other comments to the effect these are more classically structured for those who are not afraid of a bit of T&A, and great with food. I wouldn’t put them in that upper echelon of wines worth cellaring for 10+ years. I see them more as an intro Stag’s Leap for dummies. A weeknight Napa. One of the few QPR Napas.
Call me naive, but I was hoping that I could put together a decent cellar by buying moderately priced wines from classically-styled producers and giving them some time to rest.
That is not naive at all and it’s a very good plan.
Whether it includes Clos du Val is a completely different issue. For me that wine has always been kind of OK, not remarkable. It’s the C student in your class. Not the class clown, not the superstar, just another body.
At one time you could have picked up wines from a number of producers but I’m completely with John on the Knights Valley, which until quite recently was one of those wines. Very disappointing the last couple vintages. You can still find a few although it’s harder. For example, look for Chappellet - even their low end is usually pretty good. Also you may want to look outside of Napa these days.
Thanks Greg. Given that I’ve only purchased 3 bottles, it’s not the core of my cellar when it comes to Napa; the bulk of what I’ve got is from Mayacamas, which I know will hold well and deserves patience. I would still call those great value wines as well, relatively speaking.
That is a lot of wine, and that level of production would be consistent with a fundamental change in the business plan and the wine quality versus what I tasted from the 1980’s.
I have bought my fair share of Clos du Val over the years, going back to '77 or so. They do age very well, and they are underwhelming in their youth, and there is something very true about the comment that they are not great wines, just solid for the price in a restrained food-friendly wine.
I am going to digress here. A large part of the attraction to wine is aura-the notion that maybe just maybe there is a magic confluence of raw ingredients and great winemaking that will deliver huge bang for the buck. More than anything else, that sense has disappeared in California and Australia and probably Spain/Portugal too. At one time, there were many moderately priced Calif cab producers who had some of that “it’s not the steak, it’s the sizzle” quality; Ridge, Clos du Val, Buehler, Ahlgren, Santa Cruz Mountain Winery, Krug, Burgess, Inglenook, even Christian Brothers. For better or worse, those days seem to be gone. One has to wonder if the information age isn’t largely to blame (or credit, depending upon one’s perspective).
I haven’t had more recent vintages, but I had '97 and '98 about 2 years back and found them to be elegantly styled wines drinking right around peak for my tastes. I thought they were very good for the price and I’d be happy to drink such wines again. I’ve been considering buying a couple of bottles of each new vintage to lay down, but I was wondering if the style and quality are still similar to what I experienced.
Because of this thread, I pulled a '97 CdV cab two nights ago. On night one it was nice, with some Napa-nesque cigar box and was well integrated. If tasted blind, I think I would have guessed it was a solid $30-50 Mondavi type Cal cab. Day two the acidity and cedar disappeared and I was left with a big juicy straightfoward wine that belied it’s age. Overall, it’s a good, solid reasonably priced Cal cab, but based on this example, thinking Clos du Val is a hidden gem at a great price-point is not realistic in my view.