Clark Claudon Estate Cabernet with BBQ

Clark Claudon Estate Cabernet with BBQ 

With left over BBQ Beef Brisket from earlier in the week, (Sharko’s BBQ with Yakima Valley Syrah), I pulled from the cellar an aged vintage Napa Cabernet. What a delightful surprise to find this exceeding expectations for a superb food wine pairing - accentuating and amplifying the enjoyment of both. 

We hold two decades of vintages in our ‘vertical collection’ of this label, dating back to the inaugural release in 1994. It’s times like this that we are rewarded for having a deep, aged cellar collection. 

I wrote about this producer and wine in detail in these pages in an earlier posting, which is excerpted and updated here: 

Clark-Claudon Estate Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

In an earlier, similar situation, we also posted: we opened an old favorite wine from our extensive collection from one of our favorite producers, with BBQ Beef Brisket and mashed potatoes, and a selection of cheeses and sourdough bread, previously in this earlier blogpost:

Clark-Claudon Estate Grown Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

Clark-Claudon Vineyards located in the Vaca Mountain range high above Oakville, Napa Valley, was founded in 1993 by Thomas Clark and Laurie Claudon Clark. The couple had lived and worked in Napa Valley for 20 years as grape growers but eventually decided to make wine under their own name. 

The Clark-Claudon estate is situated on the ‘backside’ of Howell Mountain in an area known as Pope Valley. We have fun with this label as fellow Pour Boy Bill and Beth C's maiden name is Pope. Clark-Claudon's 17 acres of vineyards are carved out of a 117 acre property located on the north east side of Howell Mountain between Ink Grade and Howell Mountain Road, from 800 ft to 1,200 ft elevation. It’s shallow, mountain soils, cool evening breezes and excellent sun exposure are ideal for a low yield of small, intense Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot grapes. The 17 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon are planted with clone 7 which grows well in hillside rocky soil and produces small berries with concentrated flavors. A small vineyard block is planted to Petite Verdot. After completing their initial vineyard planting, Clark decided to leave the remaining 100 acres of forests, creeks, meadows and ponds in their natural state which serves as a preserve for native birds and wildlife.

Interesting, following my discussions in another earlier blogpost, I wrote about the terroir and appellation, and specifically about the line of demarcation being at the 1200 foot elevation level to differentiate between Howell Mountain and Napa Valley designation, due to effects of the fog from the valley that reaches up to that ceiling level. 

We have another such-situated Napa/Howell Mountain Cabernet. Similar to the Viader Napa Valley Cabernet Red Blend from earlier tastings, and the Blue Hall Vineyard Camiana Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon that we drank the other night, this Clark Claudon Napa Cab vineyard is at 1000 foot elevation on the lower reaches of Howell Mountain. 

That terroir distinction doesn't apply here as the Clark Claudon property is on the backside of Howell Mountain which never sees the fog that is experienced on the Napa Valley side of the hill. 

We have been collecting this label since its introduction back in 1993 and hold two decades of vintages since. We first met Tom Clark and Laurie Claudon-Clark during our Napa Wine Experience 1999 when we hosted them at one of our wine producer dinners. That night, held at what was then Pinot Blanc Restaurant in St Helena (see picture above), we tasted Clark Claudon 1995-96 against ten year old 1989 Bordeaux, BYOB from our home cellars. 

During our Napa Wine Experience visits of 1997 through 2000 we hosted gala tasting dinners with the "'Undisccovered Dozen', emerging new wine producers to watch", featured in an article in Wine Spectator Magazine. Many of these producers released their inaugural vintage releases in or about the 1994 vintage. Those producers and winery visits included Plumpjack, David Arthur, Clark-Claudon, Robert Craig, Del Dotto, Elan, Paradigm, Pride Vineyards, Snowden, Nils Venge and White Cottage and are featured variously on my winesite http://www.unwindwine.com. A complete index of my tasting notes of these wines over the years is on the site at this link to California Producers Index. These producers make up a foundation of our wine cellar collection even today. In many of these wines, we still have vertical selections, several dating back to those early release vintages.   

We love the distinctive unique Clark-Claudon packaging with the tall slender bottles. An interesting and trivial wine-geek's observation about the Clark-Claudon branding and packaging; as mentioned, we hold close to a score of vintages of this label. 

All our vintage holdings but this one, the 2004 release, are packaged with the wax cap inside the rim of the bottle, topping the cork, as shown left. This one, 2004, has a 'traditional' foil top of the bottle (shown below). Not sure why?

This release was awarded 93 points from Wine Enthusiast who wrote, " ... it really needs time. Give it until after 2008, if you can keep your hands off, and will come into its own after 2010."

A decade later, going on seventeen years, this release is holding its own very nicely and showing no signs of diminution whatsoever. The fill level, label and most importantly the cork were in perfect condition.

