I’m sure that this thread will be ignored by many and yawned at by many more. I buy a lot of test bottles of California Chardonnay. I can’t tell you how many disappointments I’ve experienced with $40+ bottles. With all of the hoopla regarding the 2013 Clos du Val Cabernet Sauvignon, on a whim I decided to try a bottle of their 2013 Chardonnay. What a pleasant surprise it was exhibiting plenty of fruit, restrained oak and nice balance. I’ve also have tried the 2014 and found it to be likewise. This is available at retail in my local market for $17.99. What a bargain for a Cali. Chard. that I actually enjoy drinking!
Thanks for posting. Sounds like a Chard I might like. I’m having difficulty with whites this year other than bubbles. Now if I can only find it. I live in a very limited wine buying market. The CS is available, but I haven’t seen the Chard.
1 Like
I uncorked a bottle of the 2019 Clos du Val ‘Lot One’ Chardonnay [Carneros Napa] to go with a slab of glazed steelhead. This pairing was made based on the label color matching the main course, which is one of the secret master sommelier tricks I learned from all the Somm movies. This 13.8% abv medium bodied blanc is a lower level wine compared to the Estate bottling, and might be a relatively new offering, as I don’t recall seeing it before. There is a little oak, butter, vanilla cream here but is balanced out with a blast of young fruit and acid. It’s a solid enough example of Napa chardonnay, but there is a slight sense of wateriness to me. I’m not sure that CdV is still making this, or any chard, as I went looking on their website and I see no mention of anything beyond their Bordeaux blends. Wine Spectator had an article in November or so noting that the owners have sold their chardonnay and pinot vineyards, which presumably would make it harder to keep bottling up estate Burgundy varietals. Given that this was being flogged by Wine Access (as an exclusive, which was not true) last year also suggests that maybe the owners had decided to move on. I’m torn between giving this a B or a B+ on the scorecard; I’ll come back to it after a day. Closed with DIAM10.
I finally got to try the prior wine’s ‘big brother’, the 2019 Clos du Val Chardonnay [Napa] over a couple of nights. Although flagged as Napa AVA, it’s from the Carnernos region, from estate vineyards which I suspect have been sold off now. This is a bigger (14.5% abv, so higher than Lot One bottling) and better blanc, which suits my California centric palate (in this varietal) better. Still this gets the balance right between oak/richness/vanilla/creamy and lemon/crisp/bright/chiseled, even as it leans toward the former, given the climate. A touch of custard here too. Genuine sadness as the last glass dwindles. I wonder where these grapes will go next? For my palate, easy B+ on the scorecard, maybe better with time. I like this kind of blanc. Closed under DIAM10, so perhaps the vintners have some expectations of development.