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Clos Pepe Vineyards May/June Newsletter Inside this Newsletter News and Reviews Pinot Noir Vineyard Takes Center Stage Clos Pepe Hosts California Vintage Wine Society Personalities Vigneron’s NarrativeSome call it the ‘meat’ in an English Major’s sandwich. Straight from the hip of one of the Top 50 Employment Attorneys in America. Good Press and DRC Pinot Noir Vineyard Takes Center Stage As of April 23, 1998, more than half of the new Pinot Noir vines have been planted on the new 14 acre hillside site. Excitement continues to build as the crew, Vigneron, L’agent and the Viticulturist-in-Residence wait patiently for shoots to appear from the soil mounds covering the dormant grapevines. We have decided to use three Pinot Noir clones that have shown promise in this region--Dijon 115, 667, and Pommard 5. The first commercial crop will coincide with the Millennia. Clos Pepe Hosts California Vintage Wine Society April 18th and 19th marked the first visit of the California Vintage Wine Society to Clos Pepe. The fact that the event landed smack-dab in the middle of Pinot Noir planting had ‘little effect’ on the crew. Some suggest there was tension between the Viticulturist and L’agent--the former concerned about the vines and the latter about ‘spit-shining’ the entire property. The Viticulturist took it all in stride, and after two weeks of 12 hour days, was relieved to see both planting and the CVWS party go off without a hitch. The weekend was staged around three events--the Santa Barbara County Vintner’s Association ‘Vintner’s Festival’--a showing of almost every local winery and their products as well as 45 area restaurants, Saturday’s dinner at the Hitching Post featuring four or five pre-1985 California Pinots, and a Sunday afternoon brunch catered by Jodi Kaemmer. The brunch began with a barrel tasting of Clos Pepe 1997 Estate Chardonnay--which many of the guests likened to a Mersault. With no small amount of pride, the Viticulturist/Winemaker listened to Warner Henry, the ‘Henry’ of the wine world, say that the Estate Chard was his favorite of the weekend. All of this from second leaf vines!! Vigneron: The vigneron has been busy at his desk--paying bills that the viticulturist has been racking up during planting. Everything from shovels, post-hole diggers, calcium nitrate, gopher poison, ice and sodas for the crew-- it’s hard to be frugal when you want to plant correctly. Every time the viticulturist thinks he has his material list covered, something else comes up--thirty more end-caps for the irrigation system, a new brake cable for the ATV , thirty-six tons of road base to fix the Clos’ roads, another case of Foxen Sanford and Benedict Pinot Noir for medicinal use between planting days. Sometimes the viticulturist feels more like a ‘go-for’-- as distinct from a ‘gopher’--those furry rodents that we kill without compunction or regret. The Viticulturist often wonders-- how much more money will it take for the Vingeron to snap--and start thinking of ‘go-fors’ in much the same way as those pesky little subterranean buggers. All joking aside, the Vigneron has taken the financial abuse in a stoic and (if it seems possible?) excitable manner stemming from the awesome potential of 20,000 perfect Pinot Noir vines struggling through the still-moist ground. L’Agent: L’agent has been hard at work making subtle transitions. So neither the Vigneron or the Viticulturist noticed, she initiated her ‘house-hobby’ with doll houses, moved slowly up to ‘English-style’ playhouses for the grand-daughters, and is now moving in for the coup-de-gras, emphasis on the ‘coup’; a Tuscan-style dream home that will convert the vineyard’s ‘stable’ into a domicile that will shame the glory of Caesar’s Rome. That is not to say that the Vigneron and the Viticulturist don’t share L’agent’s passion for a new home on the Clos, as long as we get our wine-making facility and 700+ case thermal and humidity controlled wine cellar first. Neither the Vigneron or the Viticulturist/Winemaker can understand how L’agent comes up with these goofy priorities. A home for humans before a home for wine? Is this a vineyard or a vacation getaway? We like to think of ‘business’ first and comfort later. We’re not building a cellar for us--we’re building a cellar for the future generations that will take the reins of Clos Pepe. The newest compromise on the table (over dinner at the Hitching Post, most likely), is a combination wine-facility and dollhouse museum. Think how long a dollhouse can be preserved at 55 degrees Fahrenheit! Viticulturist: The Viticulturist-in-Residence’s love life is much like a fairy-tale at this point--Grimm. Perhaps as a result of his dedication to the vines, perhaps as a reult of his undying loyalty to stay in Lompoc and make great Pinot Noir and Chardonnay--the woman in his life has moved on to Australia to get a touch more adventure and culture than the Clos could provide. As sad as it sounds, it only gets worse. Only