Clos Du Bois Cabernet Sauvignon California Red Wine

The name gives the brand, the grape and the state, but not where the story starts. Clos du Bois says the winery was founded by Frank Woods in 1974, and that founding is the part the name leaves out.

The grape is Cabernet Sauvignon. Grape research describes it as a firmly built red, with black currant, plum and cherry among the common fruit references and a noticeable grip of tannin, and it notes that ripeness, climate and winemaking can carry a Cabernet from lighter and green-edged to darker and fruit-forward.

Across nine stores in our September 2026 checks, the price ranged from $10.99 to $17.99, which puts it among the least expensive reds we track. Shoppers have been cooler on it than on many: its 2.75 comes from 4 ratings, and that lands in the low band of the reds we follow.

Clos du Bois' own product page describes the wine plainly: “bold notes of black currant and ripe blackberry compote with accents of toasted oak on a long, smooth finish,” grown in California vineyards the producer credits with “dry summers, cool winters and fertile soils.” A retailer's page adds the one number the producer's own site leaves out, listing the bottle at 13.5 percent alcohol and tracing it to Modesto, California, where Clos du Bois is based; that page echoes the same fruit and toasted-oak profile and credits the winery's “decades of winemaking expertise” and hand-selected fruit. No independent critic score for this bottling is in our record.

Our call: this suits a shopper who wants a Cabernet at the lowest end of what we track and values a founding story and hand-selected fruit over a strong shopper score; Clos du Bois has been making California wine since Frank Woods founded the winery in 1974, and both its own page and a retailer's page describe the same black currant, blackberry and toasted-oak profile. Pass if score is your main filter: 4 ratings put it in the bottom band of the reds we follow and well under the median, so at this reading we would spend the same low price on one of its better-rated shelf neighbors.

The Grocery Store Wine Desk · written Sep 16, 2026 from our research file for this wine. Numbers reflect our latest checks.