Clif Family The Climber Red Wine

Tasting notes & discussion 15

Worried the Summer heat will get to your wine before it gets to you? Try our new Summer Hold option here!

** 92 Points, Wine Enthusiast**
Typically $42/bottle from Clif Family Winery
Vintage 2021 from Napa Valley
Available for AL; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; FL; GA; ID; IL; IN; IA; KS; KY; LA; MD; MA; MI; MN; MO; MT; NE; NV; NJ; NM; NY; NC; ND; OH; OK; OR; PA; SC; SD; TN; TX; VT; VA; WA; WV; WI; WY
Sold by participating winery or licensee, fulfilled by Wine Country Connect

About Clif Family Winery: “Clif Family Winery & Farm was founded by Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford, the husband-and-wife team behind Clif Bar, more than 20 years ago, driven by their love for how food and wine bring people together and their commitment to sustainability.”

Racing Your Own Nervous System

TASTING NOTES: “Cabernet aromas of blackberry, blueberry, cedar, and clove fill the glass. The wine has beautiful color with a bright red hue and purple density in the center. There is a gorgeous freshness from the acidity up front, followed by medium-weight tannins in the middle. Merlot fruit flavors carry this wine to a long finish, filled with great tannin and fruit balance.” (AbV 14.9%)

VARIETALS: 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot

BARRELS: French oak barrels.

PAIRS WITH: N/A

THAT REMINDS ME OF: The Climber

Speed climbing is a real Olympic event now, and the numbers are borderline insulting to the rest of us. The world record for a standardized 15-meter wall — dead vertical, no big holds to cheat with — is under five seconds. Veddriq Leonardo set it in 2024 at 4.75 seconds, which means he covered roughly the height of a five-story building faster than most people can find their car keys.

What gets me is the wall itself never changes. Every speed climbing route on Earth is the exact same layout, bolted to identical specs since 2007, specifically so records mean something across countries and years. So the sport isn’t really “can you climb this wall” — everyone already knows the wall by heart, down to which hand goes where on hold 11. It’s closer to a hundred-meter dash where the track happens to be pointed straight up, and the athletes have basically memorized the choreography and are just racing their own nervous system.

I say all this as someone who once took four minutes to get down from a rock wall at a birthday party because I got spooked eight feet up. Different sport, apparently.

PRODUCER PODCAST: Clif Family The Climber Red Wine (1:24)

ICYMI, you have two choices:

Worried Summer heat might get to your wine before your wine gets to you? Order from the sale linked here, and we’ll get it to you at a cooler time of year!
Want it shipped now? Every package during the summer will have protected temp control ground shipping for much of the country that takes longer but will ensure safe delivery. Expect up to two weeks for delivery. Now through the September 12th offer.

Who's buying this?

How are you buying your bottles?

How do you handle heights?

I'll climb almost anything without a second thought

I'll climb almost anything without a second thought
I'm fine as long as there's a rope involved

I'm fine as long as there's a rope involved
Eight feet up and I'm already negotiating with myself

Eight feet up and I'm already negotiating with myself
Ground level is a perfectly good place to stay

Ground level is a perfectly good place to stay
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