Visiting Clos Pepe

On the first weekend that we were in Los Angeles, we took a short trip up north to the Buellton-Solvang area to visit Wes Hagen at Clos Pepe. The winery is by appointment only, but Wes encourages visitors, so before we left Connecticut, we arranged a visit. Another couple, Tracy and Kevin and we were the only people on that Sunday so we had Wes all to ourselves. Wes told us that there was a frost warning during the early morning hours and he had woken up to turn on the fan, which was like an inverted helicopter blade that drew the cold air off the slope and out of the vineyard. The vines were in the 1-3 inch shoot stage and at least one shoot had 3 inflorescences developing. Wes explained about the unusual terrain around the Lompoc area, where the mountain range runs from west to east and funnels the cool air in from the Pacific Ocean. Wes then gave us a geology lesson of the region, explaining that the soil is comprised of diatomaceous earth, along with the unusual weather pattern of morning fog and sun is conducive to growing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

We walked up the hill to the Clos Pepe residence during which time Wes related to us a short history of the world according to grape in seven minutes. He began from the time when all the continents were one land mass, to the appearance of the first wild grape and then the discovery of the hermaphroditic grape vine with it's fruitfulness, that drew the attention of early humans. Wes referenced Dr. Patrick McGovern's work in identifying tartaric acid found on shards of earthenware that can serve as a marker for the presence of grapes and it's products, leading to the discovery that people in the Zagros mountains were engaged in wine making as long ago as 5000 B.C. When we reached the residence, we were invited into the kitchen where Wes served us a platter of cheese, salami and bread to have with the tasting of the Clos Pepe wines. We tasted 2 different styles of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The wines were all very good and we bought a case that Wes will ship to us. We thoroughly enjoyed the visit.
Endnote: it is the second day of spring and it has been snowing in Connecticut from yesterday, a far cry from sunny California.