weeks before, the beloved Great Danes of Clos Pepe were spooked by a storm, or perhaps by Grigio’s surging hormones, to wander into the Purisima Hills to the North of the property. Unfortunately, they never returned. Weeks of searching, newspaper ads, flyers, and even a pet detective (I’m not kidding) failed to turn them up. As with El Nino, when it rains, it pours... The huge amount of work in the field (both planting the Pinot Noir and spraying the Chardonnay with wettable sulfur after each rain) has certainly kept the Viticulturist busy enough to sleep soundly at night. And as Providence often provides hope in these dark times, our next-ranch neighbors, the Blacks, were visited by the puppy-fairy a few weeks ago. The Viticulturist was offered two female Border Collies to assuage his spiritual lassitude, and to reconfirm his faith in the feminine gender. For now, hope and 200 gallons of barreled wine keep Wes company on cool Spring nights. Vigneron's Narrative: HOW YOU GONNA KEEP 'EM DOWN ON THE FARM ONCE THEY HAVE SEEN PAREE? The Chevaliers du Tastevin arranged for the first United States tasting of the 1995 Domaine La Romanée-Conti (DRC) with Monsieur Aubert de Villaine, the DRC's owner. La Romanée-Conti is recognized as the best and most expensive pinot noir vineyard in the World. Its four acres produce around 500 cases a year. The 1995 La Romanée-Conti will retail for $1,000 per bottle. No, that is not a typo - that is per bottle - not per case. Besides La Romanée-Conti the DRC produces 5 other red wines, Echezeaux, Grands-Echezeaux, La Romanée-Saint-Vivant, Richebourg and La Tâche plus a white, Le Montrachet. A couple of days before the tasting, the Vigneron called the Chevaliers to see if there was room for the Vineyardist-in-Residence. Bacchus smiled and there were two cancellations, so the Vigneron signed up the Vineyardist-in-Residence. While $275 to taste 2 ounces of 6 pinot noirs and 1 chardonnay is kind of steep, it was clearly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. In the midst of El Nino's raging rainstorm the Chevaliers assembled at the California Club for the tasting. The Vineyardist-in-Residence was clearly the youngest person in the room, including the wait staff. The Vigneron noted that some of his friends and other Chevaliers gave the Vineyardist some sideways looks while he chatted with the Vigneron. The Vigneron could not tell if this notoriety was caused by the Vineyardist's earring or his shoulder length hair in a pony tail. The Vigneron decided it was probably envy from the bald or balding crowd for such copious locks. As the group was assembling for the tasting, the Chevaliers' head Pouh Bah decided to sit Mr. Villaine between the only two growers in attendance - Tom Jones of the Moraga Vineyard in Bel Air and the Vigneron. Talk about the yin and the yang. Of course the Vineyardist was seated next to the Vigneron. For the tasting, the glasses were not marked with the usual grease pencil numbers. Rather, there was a white placemat with seven circles with the name of each wine typed in the circle. Interestingly, due to its size and aroma, Le Montrachet was tasted after the six pinot noirs. Mr. Villaine described the 1995 vintage and discussed each wine. The Vineyardist-in-Residence spent most of the evening furiously scribbling pages of notes and when there was a pause in the conversation peppering Aubert with questions. At the end of the tasting we moved to the room next door for dinner. During the dinner the Vineyardist disappeared back to the tasting room and when he returned he showed the Vigneron his tasting placemat and next to each wine he had written their pH which he had tested with his hand-held electronic Ph meter. The Vigneron rolled his eyes at the thought of using a pH meter at the California Club to test DRC wines. It is clear that the Vineyardist-in-Residence has spent too much time at Davis. After all, what does it matter if the Romanée St. Vivant pH was 3.3 and La Romanée-Conti 3.4?? L'Agent (who was not invited to the all-male tasting) reminded the Vigneron and the Vineyardist that she had earlier met Monsieur Villaine at Le Domaine La Romanée-Conti in Montrachet, France. L'Agent chatted with Monsieur Villaine then about growing and vinifying the pinot noir grape, and has not forgotten Monsieur Villaine's admonition not to interfere with the natural process -- "Le Bon Dieu fait le vin." Davis and its pH toting devotees should take note! Needless to say, the wines were spectacular and the Vineyardist-in-Residence gushed about them for several days. He has proceeded to type up his tasting notes and forwarded them to the Wine Spectator for on-line publication! The Club had a photographer at the tasting. When the Vigneron advised l'Agent of that fact, she insisted that the Vigneron order a complete set of proofs of them seated next to Mr. Villaine for the Clos Pepe tasting room. In case any of our friends are interested in purchasing the La Romanée-Conti, you can only do so by buying 6 bottles