Wine Enthusiast wrote, "The 2004 Clark-Claudon Napa Cabernet Sauvignon blends fruit from all over the winery's estate, combining multiple expressions of the fruit. The higher portions of the estate yielded fruit that was rich, deeply colored with intense tannins. The lower portions of the estate produced softer, more perfumed wine."  Tonight's tasting was consistent with previous tastings in 2015, 2016 and most recently in the Spring of 2021. In 2016 I wrote it was more expressive than earlier tastings. I sense this is at its peak, not likely to improve further, but grand and capable of aging several more years none-the-less.

At nineteen years, the fill level, label, foil and most importantly the cork were all still in pristine condition.  

Like before, the room filled with dark berry fruit aromatics as soon the cork was pulled. This was dark garnet colored, rich, full, concentrated, but nicely integrated and elegant black berry and black currant fruits with accents of cassis, mocha, floral and notes of spicy oak and hints of black cherry on a lingering fine-grained silky tannin finish.

What I did not expect was an extraordinary ‘bourbon barrel’ sprite in the wine that was a perfect complement to the tangy BBQ brisket and sauce. 

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=229261

In seeking to replenish this bottle with a more recent vintage of this wine, I looked in distribution and found none in Chicagoland, but got this response when searching national beverage superstore Total Wine - "We could not find this item at Pensacola, FL (our select store), But we found it at Denver, CO." We'll be reaching back to the producer directly, as well as looking in the secondary market. 

I’ve recently picked up a couple new labels of this producer on-line which I am holding and am eager to try - their ‘Eternity’ label and Three Stones Vineyard release.

A couple days later, we opened another vintage release of this label, for a mini vertical comparison tasting. 

Clark-Claudon Estate Grown Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2001

The 2001 vintage proved to be in that ‘Goldilock’s zone’, not too old to be past its prime drinking window, and not too young, such that it was now fully integrated and showed maturity from aging. 

Like the slightly younger release from a few days earlier, the label, wax capsule (caplet?) (in lieu of foil), fill level and the apparent cork seemed to be in pristine condition, albeit for the age, at twenty-four years. 

In light of the wax capsule or caplet, I set aside the also two pronged cork puller and attempted to extract the cork using a traditional waiter’s hinged cork screw. Alas, the cork pulled apart leaving the last quarter remnant in the neck of the bottle. I was able to extract the remains, intact using the Ahso. I should’ve known better and used the ahso from the start. 

The tasting profile was similar to the later vintage release, above, although the vibrant fruit and spice sprites were slightly subdued, giving way to some graphite, hints of smoke and leather tones, perhaps revealing vintage differences, as well as the additional four years of age. 

At twenty-one years, this was at the end of its optimal tasting window, and starting to decline going forward, hence time to drink in the near term of the next year or so.  

This release was rated 92 points by Wine Advocate, who compared it to “a great vintage of Chateau Margaux, tannic, backward, with a Bordeaux-like structure as well as a deep, rich, full-bodied personality.”

RM 90 points. 

https://go.cellartracker.com/wine/436561

https://www.clarkclaudon.com

@ClarkClaudon 

Earlier tasting posts ...   

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2015/01/clark-claudon-howell-mountain-napa.html

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2015/12/festive-holiday-dinner-showcases.html

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2016/05/clark-claudon-napa-valley-cabernet.html

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2021/03/clark-claudon-napa-cabernet-2004.html

Clark Claudon Napa Cabernet 2004

Clark Claudon Napa/Pope Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

For a quiet evening at home, watching our latest binge-worthy series, Condor on MGM+, we opened an old favorite wine from our extensive collection from this favorite producer, with homemade chicken tortilla soup. 

After our recent anniversary, I am currently opening twenty year old 2004 vintage wines as a mini celebration, and a calibration of how that vintage is aging and holding up in our cellar. 

Here following is an updated re-post of earlier posting about this wine and this producer from October 12, 2023.

Clark-Claudon Estate Grown Napa/Pope Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

The producer, Clark-Claudon estate is situated on the ‘backside’ of Howell Mountain in an area known as Pope Valley. We have fun with this label as fellow Pour Boy Bill and Beth C's maiden name is Pope. Clark-Claudon's 17 acres of vineyards are carved out of a 117 acre property located on the north east side of Howell Mountain between Ink Grade and Howell Mountain Road, from 800 ft to 1,200 ft elevation. It’s shallow, mountain soils, cool evening breezes and excellent sun exposure are ideal for a low yield of small, intense Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot grapes. The 17 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon are planted with clone 7 which grows well in hillside rocky soil and produces small berries with concentrated flavors. A small vineyard block is planted to Petite Verdot. After completing their initial vineyard planting, Clark decided to leave the  remaining 100 acres of forests, creeks, meadows and ponds in their natural state which serves as a preserve for native birds and wildlife.

