Premium Unleaded Mythology
TASTING NOTES: “An expressive nose, with a touch of espresso bean, plum, ripe dark cherry and cassis. The palate shows rich, dark fruits, smooth yet bold tannins, a lovely silky texture and crisp acidity. Flavors include cocoa nibs, chocolate-covered espresso beans, crushed ripe plum, a touch of graphite and baker’s spice. This wine will reward careful cellaring for the medium to long term. Clos Pegase’s winemaking legacy began with André Tchelistcheff, who crafted the inaugural Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon vintages. Tchelistcheff’s pioneering focus on terroir-driven varietal planting laid the foundation for the winery’s philosophy. Today, Winemaker Robin Akhurst leads the team in honoring this legacy through a blend of tradition and innovation. The winemaking approach combines classic techniques with modern practices to highlight vineyard character.” (AbV 14.5%, pH 3.5)
VARIETALS: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
BARRELS: 24 months in 50% new French oak and 50% in neutral oak
PAIRS WITH: N/A
THAT REMINDS ME OF: Clos Pegase, the winery’s name. Pegase is French for Pegasus, so this is a bottle from the Pegasus estate.
Pegasus has had a surprisingly good career in corporate branding for a horse whose origin story is that he sprang out of Medusa when Perseus cut off her head. Somehow that ended up as a gas station logo. Mobil’s flying red horse is Pegasus, and in 1934 a giant neon version went up on top of the Magnolia Building in downtown Dallas, rotating over the skyline like the city’s most confident weather vane. People in Dallas still treat it as a landmark. I want to know who sat in the meeting where someone said “the winged horse with the gruesome birth, but for gasoline,” and everyone nodded.
In fairness, the pitch holds up better than it sounds. In the myths, Pegasus is the one who carries Zeus’s thunderbolts, which makes him the original fuel delivery service (why not). It’s still a strange arc, from a bloody mythological birth to a rotating sign over an oil company’s headquarters to a name on a Napa Valley gate.
