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| For a full description and narrative of our grape-growing process, click here! |
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- Updated: July, 2011
- Clos Pepe Estate grapes are currently (2011 Vintage) sold to some of the finest wineries in
California. These include AP Vin, Hall (Napa), Arcadian, Loring Wine Company, Ken Brown Wines, Roessler, Siduri Wines,
and of course our own Clos Pepe Estate.
About 25% of the fruit is used for our Estate wines, 40% goes to Napa/Sonoma, and 35% is crushed in Sta. Barbara County.
- We believe that a combination of hand labor and sustainable/organic
farming methods grows the best fruit. Instead of relying on chemical controls,
we attempt to build the vines' health through biological activity in the soil.
We use organic compost and organic fertilizers (in conjunction with conventional farming methods) to strengthen the vines
from within. Sheep are used in the vineyard during dormancy to munch weeds and cover crop and turn it into valuable manure fertilizer. We use organic methods when we believe the increased cost will improve wine and grape quality.
- Manicuring the vines is vital to growing good fruit. We make about 6-8 hand-passes
through the vineyard a year with a crew to: remove unwanted shoots, position the growing
shoots into a vertical-shoot-positioning trellis system, to remove leaves and lateral
shoots to get excellent sun exposure on the fruit, to hedge the vines, and to net the vines to make sure the
clusters are pristine (not pecked by birds) when the fruit is finally harvested.
- Low yields are key to getting flavor, complexity and intensity out of Pinot Noir
and (to a lesser extent) Chardonnay. Low vigor provides small clusters
and small crops, which equate to rich wines with excellent aging potential. We prune about 90% of the vines back each year to assure a small crop of highly expressive fruit.
- The Sta Rita Hills in Northern Santa Barbara County are extraordinarily
cool, windy and foggy. A combination of unique geographic and geological features
enable the fruit to hang much longer than other Pinot Noir producing regions, which means
that the grapes can be quite ripe and still maintain incredible levels of
acidity. We like to say we get California ripeness with Burgundian structure.
- Clos Pepe believes that sustainability goes beyond the vines. Our three full-time vineyard workers are afforded a salary and medical benefits for their families, which gives our employees a sense of job security and safety. When the workers feel they are valued, the fruit gets better and better. This adds a significant cost to our fruit and wines, but we think our customers want wines that are grown without exploiting or taking advantage of a work force. Instead of retraining an entire crew each year, we have the advantage of fine tuning our practices to grow the best pinot noir and chardonnay fruit possible.
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