For well over three decades, Bernard Portet has played a vital role in the Napa Valley wine trade.

Founding winemaker of Clos Du Val Wine Company in the Stags Leap District, Portet has spent decades handcrafting wines that express the terroir of this distinct grapegrowing appellation.

Now that he’s turned many of the day-to-day cellar operations to savvy co-workers, Portet has set his sights once again on his native France. It was only natural that he would develop a new wine brand on re-established vineyards in the Languedoc, Domaine de Nizas.

But I doubt anyone expected this native of the Cognac region — he grew up in vineyards in the Borderies district owned by family since the early 18th century — to branch out into the spirits market. But if you had, I’d think you might peg Portet for a Cognac man.

Not exactly, in business terms that is. Portet’s interest in a new line of spirits was piqued by a friend of his son, Olivier, who’s heading up the imports branch of the respected local wholesaler, Wilson Daniels.

David Laverne, owner of San Francisco-based L&P Spirits Imports, suggested he and Portet team up to produce and market an upscale vodka, a vodka made from grapes.

“I was intrigued,” Portet said of the invitation over a recent bistro lunch at Napa’s Angele. “I approached the idea with the same principle as a winemaker. If I was to be associated with a vodka, it had to be one with finesse and elegance — one that wouldn’t burn the palate with that awful alcohol burn — one that could be enjoyed on the rocks before dinner or sipped by itself after the meal.”

And with that suggestion, Portet and Laverne set out to investigate the world of vodka, and to see if they could come up with one that would meet Portet’s stringent standards.

The good news is that they succeeded. Swan’s Neck Vodka, Alambic distilled from French grapes, is a limited release spirit showing up in retail outlets and restaurant lounges on the West Coast and beyond.

Swan’s Neck is available in both Original 80 proof and Lemon Zest 70 proof varieties. It is the only vodka made from grapes using Alambic stills, the same process used in producing Cognac.

The grapes are first made into wine, Portet points out, then distilled using a column distillation process. “The liquid spirits are then distilled two additional times using traditional French copper Alambic pot stills,” he said. “It’s this distillation that shapes the character of the vodka, opening up and releasing grape aromatics and flavor essences, while softening the overall spirit. That’s how we wind up with a balanced, complex yet elegant vodka that can be enjoyed just by the sip as it comes from the bottle. Nobody else comes close (to making a product with) such finesse.”

Asking a winemaker to comment on the aromas and tastes of vodka results in descriptors that will prompt many to run out and pick up a bottle.

Portet feels Swan’s Neck Original has “a very fragrant … enticing aroma of freshly fermented grapes. Its palate is velvety, balanced and elegant, with great finesse and a hint of chocolate. These connotations still persist after the vodka has been chilled or when sipped with ice.”

As you might expect, Portet is right on the money. Swan’s Neck is vodka velvet, so smooth and refreshing, with subtle flavors I often associate with minerality in wine.

Of the Swan’s Neck Lemon Zest offering, Portet maintains it is “full of delicate lemony scents … very refreshing, it is elegant and harmonious … without showing any of the alcoholic flavors so typical of such products.” This, too, is a refined spirit designed for easy sipping on its own.

The name Swan’s Neck is a translation of the French, “col de cygne,” which refers to the curved portion of the Alambic still’s copper piping that carries distillate vapors away from the onion-shaped kettle top.

Swan’s Neck is made at Louis Royer SAS Distillery in France, a highly regarded Cognac, liqueurs and spirits producer.

Laverne, Portet’s partner in this venture, is an experienced spirits producer, with a portfolio that includes Skyy Vodka and his own rum venture, Redrum.

Locally, Swan’s Neck Vodka is poured in the bars at both Angele and Bistro Don Giovanni in Napa, at Hurley’s Restaurant and Bar in Yountville and the Girl and the Fig in Sonoma. It is stocked at JV Wine and Spirits in Napa where it retails for $41.99.