2018 Clos Du Val Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Napa Valley 750 ml

By the tail end of 2013, the revered Napa estate Clos du Val was making money hand over fist. Sales were through the roof and high-level restaurant placements came easy as pie. Then, in 2014, the estate made a move that risk-averse bean counters would have called reckless.

Under new winemaker Ted Henry, the winery cut production by more than half, prioritizing quality above all else. From then on, nearly all grapes would be sourced from estate vineyards.

The 2018 Clos du Val Cabernet Sauvignon, drawn primarily from their crown jewel, Hirondelle Vineyard in Stag’s Leap District, is evidence of how well Clos du Val’s bold strategy has succeeded. This benchmark effort is classic in every respect, and it won 97 points from the Decanter World Wine Awards. Critics loved the “polished aromas of lovely ripe dark fruit and chocolatey spicy oak” and the “expressive and fresh palate with purity of fruit, juicy tannins, and a solid length.” 

We were all in on this outstanding release from the first sip. Here was a magnificent example of the concentration, textural complexity, and ageworthy intensity of the 2018 vintage that, according to Decanter, “belongs in an echelon with the finest of the past two decades.”

Since the wine sprang from a drama-free vintage that produced effortlessly deep, dark, serious Cabernet, Henry knew the 2018 Estate Cab could stand up to some serious barrel aging. He gave the wine 19 months in a 58%-new blend of French, Hungarian, and American oak, resulting in the sort of lavish glossiness that the Clos du Val name promises.