A barnburner of a tasting was held at the plush Sunderland Mansion last night featuring the wines of Arcadian.
Joe Davis was the Master of Ceremonies.
Let’s get down to it:
1)1998 Arcadian “Sleepy Hollow” PN – 13.8%
Medium red with definite onion skin. Spicy nose of roses, face powder and Pinot funk.
Tertiary flavors of tea, herbs and plums added to the complexity only aging can enhance.
Some didn’t like this wine because of the “Aged Funk” this wine inhibits.
Joe himself admitted that he really didn’t have much hope for this wine in it’s early stages, but it had really come on in the last couple of years.
I found this to be a very interesting, atypical CA Pinot Noir due to the development of secondary and tertiary flavors. I rather liked it. [90+ pts]
2)2001 Arcadian “Sleepy Hollow” PN – 13.8%
Medium red with slight onion skin. Fine spicy, pine sap, cherry/strawberry nose.
Powerful, structured, somewhat primary upfront red fruit in perfect Acid-Fruit balance.
Still pretty young. This has to go a few more years. Will be a long ager. But certainly enjoyable now.
I think this is Joe’s favorite Sleepy he’s made (although the 2005 is compelling but very young) while the 1997 remains my favorite (for it’s delicate feminine aspect).
Nevertheless, the 2001 is compelling and may ultimately age into something greater. Highly recommended! [92+ pts]
3)2002 Arcadian “Sleepy Hollow” PN – 14.5%
Medium-dark red. Rich, spicy, smokey nose.
Spicy, slutty, pure red berry fruit with a long, somewhat tannic finish.
A nice, more typically CA style here for those who want upfront, more obvious fruit.
This will age some more as it’s still really primary. [90 pts]
4)2005 Arcadian “Sleepy Hollow” PN – 14.1%
Medium red. Rich nose of spicy red berry fruit with a touch of caramel and Funk.
Tight, spicy, very primary fruit which is very pure.
Very young but the quality and future looks excellent! For now [90+ ]
5)2000 Arcadian “Garys” PN – 13.5%
Medium red. Wonderful nose of black cherry and coffee (Peets).
Elegant, finely balanced, succulent, developed fruit with a lipsmakin’ firm finish.
I’m generally not a big fan of Garys, but this one hit Da Spot! [92 pts]
6)2001 Arcadian “Garys” PN – 13.0%
Medium red. Spicy, somewhat hot nose.
Spicy, funky fruit. Not my cup of tea. [87+ pts]
7)2001 Arcadian “Pisoni” PN – 13.6%
Dark red. Complex nose of darker fruits with olive undertones.
Powerful, young, brash Pisoni with tons of dry extract.
Needs years, but there looks to be gold at rainbow’s end with this effort.
For now: [90+ pts]
8)2005 Arcadian “Dierberg” PN – 14.0%
Medium red. Funky, herbal darker fruited nose.
Fine, structured red fruited profile.
Tight and young. Needs several years.
For now: [89+ pts]
9)2005 Arcadian “Fiddlestix” PN – 13.5%
Medium red. Minerally, bing cherry nose.
Finely, balanced red berry fruit. Again, quite young.
For now: [90 pts]
10)2005 Arcadian “Pisoni” PN – 13.8%
Medium red. Spicy black current nose with a hint of olive.
Beautiful, elegant, stingingly pure red fruits with a long crunchy aftertaste.
The finest Arcadian Pisoni I’ve ever tasted (and Joe’s all-time favorite).
Highly, highly recommended. [93 pts]
11)2005 Arcadian “Francesca” PN – 12.8%
Medium red. Mellow, hammy caramel nose.
Very elegant, feminine, spicy medium bodied fruit in perfect balance.
Very fresh fruit makes for great drinking now and for the next several years.
A winner! [93 pts]
12)2005 Arcadian “Clos Pepe” PN - 13.7%
Medium red. Wildly different nose of roses, mineral and cherry.
Fine stoney, red fruits, elegant and balanced.
This was totally different than any of the other Pinots and a good fit for Joe’s winemaking philosophy.
Young but the quality is obvious! [90+ pts]
13)2000 Morey St Denis “Clos Sorbes” (Jackie Truchot)– 13.5%
Ray Walker brought this pup along to sample.
Light-medium red with a touch of onion skin. Fine floral clove nose.
Beautiful mouthful of flowers. A luscious plum! Ready to pound! [93 pts]
14)1999 Arcadian “Sleepy Hollow” Chardonnay – 13.5%
Medium aged golden color. Fine nose of grilled nuts and green lime.
Developed, oily spicy fruit with a very long finish.
Great acid remains, but I like this for current pounding! [92 pts]
15)2001 Arcadian “Sleepy Hollow” Chardonnay – 14.3%
Light golden color. Chalky, green lime nose.
Very powerful lemony fruit with an equally long powerful finish.
Very young. This can possibly be a 10-20 yr wine. Let it sleep.
For now: [90+ pts] (with a lot of upside likely).
16)2005 Arcadian “Sleepy Hollow” Chardonnay – 13.3%
Light golden color. Rich, young lemony nose.
Lovely, tropical fruit oriented style of Chard.
Very feminine compared to the 1999 & 2001.
It drinks well now but there’s a balance that will allow this to age gracefully for several years.
For now: [91+ pts] (again, with a lot of upside likely).
17)2006 Arcadian “Sleepy Hollow” Chardonnay – 13.7%
Light yellow color. Primary, citric tropical fruits nose.
Undeveloped lemon/grapefruit in a medium bodied style.
Very young. This one is a fetus. Needs several years.
For now: [90+ pts]
A few points:
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Joe had a rapt audience who listened to him expound on his various theories of grape growing and winemaking. His received and answered a couple a dozen questions from the 10 member audience.
He is fun to listen to! After Joe had left, a few of us realized that we hadn’t really commented on how much we liked the wines. Joe, this was because we were fascinated by your thoughts and eager to learn (and argue!). -
Joe’s favorite all time vintage for CA Pinot is 2005 (gee, somebody else thought that too a couple of years ago). He had an interesting theory as to why this was a great vintage. Joe claimed the unusually heavy winter and spring rains penetrated deep into the soil and washed away salt deposits that had been clogging the roots over a period of several years accumulation. This allowed the roots to absorb nutrients more readily thereby allowing the vines to mature at a quicker pace developing flavors without the normally high sugars. This is why so many other wineries had lower octane wines in 2005. I had never heard that one before and I find it quite interesting. Comments?
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All of Joe’s wines have a high degree of depth of spice to them.
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All of Joe’s wines from various vineyards exhibit obvious differences between them
The Sleepy Hollow Verticals showed the close family resemblances between the wines.
Obviously, Joe allows the wines to make themselves. -
All Arcadian wines need several years to truly open up and strut their stuff. (LAY OFF HIS 2005s!!!)
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You notice all my scores are rather bunched up. I frankly like the style of wine Joe produces, and if he doesn’t screw up, will make a wine that warrants 89-95 pts. Other’s opinions may vary.
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Joe is adept at making fine wine from less than fine vintages.
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I think a Jumbo Arcadian Silicon Valley Tasting ought to be an Annual Event and I will do my best to make it happen!
TTT
“Opinot, Not Oporto”
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