Interesting, following my discussions in recent blogpost about the terroir and appellation specificity line of demarcation being at the 1200 foot elevation level to differentiate between Howell Mountain and Napa Valley designation, we have another such-situated Napa/Howell Mountain Cabernet. Similar to the Viader Napa Valley Cabernet Red Blend from earlier tastings, and the Blue Hall Vineyard Camiana Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon that we drank the other night, this Clark Claudon Napa Cab vineyard is at 1000 foot elevation on the lower reaches of Howell Mountain. That terroir distinction doesn't apply here as the Clark Claudon property is on the backside of Howell Mountain which never sees the fog that is experienced on the Napa Valley side of the hill. 

We have been collecting this label since its introduction back in 1993 and hold two decades of vintages since. 

We first met Tom Clark and Laurie Claudon-Clark during our Napa Wine Experience 1999 when we hosted them at one of our wine producer dinners. That night, held at what was then Pinot Blanc Restaurant in St Helena (see picture above/left), we tasted Clark Claudon 1995-96 against ten year old 1989 Bordeaux. 

During our Napa Wine Experience visits of 1997 through 2000 we hosted gala tasting dinners with the "'Undisccovered Dozen', emerging new wine producers to watch", featured in an article in Wine Spectator Magazine. Many of these producers released their inaugural vintage releases in or about the 1994 vintage. Those producers and winery visits included Plumpjack, David Arthur, Clark-Claudon, Robert Craig, Del Dotto, Elan, Paradigm, Pride Vineyards, Snowden, Nils Venge and White Cottage and are featured variously on my winesite http://www.unwindwine.com. An complete index of my tasting notes of these wines over the years is on the site at this link to California Producers Index. These producers make up a foundation of our wine cellar collection even today. In many of these wines, we still have vertical selections, several dating back to those early release vintages.   

We love the distinctive unique Clark-Claudon packaging with the tall slender bottles. An interesting and trivial wine-geek's observation about the Clark-Claudon branding and packaging; as mentioned, we hold close to a score of vintages of this label. 

All our vintage holdings but this one, the 2004 release, are packaged with the wax cap inside the rim of the bottle, topping the cork, as shown left. This one, 2004, has a 'traditional' foil top of the bottle (shown below). Not sure why?

This release was awarded 93 points from Wine Enthusiast who wrote, " ... it really needs time. Give it until after 2008, if you can keep your hands off, and will come into its own after 2010."

A decade later, going on seventeen years, this release is holding its own very nicely and showing no signs of diminution whatsoever. The fill level, label and most importantly the cork were in perfect condition.

Wine Enthusiast wrote, "The 2004 Clark-Claudon Napa Cabernet Sauvignon blends fruit from all over the winery's estate, combining multiple expressions of the fruit. The higher portions of the estate yielded fruit that was rich, deeply colored with intense tannins. The lower portions of the estate produced softer, more perfumed wine." 

Tonight's tasting was consistent with previous tastings in 2015, 2016 and most recently in the Spring of 2021. In 2016 I wrote it was more expressive than earlier tastings. I sense this is at its peak, not likely to improve further, but grand and capable of aging several more years none-the-less.

At twenty years, the fill level, label, foil and most importantly the cork were all still in pristine condition.  

Like before, the room filled with dark berry fruit aromatics as soon the cork was pulled. This was dark garnet colored, rich, full, concentrated, but nicely integrated and elegant black berry and black currant fruits with accents of cassis, mocha, floral and notes of spicy oak and hints of black cherry on a lingering fine-grained silky tannin finish.

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=229261

In seeking to replenish this bottle with a more recent vintage of this wine, I looked in distribution and found none in Chicagoland, but got this response when searching national beverage superstore Total Wine - "We could not find this item at Pensacola, FL (our select store), But we found it at Denver, CO." We'll be reaching back to the producer directly, as well as looking in the secondary market. 

https://www.clarkclaudon.com

@ClarkClaudon 

Earlier tasting posts ...   

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2015/01/clark-claudon-howell-mountain-napa.html

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2015/12/festive-holiday-dinner-showcases.html

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2016/05/clark-claudon-napa-valley-cabernet.html

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2021/03/clark-claudon-napa-cabernet-2004.html

Clark Claudon Napa Cabernet 2004

Clark Claudon Napa Cabernet 2004

For a quiet evening at home, watching a pre-recorded showing of 'The Voice' from earlier in the week, we opened an old favorite wine from our extensive collection from this favorite producer, with a selection of cheeses and sourdough bread. 

Here following is a updated re-post of earlier posting about this wine and this producer.

