Founded in 1972 by John Goelet, a descendant of the Guestier wine-merchant family of Bordeaux, with founding winemaker Bernard Portet, whose own father was technical director at Chateau Lafite Rothschild. Clos du Val's 1972 Cabernet Sauvignon competed in the legendary 1976 Judgment of Paris and, a decade later, won a rematch of the same tasting outright; the estate remains family-owned, now led by third-generation owner Olav Goelet.