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Clos Pepe Newsletter Pre-Harvest 1998; August/September Inside this Newsletter 1-2 News and Reviews 3 Personalities 4 Vigneron’s Narrative 5 A Call to Farms and Viticultural Nuggets Special Message to Email Subscribers: Welcome to the third edition of the Clos Pepe Electronic Newsletter! The HTML format seems to work for most folks. It's a small file, which means that it's not that fancy--no pictures, pie charts, free wine samples, etc. If you have any ideas on how to spruce it up, email me and let me know. I love mail. I guess we all do. Most of you will probably receive a version of this letter in the mail--complete with a couple of pictures, etc… If you want to save us a few pennies, please email me back and let me know you are not interested in the regular mailing. Again, thanks for letting me send this to you electronically--now if the rest of the wine world would get online, I could really save this place some cash. :) --Wes Gold is Never Good Enough Clos Pepe’s wines won more awards and medals this year than ever before. Orange County Fair gave our Cabernet Sauvignon a double gold and the Best of Show (Red) Award, which made all of us here at the Clos both a little giddy and a little confused. Showing again how (smirk) objective wine judging is, only one of the wines, the 1997 Estate Chardonnay, won the same medal in both competitions--silver. The others flip-flopped between gold (1997 Pinot Noir, LA County) and Honrorable Mention (1997 Pinot Noir, Orange County) as well as Best of Show Red (1997 Cabernet, Orange County) and Silver (1997 Cabernet, LA County). Even though these are stellar results, the Vigneron and the Viticulturist wonder about the judges at Orange County, and if they have some penchant for herbal cabs and an aversion to huge, juicy pinot noir. That’s what happens when you succeed...it gives you more time to complain. As the song goes, ‘The taste of success only lasts a half an hour or less, but you love it when it comes...’ The Clos meets Cyberspace--clospepe.com !!! As of July, the new website, found at clospepe.com, has been up and running. With the weather and this year’s crop being fickle and demanding, the Viticulturist has had little time for updating and tinkering. The site is very simple yet informative--and will soon feature ripeness levels of grapes. Sorry--the ‘Girls of Clos Pepe’ page was vetoed. Complete Guide to Understanding the Clos Pepe Newsletter: The Viticulturist has listened carefully to those faithful subscribers who take the time to email (or berate) him (in person) with suggestions to improve the Clos Pepe Newsletter. One complaint that seems to rear its head with increasing frequency is that the characters within the Newsletter (i.e. Vigneron, L’agent, Bud, Viticulturist-in-Residence) are a mystery. Who the heck are these people? And why don’t you just use their first names? Well, to answer these questions, and to make sure all of our faithful subscribers enjoy the Newsletter, I have devised the following guide that will help all of our readers. Why a Newsletter? The purpose of the Newsletter is to keep our extended family and friends up to date on the condition of Clos Pepe, and to help them better understand why planting a vineyard is probably not in their best interests. This is our way of keeping the ever-expanding sea of Chardonnay acreage at a minimum--and to keep the price per ton at a level that guarantees we can pay off our debts before the Great-Grandchildren inherit them. In short, the Newsletter is intended to be an eclectic mix of trade journal, a Twain-esque collection of absurd and useless anecdotes, and a well-circulated guarantee that someone will know about our wines when we drink away our last two brain cells and try our hand at making legal, bonded wine. L’agent, Cathy Pepe, also reminds the loyal readership that she paid Wes’ Univeristy of Redlands tuition for five years, and that he BETTER use those high-priced English Major skills before they are completely disintigrated by sulfites and tannin. Who are all these Folks, Anyway? L’agent: Cathy Pepe, aka Queen of the Valley of the Dollhouse, the ‘brains’ in the operation, the ‘sane one’. In France, L’agent is the person that takes care of the bills and the business end of the vineyard. We call her L’agent because we feel bad that she has to spend all of her money on stakes and bird nets. We compensate by helping with her passion--creating blue-ribbon dollhouses that could have been actual real estate except for the money put into Clos Pepe. Quoth L’agent: ‘I was thinking, Steve, you know how much money we could have made investing in the Stock Market instead of Chardonnay?’ This is a perfectly appropriate response for an astute L’agent. Vigneron: Steve Pepe, aka The Man with the Plan but Rarely a Tan, aka Thomas Jefferson Reincarnated. A ‘vigneron’, in France, is the owner and spokesman for the vineyard and the wines produced there. He’s the guy that gets invited to wine lunches and dinners and rarely sports overalls. At Clos Pepe the Vigneron writes checks, makes lists, offers liquid libations to improve managerial morale, and is likely to get into the field every week (just long enough to complain about his ‘vintage’ back). Vigneron’s quote: "Why did we order 80,000 feet of bird netting twice?" Viticultuirst-in-Residence: Wes Hagen (aka) Cathy’s #2 Son, Viticulturist-in-Training, Artist-in-Residence, Squatter, Man with a Tan and Rarely a Plan, Slave to the Vine. Wes gave up a lucrative career in public education to work full time in the wine industry. After working under Bryan Babcock for the 1996 Crush--the V.I.R. dropped out, whined in and wined up. Quote: ‘How many cases of wine do I get out of this barrel?’ Bud: a fat dalmatian. ‘Woof’ Personalities: ‘Cal’ Vigneron and his dog Spot (Bud): The Vigneon has been busy paying bills, keeping the crew happy, the cellar stocked, and the vineyard dogs safe and dry. As mentioned, Bud, our beloved Dalmatian, almost gave an Obulus to Charon the other day. For those of you unfamiliar with Greek mythology, that means our little spotted friend almost died. Picnicking at the Vineyard Pond, as L’agent and the Vigneron are apt to do on a breezy Summer afternoon, Bud began his daily ritual of swimming after the Mallard ducks. The ducks, far less bird-brained than Bud, swam repeatedly through the aerator/fountain in the center of the pond, making sure the spotted pooch would pay a soaking toll for his persistence. Unfortunately, the aerator had just been replaced, and a nylon cord that is used to retrieve the aerator from the pond wrapped around Bud’s neck as he swam. As Bud doggie-paddled in ever tightening circles, the Vigneron took off a shoe and checked if Bud was still in trouble. Yep. The next shoe...still yelping. The wallet? The cries grew desperate. The shirt came off and the Vigneron did his best Tarzan imitation--saving the helpless jungle dog while Jane cooed on the sidelines. A toast to the Vigneron! And a toast to Bud, who chases rabbits in his dreams regularly, but actually caught one in the vineyard today! When not saving household pets from a watery grave, Steve Pepe practices law in Newport Beach, is a Wine Judge at the LA County Fair, and is an ardent fan of wine writing and Jeffersonian history. L’Agent Loves Her Grandchildren: L’agent, Cathy Pepe for those of you who skipped the second page, has been hard at work at her law practice--managing a case that made the front page of U.S, News and World Report a few weeks ago. When she’s not safeguarding justice and billing hours, she can be found fawning over her 2 beautiful grandchildren, Nicole and Jennifer, who recently made a sojourn to the Clos with their parents Rob (Cathy’s #1 son) and Stacy Hagen. Rob, Stacy and the girls recently moved from San Jose to Phoenix, and are expected to spend Summer weekends visiting the cool, coastal climate of the Central Coast. During their most recent visit, Grandma Cathy took the girls horseback riding, to the Merry-Go-Round at the Solvang Outlets, to the Hitching Post for dinner (the girls like their steak more rare than their father) and for many fun-filled walks through the vineyard and down to the pond. Both the Vigneron and the Viticulturist are urging L’agent and the parents to get the girls involved in Davis classes this Summer--but to no avail. And to add insult to injury, the cut-off hoes and small Riedel stems we gave to the children were returned with angry stares from the parents. As of yet, Jennifer, the eldest, who will be attending Kindergarten this Fall, seems to have the superior palate--and qualifies wines we allow her to taste with a simple nod or a protruding tongue. Ahhh--if all wine pundits could limit their criticism to silent gestures. Clos Pepe 1997 Pinot Noir--three nods, no tongue. Viticulturist is Busy With First Crop and Judging The first crop of Clos Pepe Chardonnay is beginning to undergo veraison, or berry-softening. The clusters have all been exposed to light and wind by pulling the leaves, one by one, in the ‘fruiting zone’. Now, as the sugar levels begin to rise and the acids slowly start to drop, the birds have been developing flight patterns over the vineyard, pecking berries to see if the fruit is ready to be eaten. To combat this serious avian threat, the Viticulturist has purchased 80,000 feet of vineyard netting--which will be used to cover each and every row of Chardonnay. Our fabulous new employees, Ariel Lavie and Angela Hobbs--straight out