Clos Du Val Carneros Estate Chardonnay 2015
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Wine
Enthusiast -
Wilfred
Wong
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Wine Enthusiast
New management, farming and winemaking practices at this producer, including a focus on smaller production, are remarkably on display in this delicious white. Golden pear and crunchy apple provide an unctuous, delightfully balanced experience that's crisp in underlying acidity and subtle baking spice.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
A lively wine, the 2015 Clos Du Val Estate Chardonnay speaks well of the Carneros AVA. This wine exhibits stone fruit and mineral-like flavors that are bright and appealing on the palate. Its zesty finish invites a pairing with prepared shellfish. (Tasted: February 14, 2017, San Francisco, CA)
Other Vintages
2018-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker
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Wine
Enthusiast
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Wilfred
Wong
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Wine
Enthusiast
Clos Du Val, French for “small vineyard estate of a small valley,” was founded in 1972, an era that wine writer Hugh Johnson referred to as “the turning point in modern wine history.” Two years before, the Goelet family tasked talented French-born winemaker Bernard Portet with finding vineyard land, anywhere in the world, capable of producing a world-class Cabernet Sauvignon.
Clos Du Val’s legendary debut Cabernet Sauvignon was one of only six California Cabernets selected for the famous 1976 Judgment of Paris Tasting, where California defeated some of Bordeaux’s finest wines. Ten years later, Clos Du Val’s reputation for creating some of Napa Valley's most gracefully age-worthy wines was solidified, when its 1972 Cabernet Sauvignon took first place in the Judgment of Paris rematch.
Still family-owned today, Clos Du Val farms 220 acres of estate vineyards in the Stags Leap District, and Yountville appellations and continues to craft wines of balance and complexity, showcasing the fruit from the outstanding terroir on which the estate lies.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
Known for elegant wines that combine power and finesse, Carneros is set in the rolling hills that straddle the southernmost parts of both Sonoma and Napa counties. The cooling winds from the abutting San Pablo Bay, combined with lots of midday California sunshine, create an ideal environment for producing wines with a perfect balance of crisp acidity and well-ripened fruit.
This cooler pocket of California lends itself to growing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah. Carneros is an important source of sparkling wines made in the style of Champagne as well.