2004 Clos Pepe Estate Pinot Noir Vigneron Select - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills - Sta. Rita Hills (3/12/2009)
Ok, now this is an unusual experience - maybe someone can chime on on what happened here. Bought 2 bottles of this from the winery. Had a bottle about a year ago. It was very good, though darker and bigger than a traditional Clos Pepe. Seemed typical of the 2004 vintage. Fast forward a year. I open this for a nice long decant, because the last bottle needed it. Once in the decanter I noticed something quite strange - the color. The wine is as light as a rose, and I mean a light rose. I give it a few minutes to breathe and take a sip. This wine IS a rose! Super light, smells right, though again, the aromas are subtle. I don’t detect any real flaws for a rose…a good amount of acidity, light cranberry and strawberry flavors. Not a bad drink if you are going for a rose.
So, what do people think happened? I’ve had many Clos Pepe’s before, including the 2003 and 2004 V.S. - the storage of this bottle is no different than the storage of the previous bottle, so if something “happend” it should have happened to both, right?
Interesting. I can only guess… so let’s have some fun and speculate!
I know the Vigneron Select is from a single barrel. That can be somewhat problematic when bottling since you often lose wine as the bottling run starts up and ends. Maybe they “pushed” the wine with some water to get the last bit out of the hose. It’s something that’s often done. We use either gas, or “walk” the line by lifting it up as you walk the length of it since I always worry that I won’t stop soon enough to avoid water. It may have happened at the start of bottling where some water was left in the hose/line after cleaning.
Maybe there was a small granule of undissolved sulfur in the barrel that made its way into your bottle. Over time, it may have dissolved which would have bleached the wine of some color.
Maybe it happend due to heat or light exposure. Or maybe some oxidation. Not sure if those are really valid, but those things do affect color to some degree.
Or… maybe it’s something else! Maybe it’s just reached the point where the color starts to fade. Fun speculating… but I really have no concrete answer.
Thanks Brian! Yeh, I had a slew on ideas run through my head as well, but most of the things i know to look for are “flaws” and this wine actually tasted rather good - just light. I got an e-mail from Wes, and he is baffled as well. Oh well, it’s all good!