TN: Ojai PinotNoir ClosPepeVnyd '03...(short/boring)

WINE TALK
1

Opened this the other night:

  1. OjaiVnyd PinotNoir ClosPepeVnyd/SantaRitaHills (14.0%) 2003: Med.color w/ some bricking; rather earthy/Burgundian some toasty/pencilly/smokey/oak some black cherry/PN/floral complex nose; lightly tart rather smokey/pencilly/Fr.oak rather earthy/dusty/loamy/Burgundian light black cherry/PN complex flavor w/ light smooth/gentle slight astringent tannins; very long/lingering rather earthy/dusty/Burgundian some toasty/smokey/Fr.oak light black cherry/PN fairly complex finish w/ light smooth tannins; shows a lot of Burgundian character and not a lot of fruit left but a lovely complex old PN that still offers up some pleasure; probably on the downside & should be drunk up; resembles a bit a Val d’Aosta Pinot but w/ much more oak.

A wee BloodyPulpit:

  1. By the next day, it was much browner and pretty much tired/dried out.
    Tom
2

Adam always did a nice job with our fruit. 2003 was our third Pinot harvest. I agree the 2003s should be drunk. Recently, I have found the 2004s to be longer lived than the 2003s. Still both are remarkable considering they were very young vines and they are still drinking nicely after 14 years. [cheers.gif]

3

Just opened an '04 Ojai Clos Pepe with my daughter tonight and it showed wonderfully. No particular oak character, definitely no Burgundian character, just a lot of very pleasant mature Californian pinot fruit. Not approaching sweet, but really yummy.

Not at all on its last legs, probably at least several years before you would even think it might need to be drunk up. Reasonably high acid.

I was a bit surprised, as '04 was the year when the sugars went way up all of a sudden towards the end of the harvest season. The listed alcohol is only 14.0%, so perhaps Adam harvested the fruit before that heat spike. Or perhaps Clos Pepe’s proximity to the ocean helped protect those grapes.

In any case, yummy stuff, in very good shape. May not improve but will certainly last well. One more bottle to try in a few more years. I look forward to pulling out an '03 to see if maybe it fared better than Tom’s.

4

Tom, Im surprised at the notes on this 03. It seems to be over the hill and going out as well as being very out of balance. Ive had nothing but great, evolved and significantly oak free wines for this and other vintages. Im trusting this was a distinct bottle variation.

5

Adam tended to be one of the earliest pickers at our vineyard. It was always amazing to me that wineries with blocks side by side would pick 2-4 weeks apart and produce stellar wines, albeit in different styles.