of La Romanée-Conti and 15 cases of the 5 other reds, which run between $2,200-$5,000 per case depending on the vineyard. For Le Montrachet, to get 6 bottles, you must buy 30 cases of the 5 DRC wines. Ah, the French know how to market as well as make great wine. WHAT IS IT WITH CALIFORNIANS AND OAK?? It must be the water or air, or perhaps the lack of it, that causes Californians to be enamored with oak. When it comes to winemaking, they cannot get enough in their chardonnay. Give a Californian a French chablis and he would not know it was chardonnay. Californians think chardonnay means oak in French. The Vigneron is surprised no enterprising entrepreneur has marketed oak toothpicks with chardonnay by the glass. Perhaps it will be in the next 007 movie. In Santa Barbara County the populous (e.g., non-grape growers), have become enamored with old oak trees. As they drive along the highways and byways they believe - can you believe it - that a field with half a dozen scruffy insect infested old oaks is better than a vineyard!! A hue and cry have arisen from the Santa Barbara County people because farmers have had the audacity to cut down oak trees and plant a vineyard. Comments like "1,500 grape plants per acre do a lot more for the environment and the greenhouse effect than two or three old oaks which will blow over in the next storm", fall on deaf ears. Statements that a vineyard produces jobs and pumps 50 times more money into the local economy than a couple of cows chewing their cud under some old oak tree are also rejected out of hand. The County is considering a ban on cutting down oaks to plant a vineyard. Questioning the constitutionality of such an ordinance is greeted with disdain. The Vigneron cannot understand who would want to gaze at a couple of cows grazing under some oak trees instead of rolling hills of grapevines. Must be all of those folks who want oaky chardonnay! The Vigneron's suggestion is that anyone who has a wood burning fireplace or who has ever sat in front of a wood burning fireplace is disqualified from anything having to do with the cutting down of oak trees for vineyards. After all, where do they think their fireplace logs come from - immaculate conception? DUE TO OVERWHELMING POPULAR DEMAND, THE FOLLOWING ITEMS HAVE BEEN ADDED--THE TEXT FROM AN ARTICLE APPEARING IN THE ‘SANTA BARBARA NEWS-PRESS’ IN LATE DECEMBER, AND WES’ TASTING NOTES FROM THE DOMAINE ROMANEE-CONTI TASTING: Santa Barbara News-Press Article--Business & Classified What's in a Name? EVERYTHING In the world of wine, a federally designated grape-growing region--known as an appellation--is synonymous with prestige, quality and value. The county now has two such exclusive areas, with a move afoot to create more of them. Producers: Area's ripe for more pedigrees By MARK VAN DER KAMP--News Press Staff The printing is usually small but the message can be huge. Known as appellations, these notations on the labels of premium wines signal their geographic pedigree. In Santa Barbara County, they contribute to a growing reputation as a region producing fine wines. Santa Barbara County has two appellations--Santa Maria Valley and Santa Ynez Valley--to call its own. It shares a third--Central Coast--with six other counties. Now, as more vineyards take root and new wineries open their doors, there's talk of creating one more appellation locally, and perhaps even two or three. "As wine production and consumers get more sophisticated, they're looking for more special designations like appellations and specific vineyard names," said Steve Clifton, manager of The Wine Cask in Santa Barbara. "Customers definitely examine the labels." Some 34 California counties claim all or a portion of a state and federally approved viticultural area, according to The Wine Institute. The Santa Maria Valley appellation was approved in 1981 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which two years later OK'd the Santa Ynez Valley appellation. County growers may also use the Central Coast appellation approved in 1985--a tag shared with six other counties--on their wine labels. It's a fact that all the classic grape varieties can be grown in Santa Barbara County, this being one of the most versatile grape-growing regions in California. But wineries must highlight uniqueness to succeed, said Adam Firestone, President of Firestone Vineyard, who likens it to the snowflake syndrome--no two are alike. "I'm a believer in appellations. The greater the pedigree, the better," Firestone said. Grapes grown in appellations are usually worth more, sometimes a couple hundred dollars more per ton. Educated consumers know a wine label denoting a county appellation means that wine must contain 75 percent of grapes grown in that area. To use the American Viticultural Area on a label, a wine must be 85 percent grapes grown in that area. Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties often are spoken of as the Central Coast. Nine years ago, backed by some of the larger wineries, a group of growers and producers petitioned the BATF to establish as an official appellation the area they called Santa Barbara Coast. The proposed region would have included most of the acreage in Santa Barbara County and portions of southern San Luis Obispo County. In mid-1991, the BATF rejected the plan. Now there's talk--and that's all it is so far--about creating a Los Alamos Valley appellation, and perhaps one for the southern end of Foxen Canyon. But those ideas are tender and young. A more advanced proposal pushed by vintners including the likes of Richard Sanford, Bryan Babcock, Dan Gainey, Wes Hagen and Greg Brewer is taking shape. They are preparing to petition the BATF to approve a new wine appellation called Santa Rita Hills. Fog and ocean breezes blow across the undulating hills along the lower Santa Ynez River, maintaining a cool, temperate climate in the scenic countryside prized by wine grape growers. This locale between Lompoc and Buellton is already home to 15 vineyards with more than 500 acres planted. That could double within a decade. "We want to set ourselves off as a premium, cool-climate wine growing region, to separate ourselves from our existing Santa Ynez Valley appellation, which has a great reputation for Rhone and Bordeaux varietals but has less of a coastal climate influence," said Hagen, the group's researcher and writer, and manager of the 27-acre Clos Pepe Vineyard. The proposal, now in its fifth draft, would cover the Santa Rita Hills from Cebada Canyon to approximately 2.5 miles west of Buellton, Hagen said. The area stretches from Drum Canyon to Salsipuedes Creek. The group has extensively surveyed the area by truck and on foot for three months, examining geographical features and the river-washed, loamy soils. Wine grapes have been grown there since the 19th century, Hagen said. "The strong maritime effect from cool coastal air blowing west to east in this unique transverse mountain range means that the grapes here ripen slower and maintain more acidity and structure in the fruit," Hagen explained. "The difference in the wine isn't the grapes, it's where they were grown." In considering petitions for appellations, the BATF reviews evidence that the proposed name of the viticultural area is locally or nationally known; historic evidence of geographical features such as climate; soil or elevation that distinguishes it from other areas; and boundaries based on features found on U.S. Geological Survey maps. Hagen found the Santa Rita name on the old Spanish land grant dating to 1945 and discovered there was a Santa Rita School in the vicinity. The USGS maps show a geological feature called the Santa Rita syncline, and local water districts refer to the Santa Rita Creek and the Santa Rita Upland. "The Santa Rita Hills are the central geographic feature of this appellation," Hagen said, noting that Clos Pepe along Highway 246 is smack dab in the middle of the proposed area." (end) Wes and Steve hang out with Aubert de Villaine Tasting Notes from 1995 Domaine Romanee-Conti The Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (Los Angeles Chapter) held the first U.S. tasting of the 1995 vintage of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti last night, February 19, 1998. This was the first time any of these wines had been tasted in an organized fashion outside of the Domaine. Aubert de Villaine was present for the tasting, and I was lucky enough not only to be invited, but to be seated near Aubert, where I engaged the most noble of all Vignerons in a spirited discussion about Burgunidan vinification methods, cooperage, and of course, the 1995 Vintage. The following article details the highlights of our discussion, as well as abbreviated tasting notes from the wonderful flight of seven 1995 DRC wines. According to Monsieur de Villaine, the 1995 growing year was a 'vintage of extremes'. Cold, rain, heat, frost, mildew threats--all made the growing season a bit of a nail-biter. It was wonderful, Aubert said, how at the end of the season, that besides a bit of rot and botrytis, nature 'seemed to have a plan for the fruit'. As a result, de Villaine describes the character of the 1995 DRC Vintage in terms of 'delicateness', 'finesse', and 'texture'. He finds numerable parallels with the 1962 Vintage. (An interjection--when pressed about the 1996 vintage, Aubert admitted that it shows 'great power' and 'seduction'--much like the wines of the 1966 and 1985 vintages) The 1995 DRC wines were aged 18 months in fine-grained barrels constructed especially for the Domaine by Francois Frerers. Aubert explained that the wines of the Domaine often show a youthful strawberry/cherry charm in their youth--2-3 years, and begin to show maturity at 7-8 years, but called 15 years of bottle age his 'rule of thumb' for cellaring DRC wines. These 1995 wines were bottled barrel by barrel beginning in February 1997. These are some of the highlights from my extensive tasting notes: (after the Chevaliers left the tasting, I broke out my pH