Clark-Claudon Estate Grown Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

The producer, Clark-Claudon estate is situated on the ‘backside’ of Howell Mountain in an area known as Pope Valley. We have fun with this label as fellow Pour Boy Bill and Beth C's maiden name is Pope. Clark-Claudon's 17 acres of vineyards are carved out of a 117 acre property located on the north east side of Howell Mountain between Ink Grade and Howell Mountain Road, from 800 ft to 1,200 ft elevation. It’s shallow, mountain soils, cool evening breezes and excellent sun exposure are ideal for a low yield of small, intense Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot grapes. The 17 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon are planted with clone 7 which grows well in hillside rocky soil and produces small berries with concentrated flavors. A small vineyard block is planted to Petite Verdot. After completing their initial vineyard planting, Clark decided to leave the  remaining 100 acres of forests, creeks, meadows and ponds in their natural state which serves as a preserve for native birds and wildlife.

Interesting, following my discussions in recent blogpost about the terroir and appellation specificity line of demarcation being at the 1200 foot elevation level to differentiate between Howell Mountain and Napa Valley designation, we have another such-situated Napa/Howell Mountain Cabernet. Similar to the Viader Napa Valley Cabernet Red Blend from earlier tastings, and the Blue Hall Vineyard Camiana Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon that we drank the other night, this Clark Claudon Napa Cab vineyard is at 1000 foot elevation on the lower reaches of Howell Mountain. That terroir distinction doesn't apply here as the Clark Claudon property is on the backside of Howell Mountain which never sees the fog that is experienced on the Napa Valley side of the hill.

We have been collecting this label since its introduction back in 1993 and hold two decades of vintages since. We first met Tom Clark and Laurie Claudon-Clark during our Napa Wine Experience 1999 when we hosted them at one of our wine producer dinners. That night, held at what was then Pinot Blanc Restaurant in St Helena (see picture left), we tasted Clark Claudon 1995-96 against ten year old 1989 Bordeaux. 

During our Napa Wine Experience visits of 1997 through 2000 we hosted gala tasting dinners with the "'Undisccovered Dozen', emerging new wine producers to watch", featured in an article in Wine Spectator Magazine. Many of these producers released their inaugural vintage releases in or about the 1994 vintage. Those producers and winery visits included Plumpjack, David Arthur, Clark-Claudon, Robert Craig, Del Dotto, Elan, Paradigm, Pride Vineyards, Snowden, Nils Venge and White Cottage and are featured variously on my winesite http://www.unwindwine.com. An complete index of my tasting notes of these wines over the years is on the site at this link to California Producers Index. These producers make up a foundation of our wine cellar collection even today. In many of these wines, we still have vertical selections, several dating back to those early release vintages.  

We love the distinctive unique Clark-Claudon packaging with the tall slender bottles. An interesting and trivial wine-geek's observation about the Clark-Claudon branding and packaging; as mentioned, we hold close to a score of vintages of this label. 

All our vintage holdings but this one, the 2004 release, are packaged with the wax cap inside the rim of the bottle, topping the cork, as shown left. This one, 2004, has a 'traditional' foil top of the bottle (shown below). Not sure why?

This release was awarded 93 points from Wine Enthusiast who wrote, " ... it really needs time. Give it until after 2008, if you can keep your hands off, and will come into its own after 2010."

A decade later, going on seventeen years, this release is holding its own very nicely and showing no signs of diminution whatsoever. The fill level, label and most importantly the cork were in perfect condition.

Wine Enthusiast wrote, "The 2004 Clark-Claudon Napa Cabernet Sauvignon blends fruit from all over the winery's estate, combining multiple expressions of the fruit. The higher portions of the estate yielded fruit that was rich, deeply colored with intense tannins. The lower portions of the estate produced softer, more perfumed wine."

Tonight's tasting was consistent with previous tastings in 2015, 2016 and most recently in the Spring of 2021. In 2016 I wrote it was more expressive than earlier tastings. I sense this is at its peak, not likely to improve further, but grand and capable of aging several more years none-the-less.

At nineteen years, the fill level, label, foil and most importantly the cork were all still in pristine condition. 

Like before, the room filled with dark berry fruit aromatics as soon the cork was pulled. This was dark garnet colored, rich, full, concentrated, but nicely integrated and elegant black berry and black currant fruits with accents of cassis, mocha, floral and notes of spicy oak and hints of black cherry on a lingering fine-grained silky tannin finish.

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=229261

In seeking to replenish this bottle with a more recent vintage of this wine, I looked in distribution and found none in Chicagoland, but got this response when searching national beverage superstore Total Wine - "We could not find this item at Pensacola, FL (our select store), But we found it at Denver, CO." We'll be reaching back to the producer directly, as well as looking in the secondary market.

https://www.clarkclaudon.com

@ClarkClaudon 

Earlier tasting posts ...  

