TN: 2010 Arcadian Chardonnay Clos Pepe Vineyard

2010 Arcadian Chardonnay Clos Pepe Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills (7/9/2017)
Upon opening this was tight with lots of minerality and acidity. As the wine warmed and aired the structural components came into better balance and a delicious salty caramel note lingered on the long mineral, lemon acidity finish. Another very nice Chardonnay from Joe.

Posted from CellarTracker

Sounds great, Russ. I’ve been digging back into my Arcadian stuff lately. I have undervalued the Chards in the past few years, for no good reason.
They are usually quite excellent. Never had a Clos Pepe. Still youthful?

Thanks for the note, Russ; I’ll have to try to find some of Joe’s Chardonnays – I think I’ve only had the Sleepy Hollow, and only from a few vintages.

Was this the recent Berserker Day offering?

My bottles did not come from the BD offering.

Lots of life left, but certainly worth enjoying now with some air. I’ll try to sit on my last bottle for a few more years to see where it goes.

Joe does a great job with our fruit.

Opened one last night, served with a prawn cocktail. Lovely wine, reticent nose, pineapple on the palate, good acid.

Recently picked up some '11 at a great price. Looking forward to it. Thanks for the note.

2010 Arcadian Chardonnay Clos Pepe Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills (9/2/2020)
– popped and poured –
– tasted non-blind over 3 hours –

NOSE: quite showy, with ripe buttery pineapple underpinned by a nice high-toned streak.

BODY: rich, golden yellow color; medium to medium-full bodied.

TASTE: as the aromas suggested, this is rich; lemon curd; medium oak; high acidity; medium strength mineral note in the background; 13.9% alc. is well-hidden; starting to taste aged; drink Now through 2030. Ash gut impression score: 91 - 92. My score below.

50, 5, 12, 17, 8 = (92 pts.)

I had been holding one bottle, as this seemed like a wine worth holding - sadly today it was burnished gold and oxidized on nose and palate. My fault. I should have opened much sooner.

David,

Curious as to why you feel it was your fault you held it too long? Based on Brian’s recent note and the reputation of these wines, you’d think they would still be okay, right?

Just curious more than anything else . . .

Had this been white Burgundy, would you have called it PreMox?

Cheers

Eleven years post-vintage is just oxed.

David,

I would agree, but would you say the same with Burgundy? I wonder that others on the board feel about that.

Cheers.

Given the history of Burgs from that era, I suppose. That said, White Burgundy was supposed to develop over long periods. As far as I am concerned going past 10 in Cali is still a lot of guesswork.

You are certainly correct. I guess I was just basing this on prior releases of Joes that seemed to stay fresh for a very very long time.

Cheers!

I expected this one would as well. That said, other tasters I implicitly trust on CT had results similar to mine.

I’ve tasted the 2012’s and 2013’s and based on my palette, it’s time to drink them up, but I’ll caveat that I don’t typically drink wine older than 10 years or so and don’t actively look for / recognize the tertiary flavors.

I have a couple of cases of Arcadian left, and am trying my hardest not to drink it too soon.