B-21 Top Recommendation
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“Rich and sumptuous to the core.”
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
An enticing, classically styled Napa Cab from one of the region’s most storied estates, the opulent 94 pt. 2021 Clos du Val Cabernet Sauvignon offers rich, concentrated dark fruit hinting of mocha and spice with smooth, lush tannins, described as “a very easy wine to drink now and over the next decade or so” by Vinous critic Antonio Galloni that’s bargain priced well below neighboring Stags Leap producers to deliver outstanding value.
Located along the Silverado Trail just below Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars and Chimney Rock, founders John and Henrietta Goelet established Clos du Val in the area that would become known as the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley in 1972, purchasing their original 150 acres on the advice Bordeaux-born winemaker Bernard Portet, whose father had been technical director at First Growth Chateau Lafite. First gaining recognition at the famed Judgment of Paris in 1976 that established Napa Valley's reputation as a world-class wine region, the family-owned Clos du Val farms two estate vineyards in the Stags Leap and Yountville appellations planted mainly to Cabernet Sauvignon with smaller parcels of Bordeaux varietals, the estate now run by third generation Olav Goelet who has renewed the estate’s focus on producing Napa Cab. In addition to selling off their Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vineyards and revamping the winery, Goelet hired Carmel Greenberg, formerly an assistant winemaker at Dominus, as head winemaker, crafting 2021 as her first vintage from vine to bottle and “focusing on Cabernet bottlings made in a more restrained style” according to the Wine Spectator’s Bruce Sanderson while returning to the house style of “elegance and freshness.” Sourced mainly from the flagship Hirondelle Vineyard in Stags Leap in a low yielding vintage that produced smaller, concentrated berries, winemaker Greenberg blended 86% Cabernet Sauvignon with 7% Merlot, 5% Malbec, 1% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot in the alluring 2021 Clos du Val Napa Cab, aging it in 30% new French oak to yield layers of seductive, fragrant fruit beautifully balanced by precise acidity and plentiful, velvety tannins, summed up as “fabulous” by Antonio Galloni of Vinous and promising a decade or more of pleasurable drinking ahead.
Described by Jeb Dunnuck as “a terrific value in Napa Cabernet” that “delivers the goods,” the 94 pt. 2021 Clos du Val Cabernet Sauvignon marks the estate’s triumphant return to their roots as Cabernet Sauvignon experts in the Stags Leap District AVA, remaining for now an under the radar bargain for fans and collectors of long-lived, classic Napa Cabs to reap the rewards. | 
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