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2015/01/clark-claudon-howell-mountain-napa.html

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2015/12/festive-holiday-dinner-showcases.html

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2016/05/clark-claudon-napa-valley-cabernet.html

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2021/03/clark-claudon-napa-cabernet-2004.html

Clark Claudon Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1997

Clark-Claudon Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Grown 1997 

Sunday night dinner, Linda prepared her delectable beef bourgogne so I pulled from the cellar this aged Napa Cabernet for pairing. This is from boutique Napa Valley producer Clark-Claudon.

We hold two decades of vintages of this label going back to their inaugural release in 1994.

Clark-Claudon are estate bottled Cabernets, sourced from their 18 acres of vineyards on the northeast side of Howell Mountain. The total estate covers 115 acres, sited between 800 and 1200 feet elevation, between Ink Grade & Howell Mountain roads.

We met Tom Clark and Laurie Claudon-Clark (middle couple on left) when we hosted them for a wine producer dinner at then trendy Pinot Blanc in St Helena during our Napa Valley Wine Experience back in 1999. I recall friend and wine-buddy Paul McDonald (left) from LA had some association with the restaurant ownership back in the day. (Yes, that's my bride, Linda on the right, circa 1999).

Clark-Claudon Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Grown 1997

I selected a 1997 vintage release which is one of the few bottles remaining from a case we acquired back during that trip. The much heralded '97 Napa Cabernets were highly rated and projected to be long lived. Twenty-five years later, we in the late chapters of tasting wines from that vintage release.

As I wrote in a previous tasting of the release back in 2014, "In earlier tastings of this vintage of Clark Claudon, I wondered if it was like Dominus (86) and some Bordeaux (89-90 Pichon Lalande) that I later learned I drank too early when they finally 'awoke' to reveal their true character and fruits years later?'

Back in 2014, "Unlike previous tastings when the Clark Claudon was somewhat closed and a bit flabby with muted fruit upon opening, tonight it seemed to be showing its age, opening to ripe raisiny black cherry and black berry fruit, with subtle tone of cigar box and leather with nicely integrated and balanced silky smooth tannins. After an hour or so the fruit closed down and it became subdued leaving a slight astringency and tones of tobacco and leather.'

Our lasted tasting of this label back in 2020, we encountered issues with the cork, when I wrote, "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."

That review at that time, :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. - RM 89 points."

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2020/04/clark-claudon-napa-cabernet-1997.html

Tonight, at twenty-five years, the fill level, wax seal, label, and most importantly, the cork were all in ideal condition, for their age (shown left). 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 for over the next year or so. 

 

This was a perfect accompaniment to tonight's dinner entree, amplifying the enjoyment of both the food and the wine, as well as the artisan hand crafted toffee and chocolate after diiner treat. 

After tonight's tasting, I shaved a few years off the Cellartracker drinking window from 2018 to 2015 and I reduced my rating from 89 to 88. 

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.

RM 88 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=436557

https://www.clarkclaudon.com/

https://twitter.com/ClarkClaudon 

 

@ClarkClaudon 

Clark-Claudon Napa Cabernet 2004

Clark-Claudon Estate Grown Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

For beef stroganoff dinner I pulled from the cellar this aged mountain fruit Napa Cabernet - a perfect match! 

The producer, Clark-Claudon estate is situated on the ‘backside’ of Howell Mountain in an area known as Pope Valley. Their 17 acres of vineyards are carved out of a 117 acre property located on the north east side of Howell Mountain between Ink Grade and Howell Mountain Road, from 800 ft to 1,200 ft elevation. It’s shallow, mountain soils, cool evening breezes and excellent sun exposure are ideal for a low yield of small, intense Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot grapes. The 17 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon are planted with clone 7 which grows well in hillside rocky soil and produces small berries with concentrated flavors. A small vineyard block is planted to Petite Verdot. After completing their initial vineyard planting, Clark decided to leave the  remaining 100 acres of forests, creeks, meadows and ponds in their natural state which serves as a preserve for native birds and wildlife.

Interesting, following my discussions in recent blogpost about the terroir and appellation specificity line of demarcation being at the 1200 foot elevation level to differentiate between Howell Mountain and Napa Valley designation, we have another such-situated Napa/Howell Mountain Cabernet. Similar to the Viader Napa Valley Cabernet Red Blend we drank the other night, this Clark Claudon Napa Cab vineyard is at 1000 foot elevation on the lower reaches of Howell Mountain. That terroir distinction doesn't apply here as the Clark Claudon property is on the backside of Howell Mountain which never sees the fog that is experienced on the Napa Valley side of the hill.

We have been collecting this label since its introduction back in 1993 and hold two decades of vintages since. We first met Tom Clark and Laurie Claudon-Clark during our Napa Wine Experience 1999 when we hosted them at one of our wine producer dinners. That night, held at what was then Pinot Blanc Restaurant in St Helena (see picture left), we tasted Clark Claudon 1995-96 against ten year old 1989 Bordeaux. 

