Bacio Divino Cellars
Claus Janzen says 'Cloudy' is his nickname, but in our 20+ years featuring his award-winning wines, we've only experienced sunny and bright.
After winning Canada’s most respected national amateur wine tasting competition, Claus (Cloudy) spent a year in France studying winemaking. In 1993, he created his first wine, a Napa Cabernet blend he christened ‘Bacio Divino.’ “Our effort was rewarded with a 93+ rating from Robert Parker,” Claus says proudly.
In 1997, when a property came up for sale in Dutch Henry Canyon on Napa’s east side, Claus saw opportunity. “It was just a rough side of a mountain, but it had a creek and a barn with a half-acre pasture, and it was so beautiful.” It took a few years to build a home and plant Cloudy’s Vineyard, but now, “I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” says Claus. In ensuing years, Claus added four other brands to showcase a variety of wines, sourced either from the Janzen's organically farmed estate or iconic Napa Valley vineyards.
“Our 2018 Janzen Napa Valley Cabernet presents an accessible Cabernet Sauvignon, with impeccable vineyard sourcing and incredible value,” says Claus. “Coming off a very small 2017 harvest, 2018 offered a great growing season and abundant yields. This allowed us to pick our grapes at optimal ripeness. We feel this vintage is built with ageability in mind, while offering great richness for those who prefer their Cabs on the younger side.”
The fabulous wines we featured:
2017 Cloudy’s Vineyard, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
- 94 Points, Wine Enthusiast
- 93 Points, Jeb Dunnuck
- 91, Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine
Tasting Notes: With several years of bottle ageing, we have found the once firm and pronounced tannins have softened quite a bit and our 2017 Cloudy’s has become a much more elegant wine. Still showing lots of youthful blue and black fruit, with notes of lavender and violets on the nose and a rich mouthfeel.
2018 Janzen Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
- 94 Points, Wine Enthusiast: This 100% varietal wine is made from Beckstoffer Heritage vineyards’ fruit as well as the producer’s own Cloudy’s Vineyard. Juicy in black cherry and berry, with a hint of vanilla."
- 93 Points, Jeb Dunnuck
- 90 Points, Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine
Tasting Notes: Generous black and red fruits envelop the palate, with a rich mouthfeel giving way to silky tannins in the finish.
Winemaker's Notes
2017 Cloudy’s Vineyard, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: All fruit for this wine came from our organically and biodynamically farmed two-acre Cloudy’s Vineyard, which sits high atop the Vaca mountains, overlooking the Napa Valley. It is an idyllic locale on the edge of a steep canyon hillside surrounded by old-growth forests. It is exposed to a constant warm sun all day long, with cooling ocean breezes sifting across the canyon during the night. The rootstock, the minimal use of irrigation, the composition of the soil, and the micro-weather patterns all contribute to the uniqueness and personality of the fruit. We engage with both an optical sorting machine as well as additional hand sorting to ensure only the best fruit makes it through. The fruit underwent a two-week cold soak, fermented in stainless-steel tanks using native yeast, and then barrel aged for 29 months in all new French oak barrels primarily sourced from Taransaud.
2018 Janzen Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: Fruit for this wine came from the Janzen Estate Vineyard on the hillside above Dutch Henry Canyon and from select valley floor vineyards in Oakville and Rutherford. Aged 22 months in a combination of new and once used French oak.
Napa Valley
Claus and Diane Janzen
Claus Janzen