meter and went to work...not wanting Aubert to see me and grumble about silly Americans and their reliance on chemistry. Aubert once said to my mother, who was visiting the Domaine: 'God makes the wine, and I try to stay out of the way...') 1995 DRC Echezeaux: simple, elegant, serene cherry and strawberry fruit, high mineral content--still a bit tart. Herbaceous and floral--with hints of dry spice, dill, rose and violet. Strong vanilla-oak flavor in the finish--still young and wrapped rather tightly around the bright, but subdued red fruit. pH: 3.5 1995 DRC Grands Echezeaux: mouth filling and a bit chewier than the Echezeaux, yet still more on the feminine side--bright red fruits--much like the previous, with more of the dry spice/dill esters and a hint of mocha and violets. Also still tight--even after an hour + in the glass. Another wine described by Aubert as 'simple and serene'--yet I'd give my left thumb to make something as beautiful and deep in its simplicity. A bit austere at 3.4 pH--and still finishing with the oaken vanilla from the Frerer barrels--should smooth out into an amazing, lengthy finish in 7-8 years. 1995 DRC Romanee-St.-Vivant: Velvety--an initiation to the second half of the flight, in the sense of silkier texture, finesse, and darker fruit and extraction. A bit more agressive--edging towards meat and game: darker, a bigger wine on the nose and in the mouth. Blackberries and cherry start to take a back seat to intensely balanced (yet strong) acidity--3.3>>3.4 pH. The big, sublimated fruit, game and spice components, added to the austere structure, lends a dramatic background to the more subtle tastes--dill (again), tobacco, violets and vanillin oak-extraction. From this wine on, I had to swallow and taste again often, as the mouth-watering effect of the acid and lean fruit would actually dilute the wine on my tongue. A 'massive' wine, as Aubert pointed out, a 'blockbuster' subdued and waiting for the many years necessary for its maturation. 1995 DRC La Tache: Again, the flight moves from bright red fruits and herbal accents, to a fleshier, meatier taste exemplified by the La Tache. Mouth-filling, chewy in its youthful exuberance, salivation without end. Mineral and black-fruit intensity--lending, as Aubert commented, a beautiful meeting of 'stern-ness and seduction'. An intense wine that is still a bit light and awkward in its oak/vanilla finish--perhaps a result of it's super-lean acid structure--(3.3 pH on my hand-held meter, calibrated before the testing) . Obviously needs a decade or two to mature. 1995 DRC Romanee-Conti: Curious? I sure was. This was the wine that Aubert de Villaine described as a 'brave young man concealing his character for the future'. What 'he' wasn't concealing could fill a page--and did in my tasting notes. Intense nose--rose petals, violets, spice, blackberries and black cherry--pure pinot fruit. Savagely intense in the mouth--austere and as tightly knit as oriental silk. If wine were a woman, this is how I would want her to smell--nubile, earthy, intense--like alcoholic perfume. Same problem with salivation--plenty of wine to be had, though, and I drank up the glass at the (only) empty seat to my right, as well. (It could have been you there...) Hits with a building epiphany of head-buzzing fruit and acid (3.5 pH) on all parts of the palate simultaneously--first wine that made me feel that humming pleasantness that comes from a good hit of wasabi at a sushi joint--a sublime heat in my head and chest. I sweated profusely as I tried to express it on paper--and I caught Aubert smiling at me as I tapped my pen on my pad and looked frustrated. He had finally found a way to shut an American up. 1995 DRC Montrachet: this was the greatest Chardonnay I have ever tasted, and considering only 125 cases were produced, I will most likely never run across its like again. Harvested at 20 hectoliters in a season of extremes, fined only with warm calve's milk on the morning before bottling, this MONSTER was declared, by Aubert, as the greatest Montrachet since '66 and '70. He hinted that he believes it to be superior. Written across my tasting notes in block letters: 'freakin' huge!', again at a loss for more elegant and descriptive terminology. Yes, this wine was tasted after the reds, as Aubert explained is traditional at the Domaine. The most intense white wine I have ever tasted--with a nose of pure honey, butter and marzipan. With such an explosion of fruit and pure malolactic esters, the acid structure is lean, if not zippy, at 3.2 pH. It was amazing to taste so much explosive intensity--almost botrytis-like, in a purely dry wine. I wish I could email you all a taste--I dreamed about it all the way home to Santa Barbara. As Always, Clos Pepe Vineyards wishes you and yours all the best. Enjoy a glass of Santa Barbara County wine tonight! Cheers! Steve, Cathy, Wes and Bud Click Here to Return to the Newsletters Section Click Here to Return to the Main Page
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