During our Napa Wine Experience visits of 1997 through 2000 we hosted gala tasting dinners with the "'Undisccovered Dozen', emerging new wine producers to watch", featured in an article in Wine Spectator Magazine. Many of these producers released their inaugural vintage releases in or about the 1994 vintage. Those producers and winery visits included Plumpjack, David Arthur, Clark-Claudon, Robert Craig, Del Dotto, Elan, Paradigm, Pride Vineyards, Snowden, Nils Venge and White Cottage and are featured variously on my winesite http://www.unwindwine.com. An complete index of my tasting notes of these wines over the years is on the site at this link to California Producers Index. These producers make up a foundation of our wine cellar collection even today. In many of these wines, we still have vertical selections, several dating back to those early release vintages.  

We love the distinctive unique Clark-Claudon packaging with the tall slender bottles. An interesting and trivial wine-geek's observation about the Clark-Claudon branding and packaging; as mentioned, we hold close to a score of vintages of this label. All our vintage holdings but this one, the 2004 release, are packaged with the wax cap inside the rim of the bottle, topping the cork, as shown left. This one, 2004, has a 'traditional' foil top of the bottle (shown below). Not sure why?

This release was awarded 93 points from Wine Enthusiast who wrote, " ... it really needs time. Give it until after 2008, if you can keep your hands off, and will come into its own after 2010."

A decade later, going on seventeen years, this release is holding its own very nicely and showing no signs of diminution whatsoever. The fill level, label and most importantly the cork were in perfect condition.

Wine Enthusiast wrote, "The 2004 Clark-Claudon Napa Cabernet Sauvignon blends fruit from all over the winery's estate, combining multiple expressions of the fruit. The higher portions of the estate yielded fruit that was rich, deeply colored with intense tannins. The lower portions of the estate produced softer, more perfumed wine."

Tonight's tasting was consistent with previous tastings in 2015 and 2016. In 2016 I wrote it was more expressive than earlier tastings. I sense this is at its peak, not likely to improve further, but grand and capable of aging several more years none-the-less.

Like before, the room filled with dark berry fruit aromatics as soon the cork was pulled. This was dark garnet colored, rich, full, concentrated, but nicely integrated and elegant black berry and black currant fruits with accents of cassis, mocha, floral and notes of spicy oak and hints of black cherry on a lingering fine-grained silky tannin finish.

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=229261

https://www.clarkclaudon.com

@ClarkClaudon 

Earlier tasting posts ...  

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2015/01/clark-claudon-howell-mountain-napa.html

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2015/12/festive-holiday-dinner-showcases.html

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2016/05/clark-claudon-napa-valley-cabernet.html

Family Celebration Dinner features Howell Mountain Wine Flight

 Family Celebration Dinner features Howell Mountain Wine Flight

With family gathered in town, we pivot to shift the focus from a family funeral early in the week to the celebration of Sean and Michelle's wedding this weekend. 

Linda prepared a gala dinner of tomahawk rib-eye steaks with her signature delicious twice baked potatoes prefaced with wedge salad with blue cheese, tomatoes and bacon. Prior to dinner we featured a selection of artisan cheeses. 

Tonight we featured wines from Napa Valley Howell Mountain appellation. Jan and Bill toured there with us during our Napa Valley Howell Mountain Wine Experience back in 2008. We featured wines from producers that we visited and tasted during that trip - Dunn Vineyards, Robert Craig, Ladera Vineyards, and Viader, as well as some others. Tom Clark and Laurie Claudon Clark of Clark Claudon was our featured winemaker producer at a special dinner at Pinot Blanc in St Helena during our Napa Valley Wine Experience back in 1999. We'll also open Lamborn Howell Mountain Cabernet this weekend, another featured producer from our 2008 Howell appellation trip.

 The flight: 

Robert Craig Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2001

Dunn Vineyards Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 1987

Viader "V" Proprietary Red 1999 (from magnum)

Clark Claudon Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1996

Ladera Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

Lamborn Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2003-04-05

After dinner, Lucy helped Linda prepare Chocolate Cake with whipped cream and fresh berries. 

Robert Craig Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2001

Best wine of the flight, favored by most, complex, sophisticated, balanced, nicely integrated fruits.

Dunn Vineyards Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 1987

Amazing life left in this release from an otherwise off-vintage. Briary and brambly Howell Mountain fruits, rustic, very nice. Testament to the longevity of this label, passed on several other vintages that still have a decade or more to go!

Viader "V" Proprietary Red 1999 (from magnum)

Bright vibrant, big bold fruits in this single varietal Petite Verdot limited release label. "V" label signature label, tribute to Vivianna!  

Clark Claudon Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1996

Bright vibrant fruits here too with much life left in this vintage release at twenty-five years. 

