The 'Vertical Club' is sold out and filled as of 4/27/2012. Thanks to all of you for joining us!
Current Release Club is Open on the Website Store! It will be a 'feeder' list for the Vertical Club, and those members will be invited to join Vertical, as space opens up, in the order in which they joined. This club will ship 2 bottles of Pinot Noir 2-4 times a year, $100, shipping inclusive. It's a great deal, and even better the further you live from California!
DOON ON THE CLOS! May 11th, 5 pm - 8 pm, Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Winery will be at the Clos to pour wine, discuss viticulture/winemaking, and to taste and sell his wine. Clos Pepe Estate will be teaming up to make this a perfect night of wine, pizza, discussion and wine geekitude. Randall and Wes on the same stage? This could get interesting!
Only 30 tickets are available. They are at the store RIGHT NOW.. $75 gets you in and gets you a bottle of 2007 Cigare Volant, a 2010 BF Chardonnay or Axis Mundi Grenache/Syrah (your choice). What a deal!
2009 Chardonnay 'Barrel Fermented' Sold Out! (2010 'BF' released and available)
2007, 2008 Pinot Noir Sold Out! Thanks!
Need Winemaker Wes Hagen right now? Text him: 805-886-0325
2010 Clos Pepe Estate Wines and Axis Mundi Released!
Schedule Your Pickups/Wine Deliveries by Emailing Wes: wes@clospepe.com
All Wines Shipping Right Now!
Tours/tastings still open?
Yes, for List members and those they refer.
Really want to visit? Send us an email or text Wes at 805-886-0325 at least 1-2 weeks early and we'll try to get you in.
Wes' Thought for the Day:
"I'd like to suggest another layer of definition for the word 'Clos'. Of course the word means wall, but in Burgundy it means an ancient, possibly Roman, wall around a vineyard. The wall designates and encloses (note the middle of that word?) a vineyard of Premier or Grand Cru status, and generally the wall is so old, crumbled and covered in moss that it's nearly impossible not to stop and take a picture of it. That's because it's ancient nature seems almost impossible to an American. A thousand year old wall stops us and helps us see further back into history, a thousand years into Burgundian vineyard tradition. My reaction is humility and an awesome sense that the New World, and California in particular, is in far too much of a rush to develop a wine culture. Instead of stealing a French or an Italian accent and attaching it to our wines, we need to slow down, allow our vines and our minds to mutate slowly toward a true American wine culture.'"
2010 Clos Pepe Estate and Axis Mundi Wine Tasting Notes
By Wes Hagen 1/4/2012
(On Sale Now in the Store)
2010 Clos Pepe Estate Chardonnay ‘Homage to Chablis’:
- Produced to exhibit the structure, acidity and minerality of Clos Pepe without the addition of oak. Also meant to show the reductive side of Chardonnay winemaking.
- Traditionally ages 7-12 years gracefully.
- 2010 marked by stern acidity and big, minerally mouthfeel.
- Picked October 17, 2010. Chemistry: 14.4% alcohol, 3.15 pH and 8.4 g/l total acidity, full ML+
- Try with oysters, fish dishes with cream and butter, short ribs.
Color: light to medium straw colored.
Nose: Wet stone/riverbed, apple, gooseberry, flinty and bright. Compelling and complex.
Mouth: Bigger mouth presence than 2009 with sterner structure as well. Fruit still shy and sublimated with intense structure, it is a wine of texture and place, not of fruit and fluff. Full bodied yet angular, 3 years in the cellar (at least) is recommended. This is one for the cellar! Drinking window:2015-2022.
2010 Clos Pepe Estate Chardonnay ‘Barrel Fermented’:
- Winemaking philosophy: produce a world class, single-vineyard quality level of lightly oaked Chardonnay wine. Less reductive than ‘Homage', more oxygen ingress in cellar.
- Can be enjoyed immediately, but 3-7 years does amazing things to these wines in cellar.
- 2010 ‘BF’ defined by big ripeness and balanced mouthfeel with good acidity and balance.
- Picked October 17, 2010. Chemistry: 14.4% alcohol, 3.15 pH and 8.4 g/l total acidity, full ML+
- Enjoy with fried chicken, pizza, seafood, bbq ribs or as a cocktail around the pool in summer!
Color: medium to medium plus straw colored.
