Don C and I had been talking for some time about rounding up some guys for a big Arcadian tasting. Thanks to Don’s planning and organizing, we pulled off a nice dinner and tasting last night. If you are a fan of Arcadian, you won’t find many surprises here, most of the wines showed well and would be the star on any table in their own light.
Read all the way to the end for the real stunner of the evening.
Many attendees have a long history with Arcadian, so it was a nice journey through the evolutions of these wines.
The Berserkers that were there can out themselves if they choose.
A good time. Thanks guys for sharing some great wines and company.
1999 Arcadian Chardonnay Sleepy Hollow Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
Just hanging in there. Heading down the hill to being oxidized, but still some lift remains. Nutty. Honey and almonds. Fruit has receded and left a bit of acid that throws it slightly out of balance. It’s nice, and very drinkable in an old Chard kind of way, but that’s it. We opened a second bottle that was totally shot.
2006 Arcadian Chardonnay Sleepy Hollow Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
Cool and clean, tart and taught, but starting to unwind. Chablis-like to me, Great depth, tropical fruit notes comes on. Cool and rocky. A joy to drink. Best of the Chards tonight. Drinking really well right now.
2008 Arcadian Chardonnay Sleepy Hollow Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
Interestingly, the first bottle of this showed a lot of richness, almost too much upfront fruit and a bit of heat. It just seemed out of sorts.
Second bottle was much more in balance, still bigger than the '06 right now, but better balance of fruit and acid. An attractive butterscotch finish came on with my lobster past. Still, drink the '06 over this one. Right now, anyway.
1997 Arcadian Pinot Noir Sleepy Hollow Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
One of the top pinots of the night for me, but I expected that going in. I have always loved this wine. Stemmy, herbal quality on the nose. Sous bois. Dark fruit, earthy and lively hints of acidity. It’s light in color and texture, yet the intensity on the palate is supreme. Hard to pick this as Cali if blinded. Very Dujac-y. Nice wine. [/b]
1997 Arcadian Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
This shows more California. Fruit intensity turned up here. It’s silky, wonderful front and back end texture. Still young-ish in some ways. On it’s own it’s a star. I’ve loved many bottles of this over the years. A bit outclassed by others on the table tonight.
1999 Arcadian Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
Magnum- My note says, “holy shit, the nose on this wine” Beautiful nose that just blossoms. This shows some of the richness that the '97 also carried, but it’s buffered with more earth and acid and there is slightly more tertiary stuff going on here. I’d like to have more of this one.
2000 Arcadian Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
My note starts with “wow!” Another beautiful nose. Too much of everything…in a good way. Floral, tea notes, truffles, cherry…Palate is marked by sweet raspberry and cherry fruit that is framed by a lively (still!) acidity that refuses to quit. Almost Youthful. Great with my pan-roasted chicken and truffle. [/b]
2001 Arcadian Pinot Noir Garys’ Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
A special bottle for me. The first Arcadian I ever drank, about ten years ago, and the first bottle I shared with Hardy when we started hanging back in the day. Lovely tonight. Co-WOTN. Beautiful silky texture. Soft and silky. Stem notes, herbal and earthy. An intensity of core red fruit, but light on its feet and dances. So tasty. Ugh. All day I could drink this. All class. This was not on our list and a surprise bottle brought by Dennis Sullivan. Thanks!
2001 Arcadian Pinot Noir Francesca’s Cuvée- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
My notes started to get wonky at this point in the night after all the wines…I didn’t love this. It felt a bit out of sorts. A bit too much on the dark-ripe fruit. Maybe for a fan of bigger Cali pinots. Not sure what this needs, maybe time. Not its best showing.
2001 Arcadian Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
The wine looks rich with its deeper purple hues that lead to a lush fruit. Still rather wound up. Tighter. Feels more new-world. Young.
2005 Arcadian Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
Again, there’s a really brilliant texture to this wine. Fine on the palate. Its bigger than some of the other pinots on the table and clearly shows its youth. There’s a good bit of acidity, the wine is nicely balanced. I’d like to try again a few years. Promising.
2005 Arcadian Pinot Noir Sleepy Hollow Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
Bright cherry flavors. There’s that herbal note that I find pleasing in Joe’s sleepys. It’s briary and earthy. Nicely balanced. Drinking well now. Good intensity of fruit that is sharp and crisp. Very nice.
The Syrah flight was special, as it’s always fun to drink the Robert O. Fleming cuvee when my 'ol buddy Robert O. Fleming is sitting across the table from me
1999 Arcadian Syrah Robert O. Fleming Cuvée Garys’ Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
Felt a little tired to me, or just starting to show its age. Lighter in body and feel than the '00. Still has that enticing meatiness. The edges are just a bit harder on this one. I’d be happy to drink this, it’s just getting dwarfed in this flight.
2000 Arcadian Syrah Robert O. Fleming Cuvée Garys’ Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
My favorite of the three Syrahs. For drinking now. Terrific Northern Rhone-ish nose that is peppery and meaty. Smells great. The palate is marked with secondary fruit and a iron and saline finish. In the groove.