Ladera Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

The youngest release at fifteen years, this was brash and forward, big bold, dark and brooding fruits, still needs a couple years to settle and integrate further. Settled nicely over the course of the evening after open for ninety minutes.

Lamborn Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2003-04-05

Should've opened the '05 to compare with the Ladera but opted to hold off and do a mini-horizontal tasting of this collection. Needed a few more drinkers to expand the flight selection tonight. Watch for this tasting flight.

Clark-Claudon Napa Cabernet 1997

Clark-Claudon Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Grown 1997

Continuing our Coronavirus shut-in, we ordered 'curbside carry-out' from our neighborhood trattoria, Angelis Italian. We're endeavoring to support our local restaurants during this crisis albeit remotely since the bar and dining rooms remain closed .

I pulled from the cellar a boutique Napa Valley producer Clark-Claudon Cabernet Sauvignon.

We hold close to two decades of vintages of this label going back to their inaugural release in 1994.

Clark-Claudon are estate bottled Cabernets, sourced from their 18 acres of vineyards on the northeast side of Howell Mountain. The total estate covers 115 acres, sited between 800 and 1200 feet elevation, between Ink Grade & Howell Mountain roads.

We met Tom Clark and Laurie Claudon-Clark (middle couple on left) when we hosted them for a wine producer dinner at then trendy Pinot Blanc in St Helena during our Napa Valley Wine Experience back in 1999.

I recall friend and wine-buddy Paul McDonald (left) from LA had some association with the restaurant ownership back in the day.

Clark-Claudon Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Grown 1997

I selected a 1997 vintage release which is one of the few bottles remaining from a case we acquired back during that trip. The much heralded '97 Napa Cabernets were highly rated and projected to be long lived.

As I wrote in a previous tasting of the release back in 2014, "In earlier tastings of this vintage of Clark Claudon, I wondered if it was like Dominus (86) and some Bordeaux (89-90 Pichon Lalande) that I later learned I drank too early when they finally 'awoke' to reveal their true character and fruits years later?'

Back in 2014, "Unlike previous tastings when the Clark Claudon was somewhat closed and a bit flabby with muted fruit upon opening, tonight it seemed to be showing its age, opening to ripe raisiny black cherry and black berry fruit, with subtle tone of cigar box and leather with nicely integrated and balanced silky smooth tannins. After an hour or so the fruit closed down and it became subdued leaving a slight astringency and tones of tobacco and leather.'

Tonight, this was settled and open and while not showing diminution from age, will certainly not improve further, but there should be no hurry to consume the remaining bottles for another year or more.

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.

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=436557

https://www.clarkclaudon.com/

Clark Claudon Napa Valley Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Clark Claudon Napa Valley Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Finishing out the year, we enjoyed a quiet dinner and peaceful evening at home watching a movie. Linda prepared filets of beef with baked potato and peas. I selected from the cellar this Clark Claudon Napa Valley Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2006. This is the same wine we had the other night for our gala family holiday dinner, so I could compare another vintage of this label of which we hold more than a dozen vintages. Such a tasting comparison between multiple vintages of the same label is considered a 'vertical' tasting. I opted for this ten year old 2006 vintage, at tens years of age, a benchmark tasting, and, to celebrate the tenth wedding anniversary of our daughter, Erin and son-in-law Johnny.

As I reminisced with a couple friends on the phone the last few days, its hard to believe it has been ten years since we hosted our daughter's gala wedding banquet at which we served a horizontal selection of her birthyear wines from large format bottles (shown right). 

Tonight, with Linda fighting the flu, she wasn't up for any wine so, drinking alone, I opened a 375ml half bottle of this selection.

At ten years of age, this bottle is probably at the peak of its drinking window, matured to the point to reveal its true character and profile, but not likely to improve any further with age. Yet, this bottle probably has at least ten and perhaps twenty years of life, so no need to hurry consuming our stock.

Dark garnet/purple colored, medium full bodied, elegant, concentrated and complex but nicely balanced core of black berry and black currant fruits, accented by tones of cedar, spice, cigar box and hints of mocha and tangy sweet oak with a long smooth lingering tannin finish.

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/notes.asp?iWine=773571

http://www.clarkclaudon.com/

Ivy Restaurant Wheaton Family Holiday Dinner

Gala Family Holiday Dinner at Ivy Restaurant Wheaton Features BYOB Clark-Claudon Estate Napa Cabernet

For our annual gala family holiday dinner, this year we dined at Ivy Restaurant in Wheaton. We arranged to dine at the balcony table overlooking the restaurant. Ivy, named for the ivy covered exterior walls overlooking the garden dining terrace, is housed in a historic building that was built as a chapel in 1928. The main dining room features stained glass windows and the commanding cathedral ceiling preserved from the original site.

The balcony setting afforded a wonderful view overlooking the restaurant, while providing ample room for our extended group including five grandchildren. It allowed a relaxed casual setting with room to roam for the small children without disturbing other diners.

