Clos du Val Dusty Bottle Club

PROHIBITION, which lasted only 14 years, had a profound impact on the California wine industry. In the 1880s, phylloxera (a small aphid-like insect that attacks grapevines) devastated many of the top vineyards of France. But it created fresh opportunities for New World vintners—most of them European immigrants—to supply wines to consumers of Bordeaux. Many of those wines are reputed to have been of high quality.

But in response to the 21st Amendment, many of those vineyards were torn up to make way for fruit orchards, and by 1933, after the repeal of Prohibition, most of them were in ruins. More important, however, few Americans still possessed the expertise to make anything but crude bulk wine, for which the state became largely known. Though industry leaders like Georges de Latour, Louis Martini and Robert Mondavi labored to bring quality wine back to the Golden State, collectors in the first half of the 20th century for the most part did not consider California wines age-worthy until recent decades. Most California wine was consumed young, and so older vintages tend to be rarer than those of, say, Pauillac or Pomerol. For this reason, take note of Clos Du Val’s Dusty Bottle Club.

Founded in 1972 by prominent businessman John Goelet, who hired then-26-year-old French winemaker Bernard Portet to search the globe for the finest vineyard property, Clos Du Val is a long-established icon of the Napa Valley and one of the region’s first Franco-American experiments. Recently, cofounder and director of winemaking Portet conceived the idea of opening the doors of the winery’s library to a very small group of interested enthusiasts who might appreciate sampling its history. To sustain this club, Portet decided to limit its membership to 100, each of whom receives, twice yearly, one to two bottles of vintage wine. Members can purchase up to 12 bottles of vintage wine per year and as many as six of the same vintage.

The club’s inaugural release in December 2005 included the 1984 Cabernet Sauvignon (a favorite of Portet’s) and the superb 1989 vintage, which was the first to bear the Stags Leap Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée. In May, the first of the 2006 releases will ship; these include the 1976 ($135) and 1992 ($95) Cabernets, both of which showcase the superb aging ability of Clos Du Val’s reds. The former punctuates musical strains of cherry and red berry fruit on its nose with cigar-box and mocha scents; the flavors marry intense blackberry with a potpourri of holiday spices. The 1992’s nose, on the other hand, has the wild, sage-like scent of chaparral and faint mint, which on the palate yields to luscious boysenberry fruit blended with wet leather, orange zest, clove and traces of smoke.

At press time, only 13 positions on the Dusty Bottle Club membership list remained open. Information: 707-261-5225; closduval.com.

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