Following my year-end week off over the holidays—which includes some food and wine indulgence, plus quiet—it’s time to ramp back up. I’m back in Napa, where the backlog of wine samples to taste is nearing 500 wines, so there will be a lot of tasting in the coming weeks. But that doesn’t stop me from getting out and about as well.
Groth Vineyards & Winery: Winemaker Ted Henry's 2021 Napa Cabernets
I was able to stop by Groth for a cup of coffee with Ted Henry, who took over winemaking here just a couple vintages ago. Among the changes on his watch so far is an end to strip spraying in the vineyard in favor of full cover crop, as well as some new toys in the cellar. Following a period of replanting in the early 2000s, Groth had a big bounce back with its 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Reserve (96 points, $150); check out my notes on a Groth vertical tasting back to 1985 for more on this estate's history and development.
Henry’s tenure here began with the 2021 vintage, and with the bulk of the replant finished and an increasingly wholistic approach in the vineyard, it should be fun to watch the continued evolution here.
Honig Vineyard and Winery: More to Learn from Napa's 2020 Wildfire Vintage
I dropped in at Honig as well. Like many Napa producers, there was no 2020 Cabernet released here due to the wildfires. But there is a fair amount of 2020 Cabernet bottled at the winery—it’s just not for sale. Instead, third-generation owner Michael Honig and his team of winemaker Ashley Egelhoff and director of winegrowing and sustainability Kristin Belair have been experimenting, testing and studying as many variables as they can handle to figure out how to address the issue of smoke taint going forward.
We tasted through a number of samples (instructional bottlings for in-house use only) as we talked about the painful but also fascinating topic of how wildfire smoke can impact grapes, wine and even barrels that have contained smoke-tainted wine. We probably could’ve talked about it for days.
Clos du Val: Winemaker Carmel Greenberg's 2021 Napa Cabernets
Over in the Stags Leap District, I checked in with winemaker Carmel Greenberg at Clos du Val. This family-owned winery (CEO Olav Goelet represents the third generation here) has been refocusing its efforts, including a shift to organic growing practices. Vineyard manager Ryan Decker has ended the use of pesticides and introduced insect habitats throughout the property to encourage biodiversity. He's also now treating the 120 acres of vines on the estate as a working farm, introducing olive trees and honeybees.
As for the wines, the 2021s are Greenberg’s first vintage at the estate. The 2021 Clos du Val Estate Cabernet Franc Stags Leap District is warm and gentle in feel, with subtle cassis and earth aspects and a pretty tobacco infusion through the finish. It’s a classy, understated wine.
The 2021 Clos du Val Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District is energetic and ripe, without being bombastic, with plum sauce and cassis notes showing nice juicy grip.
The 2021 Clos du Val Yettalil Stags Leap District, also an estate wine, is a new cuvée that replaces the Three Graces bottling. A blend of two-thirds Cabernet Sauvignon with the rest Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot and Petit Verdot, the wine shows an understated juicy energy, with vibrant and pure fruit and elegant, refined structure.
There’s a nice throughline of house style in the wines here, hearkening back to Clos du Val's early days under winemaker Bernard Portet, with an updated polish. All three wines also show Greenberg’s hand, with just 40 percent new oak used.
“We grow great fruit here," she says. "We don’t want to cover that up.”
These three wineries—Groth, Honig and Clos du Val—provide bright examples of just how many multigenerational family-owned wineries are still here going strong in Napa. They’re doing tons of work behind the scenes in their vineyards and cellars, work that doesn’t show up in the bottle for consumers to see until years down the road. Wine is a long game that requires patience, an open and inquisitive approach and a lot of hard work. And the teams at Groth, Honig and Clos du Val understand this.
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