1997 Clark-Claudon Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Grown

Community Tasting Notes (20) Avg Score: 91.1 points

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  3/20/2023 - rmcnees wrote: 88 Points

  Tonight, at twenty-five years, the fill level, wax seal, label, and most importantly, the cork were all in ideal condition, for their age. The cork was tight but starting to soften only so slightly. There was a significant amount of sediment for the final fifth of the bottle, definitely warranting decanting or filtering.
  
  This was a bit funky on opening, starting to show diminution from age, but that burned off after an hour and this opened up to reveal it true character and profile. This certainly will not improve from further aging, its time to consume the remaining bottles over the next year or so.
  Dark ruby colored, medium bodied, bright lively acidity, balanced, structured black berry fruits with notes of black cherry, notes of graphite, leather and earthy tobacco with firm tongue puckering tannins on the finish.
  https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2023/03/clark-claudon-napa-valley-cabernet.html @ClarkClaudon

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  12/27/2020 - ipp Likes this wine: 91 Points

  great bottle bouquet of dark berry with undertones of earth. sweet dark fruit on palate, hints of under underbrush. really refined tannins.

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  4/26/2020 - rmcnees wrote: 89 Points

  Due to the wax seal on the top of the bottle, I couldn't easily use my ahso two pronged cork puller, which I would normally use for an aged bottle. Despite using the 'rabbit ear' cork screw with the extra long screw, the cork pretty much disintegrated in a crumble and had to be dug out in crumbly pieces from the bottle, which was then strained and decanted.
  
  Dark ruby colored, medium bodied, bright lively, nicely balanced structured black berry fruits with notes of black cherry, hints of graphite, leather and earthy tobacco with modest smooth tannins on the finish.
  
  https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2020/04/clark-claudon-napa-cabernet-1997.html

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  9/2/2019 - Schwarzer Hund Likes this wine:

  It was to be a labor day outdoor grilling party to end the summer season here in VT. Since steak was on the menu we thought a California cab would be perfect. We opted for a mag of '97 Clark-Claudon and pulled the very soft & crumbly cork with a Durand. A quick taste said "drink me" in a couple of hours! A very nice light ruby red color, red berry fruit aromas were faint but after 2 hours of airtime they were fully developed. Plenty of red fruit on palate with just enough acidity to give it a clean fruit flavor with no tannins getting in the way. The finish was 30-60 seconds and very smooth. The wine received very favorable comments by all. The real vote was when someone turned the bottle upside down to retrieve every drop. Time to watch the leaves change color and get ready for the ski season.

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  6/4/2018 - Labrador Likes this wine: 90 Points

  This was a very nice bottle of wine and another example of the fact that patience with CA Cabs will be rewarded.
  It was fresh with bright red fruit, lovely on the palate (no bitterness or acidity), and a long finish. It would have merited a higher score had it shown some depth - decanting might have helped but I am not so sure. That aside, it was lovely, but, sadly, it was my last bottle of this Clark Claudon vintage.

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