Nose: Nicely integrated in the nose, giving a young Mersault-like aroma: stony and wet-pebbles in the mouth, bright apple, pineapple and peach-skin notes, with more varietal character showing in this wine (when young) than the Homage.
Mouth: Nose is more advanced and complex than the mouth at this stage of infancy. Parts are all there, but just needs time to integrate. Acid still very showy in this wine, and we expect it will need a year or two to come around into the wine we expect. Drink up the 2009 BF’s while the 2010’s mature. Oak shows more in the mouth/finish with a hint of toasted oak and browned butter.
2010 Clos Pepe Estate Pinot Noir
- Philosophy is elegant, restrained Pinot Noir.2010 was bigger and riper than our norm.
- Bigger, darker and riper than our traditional restrained style.
- Long cool growing season punctuated by a heat wave in October.
- Blockbuster aromatics from long hang time and exaggerated ripeness.
- Surprisingly balanced in the mouth.
- Picked October 3-12, 2010.Chemistry: 14.5% alcohol, 3.45 pH and 7.1 g/l total acidity, full ML+
- Try with a ripe, stinky Epoisses or Affine cheese.
Color: Dark garnet+ with a purple meniscus.Oregon haters will suggest syrah additions.
Nose: Biggest, ripest nose in 11 years of Estate wines.Blueberry and boysenberry jam, cherry compote, intense spice and insane depth and concentration of aromatics.Plush, luxe, sexy, ultra seductive.
Mouth: Acidity keeps this wine from being too open, soft and ripe. Mouth is just behind the nose in character, and I believe the wine is a bit dumb in the mouth early. Big, ripe, rich, but tight enough in the finish to hint that the acid in this wine may allow it to age for 5-7 years.I am hesitant to make a firm drinking window on this wine, as it is atypically ripe for our ‘house style’.
2010 Clos Pepe Estate Pinot Noir ‘Vigneron Select’
- Panel of winemakers, owner, sommelier and intern taste every barrel blind and put together a blend that is traditionally a bit bigger, chewier and oakier than the normal bottling,of pinot noir.
- Big, bold, complex and primary. Built for 4-7 years of age in this vintage, but may surprise. If the alcohol stays in balance, this wine may last for a decade or more, but I am a bit suspicious of the elevated ripeness.
- Purely Californian, sunny and wears its seductiveness on its sleeve.
- Picked October 7-12, 2010.Chemistry:14.6% alcohol, 3.50 pH and 6.8 g/l total acidity, full ML+
Color: dense, shadowy garnet with a royal-purple edge.
Nose: Same ultra-ripe fruit as in the regular bottling, but more wood-driven edges of leather, spice and forest floor promise that this wine will never be simple, light and easy. A young wine showing this level of complexity in the mouth makes me wonder how it will age/ Could be very special. Hard to stay away from in its current showy, winking state.
Mouth: Atypically ripe and rich Pinot with amazingly lush, earthy, leathery, complex and spicy aromatics. Rich, balanced and fairly monumental levels of flavor, extract and structure—surprisingly disparate in mouth and nose—it is a vintage of extremes. Very cool, long hang time and a heat spike at the end to provide concentration.
2010 Axis Mundi Windmill Vineyard Grenache (67%) and Syrah (33%):
- Philosophy is to make a ‘session wine’ for fun, affordable drinking at table or at social gatherings: a wine to play nice with food, not dominate flavors.
- This wine is like $20 methadone for the $40 Pinot Noir.
- 100% hillside Ballard Canyon subarea or Santa Ynez Valley AVA.
- 2010 defined by bright, elegant California red berry fruits and delicious spice notes with pinot noir levels of acidity/structure.
- Picked November 12, 2010. Chemistry: 14.2% alcohol, 3.55 pH and 7.4 g/l total acidity, full ML+
- Try as an appertif, as an activity wine (golf bag?), or with savory pizza, sauteed mushrooms, sausages, burgers. Designed for comfort food, cheese and just sipping after work.
Color: Light garnet with delicate pink meniscus. This is not a wine about saturated color, but of lightness and the elegant, spicy, ‘pinot side’ of Rhone Red blends.
Nose: Bright, enticing, cherry and spice aromatics that are reminiscent of Santa Maria pinot noir with a hint of cranberry and primary grapey-ness that hints at cooler climate Grenache.
