Clos Du Val

Clos Du Val was founded in 1972 by American businessman John Goelet and French winemaker Bernard Portet as a deliberately Bordeaux-inflected Napa estate. Goelet's mother's family ran the Bordeaux-based merchant house Barton & Guestier, and Goelet had spent several years scouting potential sites worldwide for a serious red-wine venture; Portet was selected to lead winemaking after a Napa scouting trip and remained to build the estate. Portet had grown up at Château Lafite-Rothschild in the Médoc, where his father, André Portet, served as technical director, and his training was rigorously Bordelais. The pair purchased the property on Silverado Trail in what would become the Stags Leap District AVA (officially designated in 1989, seventeen years after Clos Du Val's founding) and bottled their first vintage that same year, a Cabernet Sauvignon that would shape the rest of the estate's story.

• Founded 1972 by John Goelet (American, with Bordeaux merchant lineage through his mother's family) and Bernard Portet (French, raised at Château Lafite-Rothschild)
• Goelet's grandfather on his mother's side ran the Bordeaux merchant house Barton & Guestier, anchoring the estate's Bordeaux reference frame from the start
• Bernard Portet's father, André Portet, was technical director at Château Lafite-Rothschild; Bernard's training was thoroughly Bordelais before he came to Napa
• Estate sits on Silverado Trail in what would become the Stags Leap District AVA (designated 1989), with the Hirondelle Vineyard surrounding the original winery

On May 24, 1976, English wine merchant Steven Spurrier organized a blind tasting in Paris pitting top California Cabernets and Chardonnays against Bordeaux first-growths and Burgundy white grand crus. The Clos Du Val 1972 Cabernet Sauvignon, the estate's first vintage, was one of the California reds included; it finished eighth among the ten red wines tasted, while Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 1973 took the top position and Time magazine coverage in June 1976 announced California Cabernet's arrival on the global stage. A decade later, in 1986, two separate ten-year rematches of the same Judgment of Paris reds were held; in the rematch organized in New York by Wine Spectator and the French Culinary Institute, the 1972 Clos Du Val placed first overall, ahead of Ridge Monte Bello 1971 and the original Bordeaux entries. The arc from eighth in 1976 to first in 1986 became one of the most cited examples of how well California Cabernet of the early 1970s could age in bottle.

• Spurrier's tasting held in Paris on May 24, 1976; Clos Du Val 1972 Cabernet finished eighth out of ten red wines in that flight
• Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 1973 took the top spot among reds at the original 1976 tasting; Time magazine's June 1976 coverage popularized the result
• In the 1986 ten-year rematch of the same red wines, hosted in New York by Wine Spectator and the French Culinary Institute, Clos Du Val 1972 placed first overall ahead of Ridge Monte Bello 1971
• The arc from eighth in 1976 to first in 1986 became a touchstone example of how well early-1970s Napa Cabernet could age, and it remains the estate's central historical reference

The estate farms approximately 350 acres total across two distinct sub-AVAs: the Stags Leap District in central Napa Valley, and Carneros at the cooler southern end of the valley. In the Stags Leap District, the Hirondelle Vineyard surrounds the original winery on Silverado Trail and supplies the estate's signature Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux-blend bottlings; the sub-AVA's volcanic-derived alluvial soils and afternoon breezes off San Pablo Bay produce a hallmark combination of fruit ripeness and structural balance. In Carneros, the cooler maritime-influenced clay-loam soils support Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, varieties that align with the estate's broader Bordeaux-Burgundy reference frame. This two-region split has been a constant of the estate since the founding years and supports the estate's portfolio across both red and white categories.

• Approximately 350 acres farmed across Stags Leap District (Cabernet, Bordeaux varieties) and Carneros (Pinot Noir, Chardonnay)
• Hirondelle Vineyard surrounds the original winery on Silverado Trail; the signature Stags Leap District parcel for Cabernet
• Stags Leap District soils: volcanic-derived alluvium combining ripeness with structural balance and supple tannin
• Carneros holdings: cooler, clay-loam soils with maritime influence from San Pablo Bay, dedicated to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay

The flagship is the Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon, with additional bottlings including the Hirondelle Vineyard estate Cabernet, the Three Graces (a Cabernet-led Bordeaux blend), and Carneros Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The Bordeaux-Burgundy frame Goelet and Portet established at the start is still legible across the lineup: cooler-than-cult-tier alcohol levels, savory herb and earth notes alongside ripe fruit, supple but defined tannin structures, and an emphasis on balance over extraction. That stylistic restraint sits a step apart from many of the heavier Stags Leap District peers and makes Clos Du Val a useful reference point for understanding the breadth of expression the AVA can produce.

• Flagship: Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon at the lower-alcohol, structurally restrained end of the AVA spectrum
• Hirondelle Vineyard estate Cabernet shows the heart of the original property surrounding the winery
• Three Graces: Cabernet-led Bordeaux blend, the most explicit homage to Portet's Médoc training and the estate's Bordeaux reference frame
• Carneros Pinot Noir and Chardonnay extend the Bordeaux-Burgundy logic to cool-climate Burgundian varieties

Clos Du Val has been continuously owned by the Goelet family since 1972 and has never changed hands; the estate is one of the few Napa Valley founding-era properties to remain with its founding family across more than half a century. Bernard Portet led winemaking for roughly 37 years before retiring from the role at the end of 2009 (he later returned in a consulting capacity and was named winery director in 2017 for a period). In 2018 John Goelet transferred ownership to his six grandchildren; John Goelet died in early 2023 at age 91. Olav Goelet, one of those six grandchildren, began working at the estate in 2019 and moved into the CEO role in 2024, leading the estate's current chapter. The transition has been deliberately generational rather than corporate, and the house style remains anchored to the lower-alcohol, structurally restrained Bordeaux register Portet set in place.

• Continuously Goelet-family owned since 1972; the estate has never been sold, a rare distinction among Napa founding-era producers
• Bernard Portet retired from the founding winemaker role at the end of 2009 after roughly 37 years; later returned in consulting roles
• John Goelet transferred ownership to his six grandchildren in 2018; John Goelet died in early 2023 at age 91
• Olav Goelet (one of the six grandchildren) joined the estate in 2019 and moved into the CEO role in 2024, leading the current chapter