2001 Arcadian Syrah Robert O. Fleming Cuvée Garys’ Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
Magnum- Biggest of the three Syrahs tonight. Probably the best one, too, but it might need even more time. '00 is drinking now, this one in a few years. Or a bit more of a decant. Sweet red fruit core. Meat. Iron. Powerful wine. No rush.
1991 Morgan Pinot Noir Reserve- USA, California, Central Coast, Monterey County
A Joe Davis wine. These were the words I heard bantered about from a table of guys who know wine: Absolutely stunning. Brilliant. Dujac-y. Earth, soy and tea, some herbal notes. Grand Cru. Incredible palate presence. So silky, but an intense lasting sense of sweet red fruit wrapped by an earthiness. Really, really special wine. Easily one of the top California Pinots I’ve ever tasted, if not The top. Thanks to Joel for this surprise end to the night.
Surprised to see this experience. I purchased three bottles of this wine directly from Arcadian two years ago. We drank the last bottle 10 days ago and it was brilliant. The other bottles were of the same quality, nowhere near being over the hill or on their last legs. We all lamented that we have no more of this excellent, aged California chardonnay. I guess so much of aged wine is bottle to bottle, assuming equal provenance.
To be honest, Howard, surprised me as well. I’ve had very good bottles of this right up until last year. Not sure who brought these or conditions, but I’m assuming very good provenance based on the crew. Cheers.
Well it was great to be a part of this tasting, with outstanding food and wines, and wonderful cameraderie.
Excellent notes, Dennis, and fun sitting with you.
The 2001 Garys’ Pinot was a bottle I brought, and pulled when then 01 Sleepy was corked. It was not on the program so wonderfully curated by Don, but any bottles on the program that I could have carried as a backup were already “assigned” to someone else as providing a backup. I just brought that one as an off-program backup should it have proved useful, and I couldn’t be happier it worked out to insert it. I had never had it, but it was brilliant, and there would never be a better occasion to share it. If I had another (sadly I do not!) I would be hard pressed to go a week without opening it to see if I could catch that beautiful magic again.
But that 1991 Morgan was mind-blowing!! What a phenomenal taste experience. Had it been announced in advance I would have thought, oh what a fun curiosity that would be to bring to the event. Never would I have imagined!
Thanks for these great notes Dennis. Lots of fun. I am in agreement across the board with your notes.
A couple of notes. The 1999 Arcadian Sleepy Hollow Chardonnay was bought straight from Joe a couple of days before the tasting and overnighted priority. They didn’t have labels.
My favorites were…
2000 and 2001 ROF Syrahs - very different due to the year. Dark fruit with lots of leather notes on the nose. The palate of the 2000 was evolved and succulent. Medium concentrated. The 2001 was powerful, intense and complex. Loved them both.
1997 Sleepy Hollow Pinot Light color. Intense fruit and under brush aromas. Red fruit. Long finish. Drop dead gorgeous.
1999 Pisoni Pinot- Glorious nose and incredible intense palate. The finish was very long. Darker fruit. More of a California type wine with dark and brooding fruit. Silky texture.
2001 Gary’s Pinot- A huge nose of beautiful fruit. Pure. The flavors just burst from the glass. Complex and long. This is super good and a surprise.
1991 Morgan Monterey Pinot- The greatest California pinot noir I have personally ever tasted. A peacocks tail type of nose. Multilayered. Soy notes. Fruit. Truffle. The palate is silky and so complex. Kitchen sink of complexity. A Grand Cru Burgundy type of experience. Incredible.
I want to thank everyone that made this happen. Lots of fun. Antica Posta did a fabulous job on food and service.
Man … you know you really love a wine when you actually derive genuine enjoyment from reading about others’ experience with it. Sounds like this was an incredible gathering. Someday the main two Arcadian groups need to meetup in Atlanta or L.A. and invite fans from every corner of the country to join in the festivities.
Thank you for your notes, Dennis. It’s interesting to see we frequently have similar impressions of these wines. And that Morgon … what a cool treat!
Thanks, Brian- As I was loading notes in CT I saw your notes time again. You’ve done well tasting almost all of these!
It was a very nice night and the wines were exceptional. Would be fun to get the two coasts together for a big 'ol Arcadian feast one day. Cheers!
We’ll do, Robert. Be fun to try something similar in a couple years to see how the wines have changed.
Don- Love your note on the Morgan here! What a treat that was. Thanks again for doing the yeoman’s work on getting this together. Great night.
Planted in 1987 using cuttings from Stanley Ranch in Carneros. These grapes were tended by the great Rich Smith at Paraiso Springs Vineyard on the west side of the Santa Lucia Highlands near the town of Soledad. These reserve wines were my early attempts at 100% whole cluster fermentation after hand sorting and traditional pigeage.
Joe, my SLH vineyard map shows Paraiso Springs at the bottom of the slope, almost directly below the Pisoni vyd. I wonder if the current owners know that, in the right hands, their vineyard is capable of producing greatness?
Yes I made the Morgan wines until 94. The 93 wines were the last ones I bottled. If they are in Germany they are likely in the hands of Jost Schmidt the German importer of Morgan and Arcadian.
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