Clos du Val Winery Visit The Clos du Val Tour
Marc Brasso took us on a tour of the Clos du Val winery, answering all of our questions and filling us full of fascinating information. We learned that owner John Goelet was an American businessman who in the late 60s turned his mind towards wine. John hired Bernard Portet, a Bordeaux winemaker, and asked him to find the perfect vineyard spot. Bernard traveled all over the world before settling on Napa Valley as the perfect location. The land was originally a hay field before they began planting vines in 1972.
In the early days they focussed solely on Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel. They 1976 tasting provided a huge boost for the winery. Marc commented that this was a "great opportunity to show the rest of the world that some great wines can come out of this area."
The winery added in Chardonnay after 10 years, and slowly have added other wines since then. They now have a line of 9 wines. They are always experimenting with vine management ideas. Their front yard is a large demo area full of merlot vines, demonstrating the wide variety of ways in which vines can be pruned.
Clos du Val has around 300 acres of vines, which they care for in an ecologically conscious manner. They only drip irrigate in emergencies. The resulting 3-7 tons per acre they get is low yield but high quality. In comparison, wineries in the central cost average 12-15 tons per acre. Bernard Portet is still with the winery, creating his world class wines.
The grapes are crushed with either a bladder press or whole cluster press depending on the grape type, coming in very early in the morning to take advantage of the up to 40 degree difference between day and night. They are fermented in big stainless steel vats to keep the fresh fruit flavors. They are then aged in oak before bottling.
Clos du Val uses 90% French oak, mostly medium toast, mostly new oak. They age whites for 2 years and reds for 3 years. They barcode every barrel so they can know exactly what wines were used in a given barrel. They do have giant wood vats left over from pre-SS fermentation days, which are now used for blending. The winery creates 60,000 cases/year.
Photo Gallery from our Clos du Val Visit
Vine Photo Gallery from our Clos du Val Visit
Paris Ranking: 8th, Cabernet (1st in 1986 retasting)
GPS Location: N 38 22.928 W 122 18.691
Website: ClosDuVal.com
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All content on the WineIntro website is personally written by author and wine enthusiast Lisa Shea. WineIntro explores the delicious variety and beautiful history which makes up our world of wine! Lisa loves supporting local wineries and encouraging people to drink whatever they like. We all have different taste buds, and that makes our world wonderful. Always drink responsibly.