2001 Arcadian Gary's vineyard Syrah

Opened one of these last night and let it sit in the decanter for several hours. Enjoyed this with a few flannery fillets.

Has to be the best Syrah I have ever had. The integration of the fruit, acid and super fine tannins were incredible.

All I have to say if a decade plus in a bottle does this to wine…I may stop all my list and only drink from auctions going forward.

Arcadian Syrah is something special for sure. I think 10-15 yrs is a sweet spot for many quality CA wines.

You don’t need to drink from auction with arcadian. If you’re a member just call Joe. Even his website had library wines.

The guy really builds a wine for the long haul.

Great note Mark. I’ve got one waiting to be opened, can’t wait.

That is the Robert O. Fleming cuvee. Named after my good buddy. Joe stopped having access to Gary’s syrah soon after that vintage. It is a tremendous wine. When it was young (barrel sample and early bottling) , I thought it was the best California syrah I have ever tasted. It has been quite a while since then. Nice to get an update!

For some reason my 2001’s are gone … But I have 4 2000’s which I need to move to the queue.

Digging up an old thread here to add a new data-point. Popped one of these last night to pair with some roasted beef ribs with an espresso spice rub on a hot evening. This was a great pop and pour with the grilled beef. Open, fruity and quite accessible…also got some brown sugar notes and the lasting finish at the end of the bottle is distinctly “fruit roll-upy” and plush. Probably the first Arcadian I can say that struck me as being on the decline. Drink up.

Rick- Maybe a slightly off bottle? Our it really went downhill in 6 months? Below is my note from December (echoed by the note before mine from c chen in Oct 2018)

2001 Arcadian Syrah Robert O. Fleming Cuvée Garys’ Vineyard more
Still showing those rich meaty and irony notes. It’s inky in the glass. Long and dark. Like the last bottle, the first sip feels tight, angular. Let it alone. Splashed in the decanter, twenty minutes later, there’s a salty/meaty element and the back side shows a cool mint that stays with you. The wine still has a youthful verve that betrays the vintage on the label. At the one hour in the decanter mark…it really pops to reveal layers of black pepper and dark fruit. Balance of acid, dark fruit, iron…Savory. Acid streak. This wine just keeps kicking. Fabulous! Kudos, Joe!

I had a recent bottle. This one is still singing at a high level to me. I don’t really collect California syrah any more but this is a really good one along with some from Rhys.

Who knows, Dennis. I know/trust your palate on these wines (along with Don), so it’s hard for me to say given your recent takes. As I mentioned, it’s the first time I’ve drank an Arcadian and thought the wine was possibly on the decline. CT says I have no more bottles but I thought I saw one in the cellar. If I indeed have another one I’ll pop it sometime soon and see if last night’s bottle was a fluke or not. Either way, it still tasted great and was a perfect accompaniment to the meal…it just seemed worth giving the perspective since, generally speaking, Arcadians appear to last forever. Cheers.

I have 26 six packs of the 01 Garys Syrah resting virtually untouched since its bottling in our temp controlled warehouse. In case someone is looking to pick a few bottles.

Thanks, Rick. I wish I had more, too, I’d do another check in. Maybe I should take Joe up on his offer