of UC Santa Cruz, have helped immensely with identifying beneficial insects and nutrient status in the various vineyard blocks. With their help and that of our top-notch crew, led by foreman Ramon Cisneros, Clos Pepe’s rookie year shows great promise. The Viticulturist had the opportunity to get off the farm in late Spring, when both he and the Vigneron participated as Wine Judges at the LA County Fair’s ‘Wines of the Americas’ competition. Many judges were amply impressed with the array of Clos Pepe wines that the Viticulturist forced upon them at the many events and meals. The Viticulturist’s judged 100+ cabernets in a single sitting, which left his mouth so puckered and stained that he looked like a model straight out of ‘The Big Book of British Smiles.’ THE VIGNERON RETURNS THE FAVOR Our faithful readers will recall how Bud, harkening to his ancestral roots, awoke the Vigneron and L’Agent when the Long Beach garbage container caught fire from fireplace ashes, enveloped the tool shed and was about to do a "Walk in the Clouds" on the Clos Pepe South Vineyard. Well, the Vigneron had the opportunity to repay Bud. It was a pleasant Sunday afternoon and the Vigneron and L’Agent decided to walk down to the pond before dinner. As usual, Bud came along, and as usual decided to swim after the ducks in the pond, and as usual the ducks took turns staying oh so close, but not close enough, and as usual the ducks ran Bud through the aerator repeatedly. Unusually however, Bud became entangled in the rope that anchors the aerator to the bank. Bud paddled furiously and barked vigorously but could not escape the snare of the rope. Perhaps he should have tried some stroke other than the doggie paddle. In any event, the Vigneron, imitating Johnny Weissmuller, sprinted to the side of the pond, shed boots and shirt and dove into the pond and in his best junior lifeguard style, breast stroked to Bud and unwrapped the rope from around his neck and set him free. Bud gave the Vigneron a lick and instantly swam to shore and headed for the house. Meanwhile, soaking wet and in stocking feet, the Vigneron had to hike back to the house to change for dinner. A COOL YEAR 1998 has been a cool year. All of you backyard tomato growers know what we mean. While we planted in a cool area to grow cool weather grapes, chardonnay and pinot noir, 1998 has been too cool. Due to Jeff N’s foresight, we trellised the Clos Pepe Vineyard to a vertical shoot positioning trellis system. Instead of the usual California sprawl, we brought the shoots up between two sets of double wires and in essence fanned the shoots so it looks like an extended open hand. Since the grape bunches grow generally 6 to 18 inches off the new wood, that means most of the fruit is within 12 to 24 inches of the fruiting wire. To enhance the exposure to the sun, Wes and his crew have gone through the rows several times and stripped off all of the leaves between the fruiting wire and the first set of double wires about 24 inches. The result is that when you look at the vineyard between the fruiting wire and first double wire all you see is cane – and grapes bunches. L’Agent on first observing the results remarked it looked like a man in his t-shirt. Not bad for a pastor’s kid. If Wes is correct and it continues to be a cool year we should have ripe fruit and make great wines. However, if the weather turns hot and there is no early morning fog bank, the grapes run the risk of being sun burned. The sun has the same effect on exposed grapes as it does on you and me. Perhaps there is a market for sun block for grapes!! In the next millenium when you are drinking the 1998 Clos Pepe Chardonnay, and if the wine tastes great, think of a man without his t-shirt. If it is not so good, then think of sun burn. Due to Frank G.’s retirement and his sale of Long Beach’s largest and only winery (his house) – Chateau Guadagnini, Clos Pepe and Chateau Guadagnini moved their medal winning winemaking activities to Clos Pepe North. Due to Frank G.’s new residence in Palm Springs and the Vigneron’s necessity of keeping the day job – they agreed to take on the Vineyardist-in-Residence as an apprentice – albeit a wordy one. In their 1997 efforts Clos Pepe and Chateau Guadagnini and the Apprentice made three wines – a 1997 chardonnay from Clos Pepe’s second leaf Davis 4 clone, a pinot noir from fruit purchased rom Doug Braun (Presidio Winery) Mission Vineyard in the Santa Maria Hills (ed.: between Orcutt and Santa Maria) , and a cabernet sauvignon, 60% from Knight's Valley (which the Apprentice gleaned) and 40% from Rimrock Vineyard in Edna Valley. Of course the Vigneron continued growing Long Beach’s oldest, largest and only wine at Clos Pepe South – a cabernet franc/cabernet sauvignon blend and a