Clos Du Val Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 (750 ml)

Clos Du Val, French for “small vineyard estate of a small valley,” was founded in 1972 in the renowned Stags Leap District. The winery was first recognized for its Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon at the famed Judgment of Paris in 1976, establishing its place as one of Napa Valley’s most iconic winery estates. Still family-owned today, Clos Du Val farms 350 acres of estate vineyards in the Stags Leap District, Carneros and Yountville appellations and continues to craft wines of balance and complexity, showcasing the fruit from the outstanding terroir on which our estate lies.

The 2018 season proved to be warm (or even just plain hot), meaning that harvest started and ended early. A major hurdle we had in Napa Valley was the series of rains in the early part of the season that washed off the pollen on the flowering grapes. This is called shatter and essentially means many of the grapes on each cluster never turned into fruit. The low yield ended up concentrating the flavors on the grapes that we did bring in to the winery and gave us some of the most concentrated wines we have seen in a long time.

This Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is brimming with classic varietal characteristics of cassis, bramble fruit and blueberry. The hints of butterscotch on the long, smooth finish are a giveaway of the new, carefully selected French oak barrel influence.