2005 Arcadian Pinot Noir Clos Pepe Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills (1/29/2021)
Dark, barely translucent ruby. Slowly-releasing nose of pine forest, anise, violets, acrid raspberry, hints of beef blood. Dense, deep-set layers of raspberry, black cherry, iodine, iron, and compacted earth building on the palate with seemingly effortless persistence over several hours. Steely acidity and firm tannin leading to a long finish of sharp red fruit, iron particles, and slow, brooding grip. Young yet brimming with excellence. (92 pts.)
Very reasonable in my view. I was surprised by how youthful the wine showed. It hadn’t budged all that much since the last time we opened a bottle almost 10 years ago.
Thank you for that information. He has also utilized stem inclusion for a long time, realizing that these decisions are just part of the whole regarding the making of these lovely wines.
The 05 was my first favorite vintage from our vineyard. It has matured quite nicely. We planted the Pinot vineyard in 1998 so it has done very well for such a young wine.
Thanks for the note, Doug. I’ve tasted this wine only twice, I believe: 2009 and 2016. Very tight on both occasions, which has kept me scared from opening any of my remaining bottles. This one, and the 2001 Pisoni, have been the two most unyielding of Joe’s wines I’ve experienced. I might just check-in on this 2005 Clos Pepe soon (I do have a bottle at home at the moment); if it continues to be super tight I’m just going to bury it deep, next to the '01 Pisonis, and not even think about them for another 4 or 5 years.
Sounds like a good plan. This particular bottle became significantly more accessible and expressive at about hour 3 so perhaps a decant is in order. Hope it shows well for you.
I had been thinking about popping this since it hit age 15 … but, man, 2005 just continues to age and age. I’ll wait some more. Thanks for the look, Doug!
Keep in mind time in barrel + humidity + evaporation = elevation of alcohol in barrel. Typically post fermentation labs vs. unfiltered bottling panel showed an increase of 1-1.5 % alcohol. But I am sure you knew that.