The Sierra Mar Vineyard is one of the southernmost sites in the Santa Lucia Highlands for Siduri. As such, the site usually gets a later start to the growing season, but the maturity of the fruit catches up a bit more quickly as the season progresses.
Garys’ Vineyard has been a superb source of Pinot Noir ever since the first crop in 1999. The entire vineyard is planted to the Pisoni Selection of Pinot Noir, a suitcase clone from Burgundy. We are fortunate to get fruit from two different sections of Garys’ Vineyard – one at the top of the vineyard and the other near the very bottom. These sections are planted on different rootstocks, which produces a much more complex and interesting Pinot Noir.
The Clos Pepe Pinot Noir shows great depth of blue fruits. It is a more medium-bodied wine, with suggestions of dried herbs and forest floor (undoubtedly coming from the stems). On the finish the wine shows some of the tannins common in the Sta. Rita Hills, but we were careful not to over-extract the wine, giving it a sense of harmony and balance.