Clos du Val Estate Napa 2014

Description

Rating: 86 Price ($) $55 Drink Date 2016 – 2026 Reviewed by Robert M. Parker, Jr. Issue Date 30th Dec 2016 Source 228, The Wine Advocate The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is elegant, which is the operative word to describe most Clos Du Val wines, and while I would want to be positive and say stylish, there is just not a lot of substance and texture or depth to it. Nevertheless, it is better than some recent efforts and should drink well for another 5-10 years. This is a huge 400-acre vineyard in Stags Leap and there is hope that they may be changing after decades of relatively mediocre and undernourished style of winemaking. New winemaker Ted Hendry started in 2016 and hopefully will right things that can only go in one direction from my perspective. The 2015s seem to ratchet up the level of concentration and fruit and that is an extremely positive sign for the future of this large estate with a tremendous upside if they want to exploit it.