Clendenen Family Vineyards ‘The Pip’ Pinot Noir

Jim Clendenen was famous for producing internationally acclaimed Pinot Noir & Chardonnay in California. Amongst the region’s top producers, the wines he started producing in 1982 set the standard for modern, terroir-driven Californian wine from Burgundian grapes. Wines under the Clendenden Family Vineyards label are not just another label – this was a project of passion for Jim. These are artisan, nuanced wines from small lots producing distinctive wines that have had the luxury to be in the barrel as long as they need it. Long-lived, food-friendly, with firm acidity and moderate alcohol, they are really special parts of Jim’s story that we are honoured to import and represent in the UK.

The “Pip” wines are made with the same “hand-crafted” approach as all the Clendenen Family Wines and aim to provide wines that can be enjoyed sooner; a shorter period in oak barrels, less new wood and more grapes from the younger vines which complement this style.

The “Pip” Pinot is actually all fruit from the Le Bon Climat single vineyard. The wine really “shows off” the cool-climate flavour profile from this site. The flavour profile of the wine is superbly complex for a wine of this price, a ‘floral fruit bomb’ as we wrote when we first tasted it. It is surprisingly rich in the mouth with youthful notes of fresh red berries, dried cherries, blackberries, liquorice, Provençal herbs, strawberry and an exciting spiciness interwoven through the bags of flavour. Delicious with salmon or duck but thanks to the purity here, this wine allows it to work with anything from the grill, from veggies to steak.