Mouth: Bright, fruity, juicy, elegant and spicy. Delicious and juicy from entry to finish with very fine tannins, good acid and hints of delicate French oak in the finish. Shut up and drink it!
More great reviews are rolling in from Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar and the Wine Spectator:
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, Issue #159:
2009 Clos Pepe Estate Chardonnay 'BF' (Barrel Fermented). Sta. Rita Hills. (Retail $25-35, List $19) 91 points. Bright yellow-gold. Honey and poached pear on the smoky, vanilla-accented nose. Ripe and fleshy, but lively as well, , offering juicy orchard fruit flavors and notes of lemon gelato, clove and vanilla bean. Picks up a floral quality with air and finishes smooth, sappy and long.
2009 Clos Pepe Estate Pinot Noir 'Vigneron Select': (Retail: $59-75, List: $54) 92 points. Vivid ruby-red. Bright, highly aromatic nose displays scents of strawberry and raspberry preserves, candied rose and Asian spices. Sharply focused red fruit flavors are lifted by tangy acidity and pick up weight with aeration. Offers a compelling blend of richness and energy and finishes with outstanding clarity and spicy persistence.
Also rated by Josh Raynolds for Tanzer's Wine Cellar:
09 HtC Chard: 90 points
09 PN 91 points)
Wine Spectator: December 15th, 2011:
Clos Pepe Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills ‘Vigneron Select’ 2009 ($62) 91 points. Fresh and vibrant, with snappy wild berry, black cherry and floral scents that turn dense and complex, with touches of herb, black olive and mineral. There’s much to admire in this red, which is sure to benefit from short-term cellaring.
Also rated: 2009 Clos Pepe Estate Pinot Noir 90 Points.
New Reviews from the Wine Advocate:
2010 Futures are now LIVE and AVAILABLE at the Website Store. Please head on over and see our brand new tasting notes on all the exciting 2010 wines and olive oil.
The Blog: Wes blogged every week of the 2009 and 2010 growing seasons, and is taking the year off blogging to re-write and edit this website. To follow the entire library of 'Year in the Vineyard' blogs, head over to WineMaker Magazine's website by following THIS LINK. Enjoy!
The Clos Pepe Philosophy:
" I like to make wines that tell a story: a story of wind, fog, sunshine and the hard work of our crew. This vineyard has as much potential for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir as we are willing to imagine and draw from it with passion and labor. In this sense I want the wines to be 'jazz' over 'heavy metal'--a reflection of craft embedded in an ever-changing environment instead of a homogenized attempt to kowtrow to the gods of concentration." --Wes Hagen,
An Invitation to Visit Clos Pepe
We do things a little different and a lot slower out here at Clos Pepe. No tasting room bar. We don't believe you can understand what we do here without spending a few hours with our vineyard manager, our winemaker, our sheep, our climate and our family. This is how they do it in the Old World--maybe two dozen people per week go through these tours, which is more meaningful to our business than turning and burning a thousand through a tasting room turnstile. Try it and see.
You may have heard that it's a difficult feat to visit Clos Pepe for a tour and tasting, but if you're willing to plan a few weeks ahead and be here promptly at 10:30 am we'll guarantee you a few hours of wine and vineyard education that you will not soon forget. What do you need to do?
- We require that visitors are sponsored by a List member, are in the wine/beverage/hospitality industry, or have a special interest in Clos Pepe and/or Pinot Noir/Chardonnay.
- Send us an email and tell us when you'd like to come (2 weeks in advance is suggested, but feel free to drop us an email to see if we can't fit you in on shorter notice). Include a cell phone number and how many in your party.
- Follow the directions in the return email.
- Respect our property by showing up on time, driving safely and leaving pets and children at home. (Rarely we can make exceptions, but with livestock and a pack of dogs on the property we ask this for your protection.)
- Relax and let our winemaker/vineyard manager Wes Hagen lead you through 10 million years of geology in the Santa Rita Hills and 10,000 years of the natural history of the grapevine. From there we will sit at table and enjoy the current releases, and perhaps some older wines, nibble some cheeses, and likely finish with home-roasted coffee.
- You will have the opportunity to purchase wine and/or olive oil (if available) to take home with you (or have it shipped), and this tour participation is currently the only way to be added to our Allocation List.
|
|
|
|
|
my account order trackingcustomer service
