External search
Google (images)
Wine Advocate
Wine Spectator
Burghound
Wine-Searcher
Vintages
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
Show more
From this producer
Show all wines
All tasting notes
|
| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 93.4 pts. and median of 93 pts. in 9 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Shak on 3/2/2024 & rated 94 points: Wow, this was so good! Bold and smooth with some nice earthiness. Everything I like in a cab. 30 years old and still drinking beautifully! (61 views) | | | Tasted by Ex-Ray on 3/5/2017 & rated 93 points: Still medium-dark garnet and opaque. Cassis aromas with some herbs. Medium-full bodied, typical cabernet flavors, still moderate tannin, a bit dry on the late palate. Alcohol on the hot side. Round, smooth, very drinkable, but I wouldn't hold it further.
Ric (1637 views) | | | Tasted by Quiet Lion on 6/23/2016 & rated 93 points: Beautifully aged cab from a great year. Evolved over several hours, starting with a surprising amount of primary fruit and finishing with mint, chocolate and oak. (1530 views) | | | Tasted by Quiet Lion on 6/7/2016 flawed bottle: Possibly this bottle was slightly cooked. The cork had a long streak on it suggesting exposure to heat. On opening, astringent and compressed with a bit of bitter charcoal. I considered giving up on it but it seemed to improve slightly in the glass so I decanted. Kept improving very slowly. After three hours returned half the wine to the bottle and vacuumed. The next day much less astringent but still the bitter streak. Quite drinkable though. (UPDATE) definitely a flawed bottle. Second bottle didn't have the bitter streak and had much more fruit. (1533 views) | | | Tasted by Giggs on 1/1/2014 & rated 92 points: Decanted 2 hours. Mature and reserved. Old style Cab, this is how Napa Cabernet was back in the day, medium-bodied, Bordeaux-styled, leathery, mature red cherry and cassis, dried herbs, and plenty of creamy integrated oak. Drink now. (2304 views) | | | Tasted by vanpe003 on 8/24/2010 & rated 91 points: Drinking well now, but still has a few rough edges that suggest it might not yet be at its peak. Starting to develop some secondary flavors and seems to have good fruit depth. A touch of astringency that I think would blow off with a few more years. If I had one more bottle, I'd try in 2015. (2668 views) | | | Tasted by ipp on 5/30/2009 & rated 94 points: still drinking great ... well aged ... sweet, soft tannins ... nice finish (1243 views) | | | Tasted by ipp on 11/6/2005 & rated 96 points: fantastic ... dark, saturated red color ... plum-like nose, with beautiful complex bottle bouquet ... ultra sweet tannins ... long, powerful finish (1153 views) |
| Clark-Claudon Producer Website
In 1974, shortly after their Peace Corp assignment in Colombia, Tom Clark and Laurie Claudon came to the Napa Valley, new baby boy in tow. Immediately caught up in the infectious energy, they were ready to take their place among a small group of visionary grape growers and winemakers. Together, that group of pioneers laid the foundation for the unrivaled status of today’s Napa Valley.
Over the next four years as their family grew. Tom continued to refine his grape growing expertise and Laurie learned along with him. In 1979, Tom founded Clark Vineyard Management and began developing and managing vineyards under his own company.
Then in 1989 pressed by a friend, Tom and Laurie hiked a piece of property on the north east side of Howell Mountain. Though unproven, it was the proverbial love at first sight and ideal for a Cabernet vineyard. Because of Tom’s considerable reputation, the sellers desire to support the purchase and the couple’s willingness to bet on themselves, they leased and developed the property while eventually exercising their option to buy. Working together, the family joked about calling it Sweat Equity, but the vineyard they developed would become Clark-Claudon Vineyards.
Their business was founded in the old tradition of family winemaking where the art begins in the vineyard and ends with a beautiful bottle of wine. The name Clark-Claudon and the logo's meeting of the two feathers represent a joint commitment to the pursuit of their dream and to the preservation of the environment that supports it. Since then, Clark-Claudon Vineyards has received critical acclaim for their Estate Grown Cabernet, Eternity Reserve Estate Cabernet and their Wild Iris Sauvignon Blanc.
To this day, Clark-Claudon Vineyards is a family affair.
Laurie, the soul of Clark-Claudon, manages the business, public relations and marketing while staying in close contact with the vineyard and the winemaking.
Tom directs production and manages the vineyard with son Joshua who now owns Clark Vineyard Management with his wife Heather.
Daughter, Briana, a professional photographer, is the resident photographer and design guru; www.brianamariephotography.com.
Son-in-law Brian, often Tom's assistant, plays too many roles to list!
The third generation: Brandon, Trevor, Josephine, Paxton and Finley are growing up in this very special world.Cabernet SauvignonCabernet Sauvignon is probably the most famous red wine grape variety on Earth. It is rivaled in this regard only by its Bordeaux stablemate Merlot, and its opposite number in Burgundy, Pinot Noir. From its origins in Bordeaux, Cabernet has successfully spread to almost every winegrowing country in the world. It is now the key grape variety in many first-rate New World wine regions, most notably Napa Valley, Coonawarra and Maipo Valley. Wherever they come from, Cabernet Sauvignon wines always seem to demonstrate a handful of common character traits: deep color, good tannin structure, moderate acidity and aromas of blackcurrant, tomato leaf, dark spices and cedarwood.
Used as frequently in blends as in varietal wines, Cabernet Sauvignon has a large number of common blending partners. Apart from the obvious Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the most prevalent of these are Malbec, Petit Verdot and Carmenere (the ingredients of a classic Bordeaux Blend), Shiraz (in Australia's favorite blend) and in Spain and South America, a Cabernet – Tempranillo blend is now commonplace. Even the bold Tannat-based wines of Madiran are now generally softened with Cabernet SauvignonUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Napa Valley Napa Valley Wineries and Wine (Napa Valley Vintners)Napa ValleySt. Helena |
|
