2009 Brewer-Clifton, Pinot Noir, Clos Pepe Vineyard, Sta. Rita Hills AVA, Santa Barbara County.
The 2009 Brewer-Clifton Clos Pepe Pinot Noir, mostly all Pommard clone, is showing fantastically well right now with fully mature flavors and beautiful aromatics, delivering a medium bodied palate of raspberry, pomegranate, dried cherry, grilled orange and strawberry fruits, along with hints of black tea, subtle wood, savory events and soft brambly spices. Poised and silky on the palate, there is still good lively acidity and mineral tones, plus a heightened perfume of sweet roses that is heavenly. I’ve always been a fan of Greg Brwer’s wines, since I first tried his Mount Carmel 2000 Chardonnay, which is still one of my favorite California wines of all time. Interestingly, the famous Clos Pepe Vineyard was originally purchased by Steve and Cathy Pepe in 1994 as a horse ranch, and then established as the 9th vineyard in what would become the highly regarded Sta. Rita Hills AVA, not far from the town of Lompoc. The Owners of Clos Pepe, Steve and Cathy Pepe decided, after the 2014 vintage, that it was time for an official retirement and though they still own and live on the property, they have leased Clos Pepe to Hall Wines of St. Helena, who happily make Pinots from there under their Walt label. Thanks to Aaron Watty, assistant winemaker at Joyce Wine Co. and owner of Big Tar Wine Co, for sharing his personal bottle with a small group of industry peeps, friends and colleagues.
Brewer-Clifton, founded by Steve Clifton and Greg Brewer around 1994, is one of Santa Barbara’s most prized producers of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with a string of critically acclaimed wines going back 30 years. As I have mentioned in my prior reviews, Greg Brewer’s Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir single vineyard cuvées see some whole-cluster and are mostly aged in only neutral barrels (or well seasoned) of tight grained French oak, all to produce transparent terroir driven wines. The Brewer-Clifton Clos Pepe Pinots and Chards were always hugely delicious, especially the string a vintages between 2001 and 2009, which helped elevate the region, even before Sideways blew it up. Brewer and Clifton split up, but the wines still live on and the label still has Greg Brewer’s talents pushing them higher. The Clos Pepe Vineyard is one of California’s most prized, Grand Cru, vineyards set on sandy calcareous soils and kissed by the cold Pacific Ocean, only a few miles away, and was expertly farmed by Steve Pepe and local legend Wes Hagen. The 24 acres here are highly coveted Pinot vines, with many top producers, including A.P. Vin, Brewer-Clifton, Copain, Ken Brown, Loring Wine Company, Ojai, Roessler and Siduri, plus more recently Roar, all having sourced from here, along with Hagen’s own, now defunct Clos Pepe Estate label. Luckily the legend lives on in bottles like this one and Greg Brewer can be proud of this gorgeous stuff! You don’t see many older bottles of Brewer-Clifton and the ones available seem to be underpriced, so much the better for those in the know!
($55 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive