WTN: 1999 Clos du Val Cab

[hotle]

with lamb chops, fresh pasta, and garden zucchini last night.

this wine is blended with 'small amounts' (quote from the label notes) of cab franc and merlot, and you can pick up both that wonderful franc and the chocolate of the merlot along with cherry on the nose. nice plum and berry fruit, predominantly black raspberry. medium body, dark ruby color. two key things on this one for me: this was a 'last glass' wine.....i opened it at 5:15, started dinner at 6:30, and drank the last glass at about 8 pm. the last glass was clearly the best, with all of the fruit, soft oak, and nice tannins evident. second, to me at least, this is mostly a back palate wine. the front palate was short, though good.

i have 9 bottles of a case left, bought on sale at $20/btl. i'm holding the '97, also bought on sale for $20/btl case price. it's much more intense than the '99, with more structure and deeper tannins.

matt

[Craig Camp]

I have always admired the restraint of Clos du Val in maintaining their balanced style while never making bland wines like Mondavi. By back palate you must mean the finish which always shows well in balanced wines.