Winemaker Notes
Vegan
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
An estate Adam has worked with since 2000, the 2016 Pinot Noir Clos Pepe Vineyard saw 35% stems and roughly 40% new oak. Bing cherries, strawberries, rose petals, and spice all emerge from this complex, elegant, layered beauty that has fine, fine tannin. This beauty has a vibrant, perfumed character and is another beautiful wine.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale to medium ruby-purple, the 2016 Pinot Noir Clos Pepe Vineyard opens with black licorice and peppercorn hints over a core of crushed blueberries and black cherries, warm blackberries, turned earth and a lilac hint. Light to medium-bodied with luscious black and blue fruits in the mouth, it's framed by soft baking spice, firm, grainy tannins and mouthwatering acidity, finishing long on an earthy note. 503 cases produced.
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Wine Spectator
Densely packed, featuring red currant, cherry and spice flavors that are supported by medium-grained tannins. Offers lush spiciness midpalate, with a vibrant and minerally finish that lingers with Asian spice notes. Drink now through 2022.
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Wine Enthusiast
Red-cherry compote, star anise, red licorice and a hint of vanilla show on the nose of this bottling from one of Adam Lee's longtime sources in the region. The palate offers rusty and earth flavors of baked cherry, but is quite snappy and crisp, enhanced by oregano, pepper and dried flowers.
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.