pinot noir. As usual the Vigneron entered all five wines in the home winemakers competitions of the Orange County Fair and the Los Angeles County Fair. The results were far from usual. At the Orange County Fair, the Clos Pepe / Chateau Guadagnini cabernet sauvignon won a double gold and was selected the Best of Show Red out of over 200 red wines, the pinot noir won an honorable mention, and the Clos Pepe South cabernet franc/cabernet sauvignon also won an honorable mention. Meanwhile at the Los Angeles County Fair, the Clos Pepe / Chateau Guadagnini cabernet sauvignon won a silver, the chardonnay another silver, the pinot noir a gold and the two Clos Pepe South wines a bronze each. The lesser showing of Clos Pepe South must be due to the grapes, not the winemaker. It is a good thing L’Agent prevented the Vigneron from tearing down the homestead and turning it into a vineyard. For what its worth, the Vigneron, Frank G. and the Apprentice all liked the pinot noir the best, the Chardonnay second and the cabernet sauvignon a distant third. But what do we know and who are we to argue with the judges!? Undoubtedly, the Apprentice will by now have forgotten the terms of his indenture, the guidance he received from Frank G. and the Vigneron, and will be proclaiming himself on the Internet and in these beloved pages as "The Winemaker," as if Frank G and the Vigneron were potted plants. (ed note: The Viticulturist's careful attention to the wines this year, I'm certain, had nothing to do with the unprecedented medal count…ahem…--VIR) LEAVES, WIRES AND SUNBURN 1998 has been a cool year. While we planted in an appropriately cool area for pinot noir and chardonnay, 1998 has been too cool. Due to Jeff N.’s foresight, we trellised the Clos Pepe Vineyard to a vertical shoot positioning trellis system. Instead of the usual ‘california sprawl’, we tucked the growing canes between two sets of double wires and in essence fanned the shoots so it makes a tidy, narrow, curtain of foliage. To enhance the exposure to the sun, Wes and his crew have stripped all of the leaves between the fruiting wire and the first set of positioning wires, so when you look at the bottom of the plants all you can see is bare canes and fruit bunches. The Viticulturist thinks that more sun means better fruit, although the Vigneron is worried about sunburn. We’ll have to wait for the Millenia, and the wines from 1998 to be bottled, to know the truth. A Call to Farm!! Have you always wanted to be part of the excitement at Clos Pepe Vineyards? Have you always wanted to see if you could ‘hack it’ in the field? Well, here’s your big chance!! Come up and help us with our first Harvest!! If you’d like to come up and volunteer to help with the picking of our first Chardonnay crop--we’d love to have you. Just drop me an email or give me a call (805) 735-2196 and I’ll make sure that we save room for you--do it for a few hours, do it for a few days. You’ll never look at wine in quite the same way again. I have already had requests for accomodations--all you have to do is get up here when the Harvest Bell sounds--I’ll provide everything you need--pruning shears, wine, bread and gruel and band-aids for your fingertips!! Stop being a wanna-be Vineyard Worker..step up and be part of the action. Harvest will probably occur in the middle of September, but could slide weeks later or, less likely, earlier. If it sounds like fun, you’ve never done it. But if you’ve never done it, you have no idea that’s it’s no fun. All kidding aside, picking grapes will honestly increase your appreciation of the wine-making process. Wes can be reached at weshagen@thegrid.net Retraction: It was implied in a past newsletter that Clos Pepe received ‘free fruit’ as a result of ‘consulting’ for Melville Vineyard. This is untrue. Wes has never done consulting for the Melvilles, who have a beautiful vineyard next door to Clos Pepe. Stop by Wine Spectator’s Pinot Noir Bulletin Board The Viticultuist-in-Residence has been busily posting articles on the ‘winespectator.com’ Pinot Noir Bulletin Board. The V.I.R. writes a few articles per week, mostly on Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir, and often about this wonderful Santa Rita Hills area where we grow. For those of you that are ‘on-line’ and can’t get enough of interesting wine banter, I recommend this site for finding interesting people and the wines they love. Clos Puppies! It’s true. Thanks to Kristin Black next door, the vineyard is enjoying two new Border Collie puppies, Rosa and Mattie. Enjoy a Bottle of Santa Barbara County Wine Tonight!! Steve, Cathy, Wes, Bud, Rosa and Mattie Click Here to Return to the Newsletters Section Click Here to Return to the Main Page
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