The Chards were both solid. Their Pinots are a mess. Overall the Syrah’s are solid and why I like Arcadian. Would not waste money on the Pinots when you can get A to Z for $15 and it is a better made Pinot. Not a fan of Cali Pinots in general.
2008 Arcadian Chardonnay Sleepy Hollow Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
Nice overall. Subtle oak, spice, lemon and shells. Medium finish and drink me know state. (92 pts.)
2010 Arcadian Chardonnay Clos Pepe Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Lemon, shells, vanilla and oak. Medium plus finish. Little less impressed with this than the 2008 Sleepy Hollow. (90 pts.)
2001 Arcadian Pinot Noir Fiddlestix Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Past peak. Mushrooms, woody, raspberry, and spices. Very little fruit left and short to medium finish. Surprised the wine owner suggested a decant on such an old Pinot. Might have been better without the decant. (85 pts.)
2005 Arcadian Pinot Noir Dierberg Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley
Rose petals, spices, strawberries and forest floor. Vibrant on the palate. Decant acidity. Much better than the Fiddlestix 01. Might improve with age. (90 pts.)
2006 Arcadian Pinot Noir Jill’s Cuvée- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley
Bright fruit but a bit sweet. Spices and floral notes kick in on the medium finish. Nothing great and nothing wrong with the wine. (88 pts.)
2009 Arcadian Pinot Noir Francesca’s Cuvée- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
Big wine. Could mistake it for Aussie Shiraz blind. Dark fruits, spices and earth. Medium to long finish but too much alcohol on this one. Really doesn’t fit the character of Oregon Pinot or Burgundy. If you like high octane Cabs this is for you! (87 pts.)
2005 Arcadian Syrah Westerly Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
Pop and pour and solid. Blueberries, stone, underbrush and vibrant acidity. Should age a few years but I wouldn’t wait too long. Nice cross between a Cali/Rhone effort. (91 pts.)
2007 Arcadian Syrah Purisima Mountain Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
Very disappointed with this one. Underbrush, simple and some fruit. Should cost around $12.50 for this effort. (85 pts.)
2008 Arcadian Syrah Stolpman Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
Solid and exciting Syrah. Cherry, pepper, black licorice, and blackberries. Medium to long finish and should have many years to age. Solid stuff. (92 pts.)
2004 Arcadian Syrah Hommage à Max- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
One of my favorite Syrah wines from California. Boysenberries, blackberries, pepper and good acidity. Balanced and should evolve over the next five to ten years. Arcadian’s best wine by a landslide. (93 pts.)
2009 Château Suduiraut- France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Nothing too exciting but solid. Peach, apples and apricots and sweet. Should cellar for decades. 91 to 94. (91 pts.)
Thanks for your report, John. I’ve never had one of Arcadian’s syrahs but would like to try some soon. I have enjoyed the several chardonnays I’ve tried; I think they were all Sleepy Hollow.
I can’t agree with you on their pinot noirs, though, at least the ones I’ve had (none that you’ve listed.)
I know everyone has his or her own taste buds and preferences — however, this is the first time I have ever heard Arcadian Pinots called “a mess.” I could not disagree more. IMHO, Joe’s Pinots are some of the best available.
And you rated the Dierberg 90, the Jill’s 88, Francesca’s 87. Those aren’t “mess” scores.
A big +1 and beyond to what Ted just said.
Though I do tend to drink Arcadian pinots with more age than most of what John posted on and I’m more of a Pisoni and Sleepy Hollow fan.
Arcadian pinot from 2001 and 2005 sleepy hollow have been some of the best California pinots I have had. These are light,bright, clean,spicy. Lots of secondary notes with age. The Pisoni and Garys are very vey good.
It may be me but it’s hard to not read a “not a fan of Cali Pinot” as being overly dismissive. There simply isn’t a singular profile across Cali Pinots. Just thinking of the regions with which I have at least some familiarity, there’s the substantially varied Sonoma Coast, RRV, other parts of Sonoma, parts of Napa, Anderson Valley, SCM, SLH, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara etc. there’s not just so many differences across those areas but so may differences even within them.
If you can reasonably say you’ve tried multiple producers from each of the regions and don’t like them, so be it. But just trying a handful from one or a couple of regions leaves a lot on the table.
Interesting, but — considering how many times we’ve sat at the same wine-laden table — not surprising, given your usual preferences, John. If you have not yet had the '06 Max, you should do so — it’s incredible.
Not sure you know of these little facts I found interesting, given your statements about CA Pinot and OR Pinot:
– Over 198 ratings of Oregon PN you’ve put into CT, your average score is 90.0.
– Over 154 ratings of CA PN you’ve put into CT, your average score is 88.5.
– In the past 2 years, your average CA PN score is greater than your average OR PN score. In the last 5 years, ave CA PN score is greater than ave OR PN score in 3 of those 5 years. And you do tend to score nearly every wine for which you enter a TN, so … yeah.
– You’ve entered 6 TNs into CT for the A to Z PN, along with scores. Those scores are as follows:
88
87
77
88
88
83
I organized this tasting because Arcadian is one of my favorite producers. I was not going to post my notes here because I didn’t want to show Arcadian in a negative light, and I didn’t want to bicker about the experience with people who weren’t there. But I linked my notes below, along with the notes of a friend of mine who was at the tasting and is a better taster than I am. I did this to show that John’s notes, while a bit argumentative, are consistent with the experience of the other 12 people at this event. The Chardonnay was quite good, the Pinot was a significant disappointment, and I felt the syrah was good but could have shown better. Heck, even the 2009 Suduiraut didn’t meet my expectation. Maybe it was a root day! I will continue to explore Arcadian’s wines, but I might be a little more selective with the Pinot Noir.
I know everyone has his or her own taste buds and preferences — however, this is the first time I have ever heard Arcadian Pinots called “a mess.” I could not disagree more. IMHO, Joe’s Pinots are some of the best available.
And you rated the Dierberg 90, the Jill’s 88, Francesca’s 87. Those aren’t “mess” scores.
For the price those scores are not going to get me buying any of them. They were hot and not the most balanced but better than a cheap $8 wine I might rate 83.
I am glad you enjoy them and I enjoy many Aussie producers that some might not like. That is why it is called the world of wine.
While I haven’t yet tried any of my BerserkerDay
Arcadian wines to have an opinion here, I can also endorse ROCKNROLLER’s palate as better than my own. Hello to Joe and Brian!
While my experiences with Arcadian pinot have been overwhelmingly positive I’ll have to add the caveat that they’ve pretty much all been with the Gary’s, Pisoni and Sleepy Hollow vineyards which didn’t figure in this tasting.
My only Fiddlestix was from the atypical 2004 vintage and I put its poor showing down to the heat wave.
So where do you like PN’s from? Oregon, Burgundy, Anderson Valley(baja OR), New Zeland? There is really only 5-7 great places in the world for PN so taking out CA you have only a few left.
Not at all my experience with Arcadian wines over the years. Mostly PN for me with a little of CH and SY.
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