Drinking wines in situ, in the building where they were vinified, overlooking the vines that produced the grapes, with the people who produced the wine. It’s a total experience.
Trip to Napa: Clos Du Val
I’ve enjoyed the wines of Clos Du Val at professional tastings and with meals in New York and in East Hampton. But when I recently visited the Clos Du Val winery in the Napa Valley I came to understand and appreciate them even more.
The wines never tasted better than drinking them in situ, at the winery, in the cellar, at a table amid the oak tanks, with a nice little lunch. For me drinking wine is an inclusive experience, more than the nose and palate and color and finish. Certainly the basic material for a reviewer is what is in the bottle, but that is only the beginning. You have to be pretty cold and objective to ignore the experience of drinking wine. The sight of the cellar equipment and storage, the grapey and oak smell in the air, the glimmering sky seen through the oversized doorway, the echoes off the high ceiling, and of course the company—they were all part of that experience.
The winery is big and beautiful. It is big enough to produce a lot of wine, although it is far from industrial, and the approach is thoroughly artisanal. It is beautiful enough to take your breath away. The appearance is what I can only describe as a sort of international winery architecture: ivy covered stone, heavy wood doors and shutters and beams, solid, reassuring, ageless, with grapevines stretching outward into the valley and gently climbing onto the hills
Clos Du Val was started 35 years ago by Bernard Portet, French born and trained, who after a two-year, round-the-world search, was one of the first winemakers to recognize the importance of the Napa Valley. He not only set a standard for winemaking, but pioneered what is now characteristic of Napa: a thorough blending of American and European wine culture. The French flag flies at the entrance along with the American flag, and a pétanque court borders the winery building. But the European influence extends beyond mere features. You sense it everywhere in Napa, in the wine and the food, in the lifestyle, and in the people.
The international reputation of Clos Du Val, as well as some of its Stag’s Leap District neighbors and California wines overall, was established in the competition now famous as the Paris Tasting of 1976, which pitted California wines against Bordeaux, with results that surprised the experts.
Clos Du Val produces three levels of wine, all of excellent quality, and priced appropriately for the type and size of the bottling. What they call their classics are everyday wines. Current releases include the 2004 chardonnay ($22), 2004 pinot noir ($24), 2003 merlot ($25), and 2003 cabernet sauvignon. At $30 it is relatively cheap for a serious Napa cabernet.
Their “estate” wines, with a more limited production, include a semillon and sauvignon blanc blend called Ariadne, and a Stag’s Leap District cabernet sauvignon ($62). In certain years when the harvest is good enough, they make a line of reserve wines, the most notable of which is not surprisingly—this is Napa, after all—cabernet sauvignon. The 2002 vintage sells for $95, again not a bad price for a wine of this quality.
In the past few years, smaller cult wineries in California have commanded the attention of well heeled wine drinkers and of the important wine publications. The taste trend has been toward big, jammy, high alcohol cabernets and cabernet blends. Wineries like Clos Du Val, as a result, may not seem as cutting edge or as fashionable. But Clos Du Val has a history that goes back decades of producing serious wines. Their cabernets are powerful, but elegant and supple and nuanced, reflecting the vision of Mr. Portet, who remains the director of winemaking.
Winery operations are under the direction of John Clews, who was born in Rhodesia, attended university in South Africa, and became an accountant in London before being drawn into the world of wine and earning his MA and MS in viticulture and enology at the University of California at Davis. I had the opportunity at lunch to discuss the Clos Du Val wines in some detail with Mr. Clews, and it was clear why Clos Du Val has been chosen “Winery of the Year” by Wine & Spirits magazine four times.
The logo of Clos Du Val shows the three graces of Greek legend who presided over banquets and dances and brought joy to gods and mortals. The name of the Clos Du Val white wine blend, Ariadne, might have something to do with this general interest in classics, but I suspect there is more to it. In mythology the ball of thread given by Ariadne to Theseus to find his way out of the labyrinth is called a clew. Was this a little riddle set up for us by Mr. Clews?
Most of the wines of Clos Du Val are readily available in wine stores in New York and the East End, as well as in many restaurants, although you will not find the entire line in a single place. For the total experience, I recommend a visit to the winery.