We ordered the rib-eye steaks, filet medallions, the Chilean Sea Bass special, the Maryland Crab Cakes, the Filet of Beef, and the Filet and Shrimp entrees. The grand-kids were accommodated with appropriate choices from the kids menu.

For the appetizer course, we had the mussels and the coconut shrimp with Piper Heidsieck Brut NV (non-vintage) Champagne from the wine-list.

Ivy's corkage policy accommodated us to bring this BYOB selection from our cellar, Clark-Claudon Estate Napa Cabernet 2000. We met and dined with Clark-Claudon proprietors Tom and Laurie during our Napa Wine Experience winemaker dinners back in 1999. For a family dinner, I felt it appropriate to open a wine from family owned and oriented wine producer.

Since then, we have acquired and still hold thirteen vintages of this Estate Cab in our cellar dating back to the 1994 inaugural release, according to our Cellartracker records. We hold several vintages in magnum including this 2000.


 Clark-Claudon Estate Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2000

This was a perfect accompaniment to our beef entrees and was probably at the peak of its drinking window, not likely to improve further with age, and ready to drink in its prime. Being a magnum, this likely had aged more gracefully and held its drinking window better or longer than perhaps standard size bottles. We hold several more bottles of this vintage and I don't feel rushed to consume them any time soon.

Dark garnet/purple colored, medium-full bodied, full, complex concentrated forward black berry and black raspberry and currant fruits are accented by a layer of spice, toasty oak, tones of cedar and sweet vanilla with nicely balanced acidity and smooth tannins on the lingering finish.

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=436560

https://www.clarkclaudon.com/

http://piper-heidsieck.com/en/

http://www.ivyofwheaton.com/ 

Clark Claudon Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

Clark Claudon Napa Valley Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

For Mother's Day eve dinner, we took Clark Claudon Napa Cab BYOB to Wildwood Restaurant in Geneva with John and Kath McM... Wildwood has a Wine Spectator Award winning winelist for five years running with a broad selection of choices that include many favorites, several at good value prices. Still, the rewards of a deep cellar are to enjoy favorite wines at their prime on such occasions, aside sourcing a second wine from the list. Clark Claudon was a fitting selection for Mother's Day given their strong family centered wine business.

As I've written before in this blog about this wine, we've been collecting this Howell Mountain classic since our Napa Valley Wine Experience 1999 when we first met Tom Clark and Laurie Claudon-Clark and hosted them at one of our wine producer dinners.

Clark Claudon are located halfway up Howell Mountain, the northeastern pillar of the dual ranges that make Napa Valley. The mountain fruit produced from the steep terraces, rocky soil and warm dry climate is full, rich, concentrated and firm, our favorite style in a Cabernet. 

Clark-Claudon typifies the Howell Mountain terroir of its heritage and origins. Their vineyard sits back on the north east side a bit more than half way up Howell Mountain between 800 ft and 1,000 ft elevation. Vineyards above 1200 feet elevation are designated Howell Mountain appellation, while those below 1200 ft are designated Napa Valley. This is because the fog level rises up to that level thereby establishing two different terroir effects above and below that point. 

Clark-Claudon have 18 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and a bit of Petit Verdot vines, 'carved out', as they say, of their 117 acre hillside property. The shallow, rocky, mountain soils, consistent sun exposure tempered by the cool evening breezes just about level with the fog line hovering over the valley below provide ideal conditions to produce intense extracted mountain fruit with that characteristic Howell Mountain spice and firm solid core of smooth tannins.

The 2004 Napa growing season was condensed with early bud break, warm days, cool nights and one challenging heat spike. The result was a small harvest of intense, flavor packed fruit from an unusual, but exceptional year that is showing and drinking well and should last another decade.

Deep dark ruby colored - full bodied - explosive aromas of ripe dark berry fruits fill the room as the wine is being decanted, big mouth-full of forward complex but polished spicy black and edge of red berry fruits, violets, layers of mocha and oak with a long lingering tannin finish.


RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=229261

https://www.clarkclaudon.com

During our Napa Wine Experience visits of 1997 through 2000 we hosted gala tasting dinners with the 'Undisccovered Dozen', emerging new wine producers to watch, featured in an article in Wine Spectator Magazine. Many of these producers released their inaugural vintage releases in or about the 1994 vintage. Those producers and winery visits included Plumpjack, David Arthur, Clark-Claudon, Robert Craig, Del Dotto, Elan, Paradigm, Pride Vineyards, Snowden, Nils Venge and White Cottage and are featured on my winesite http://www.unwindwine.com. An complete index of my tasting notes of these wines over the years is on the site at this link to California Producers Index. These producers make up a foundation of our wine cellar collection even today. In many of these wines, we still have vertical selections of these wines, some dating back to those early release vintages.