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		Clos Pegase Hommage Wines
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About Our Wines

What defines the "Clos Pegase" style? We like to talk about balance, harmony and symmetry. About true varietal intensity with balanced tannins and acids. And, most of all, about the balance of sophisticated elegance and inviting food-friendliness.

Our whites -- Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc -- display the fresh fruit qualities of these varieties, while our reds -- Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon among others -- offer fruitiness and accessibility at an early age by using the old technique of extended maceration, which creates softer tannins through polymerization. In all instances, the wine ages gracefully in our natural caves hewn out of the stone, as in antiquity, free of air conditioner vibration and enjoying ideal year-round temperature and humidity.

We're pleased to offer our reds, whites, reserve and hommage wines for purchase online. (Or feel free to contact us directly at 1-800-366-8583 ext. 213 for the Visitors Center.)

Clos Pegase Hommage Wines

The term Hommage ("oh-MAZH") is French for "homage." Jan Shrem chose it as our way of referring to our reserve wines. It is meant as a tribute to the memory of the artist whose painting graces our label -- and to the artisans, growers, enologists, craftstmen and workers whose efforts are reflected in our wines.

Each year the Shrems proudly reproduce a work of art from their extensive collection, to honor our best Hommage blends of Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.

What is a "Reserve" Wine?

So, what exactly is a reserve wine? Well, it depends who you ask. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is the federal regulatory responsible for truth in advertising of alcoholic beverages, including wine. They confer appellations, such as Napa Valley, mandate what size print must be used to report alcohol content, determine percentages of grapes required to qualify as a varietal wine and countless other issues involved in labeling your favorite Cabernet or Pinot Noir. BATF Bulletin CFR 27, as it is evocatively known, is the bible of wine labeling, but among its numerous chapters and verses, there is no definition of what a "reserve" wine can and cannot be.

Most of us associate the term reserve with something special -- something held back, guarded, for a later and loftier use. In the world of wine, this generally means a remarkable barrel or vineyard lot that merits longer aging and exhibits stellar qualities.

But as P.T. Barnum pointed out, there's a sucker born every minute. And in that spirit, less scrupulous wine marketers, saddled with a whole lot of wine to sell, saw a loophole Moby Dick could swim through and began designating every bottle under the sun, no matter how humble and mass-produced, "reserve." With this chicanery in mind, we'd like to define, and defend, the wines we christen "reserve."

First off, Clos Pegase is an Estate Winery, of 450 acres, meaning we grow, vinify and bottle every drop of wine we produce. This is rare. Additionally, of the grapes we do grow, nearly half are sold to other wineries in the Napa Valley, which means we've reserved the best for ourselves. Our principal varieties are Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and, increasingly, Pinot Noir. But we also grow, in very small quantities, other varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Franc and Zinfandel. These small vineyard parcels provide the first tier of "reserve" wines at Clos Pegase. These wines are held for our Pegase Circle Reserve bottlings, which are only available at the winery or via direct shipment to our Pegase Circle members.

We refer to our cellar reserve wines as "Hommage." We coin two Hommage wines each year, one from Chardonnay and the other from Cabernet Sauvignon. Naturally, these two wines begin in our own vineyards. Our Chardonnay comes from a few older blocks, on the upper part of Mitsuko's Vineyard, planted to the highly prized "Old Wente" selection, which we pair with a small amount of Dijon cuttings.

From the ensuing fermentations we cull out the richest barrels, just 26 out of the 600 odd barrels of estate-grown Chardonnay we produce annually. This is about 4% of all our Chardonnay, the same amount we lose naturally to evaporation (the "Angels' share") each year. These barrels receive a longer term of "batonnage," or stirring of the lees, and are held in French oak barrels at least 6 months longer than our regular bottling, for added richness and complexity, before bottling without fining or filtration.

The red Hommage is comprised of Cabernet Sauvignon from our Graveyard Hill and Palisades vineyards and may receive judicious amounts of Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Again, a rigorous barrel selection is made during the first winters' aging, and a small blend is assembled (about 10% of all our Cabernet Sauvignon). It is then returned to new French oak barrels and left to marry over the next 2 and a half years, or about 6 months longer than our standard offering. Like our Hommage Chardonnay, this wine receives a full year of bottle age before being released to ensure a wine that is fully integrated and ready to enjoy or cellar for years to come.

By keeping the amount of Hommage we vinify to a minimum we achieve the two most important goals of any reserve program. First, the quality of our regular bottlings are preserved, as the amounts reserved are negligible; and second, the resulting Hommage is a very rich and special expression, deserving of a special audience. An homage to the winemaker's craft -- and to you, the wine enthusiast.