Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Leading off the wines from bottle, the 2014 Pinot Noir Clos Pepe Vineyard comes from the Sta. Rita Hills AVA in Santa Barbara County. This was an incredibly dry vintage from Sta. Rita, and the stress on the vines made picking decisions difficult. Nevertheless, this is a classic Pinot Noir that offers lots of black raspberry, mulberry and strawberry fruit characteristics, lots of spice, medium-bodied richness, integrated acidity and fine tannin. It shows a more pretty, elegant style and is already drinking nicely.
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Wine Spectator
Features rich, well-defined, earth-scented blueberry and blackberry flavors, with touches of gravel, anise, spice and cedar. Ends with tight, chewy tannins, along with a burst of dark berry notes.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
A superior source of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills is the coolest, westernmost sub-region of the larger Santa Ynez Valley appellation within Santa Barbara County. This relatively new AVA is unquestionably one to keep an eye on.
The climate of Sta. Rita Hills is a natural match for Chardonnay and Pinot noir, thanks to the crisp ocean breezes and well-drained, limestone-rich calcareous soil. Here, grapes ripen just enough, while retaining brisk acidity and harmonious balance.