The Harvest

An unseasonably cool spring followed by below-normal summer temperatures made for a long, cool growing season, positioning 2002 as the second coolest vintage on record in the Santa Maria Valley. Yields were light - 25-50% below normal - and berries were especially small. Poor fruit set contributed to the small crop, but promoted outstanding expression and intensity in the fruit.

The Vineyard

The Dierberg’s began planting their 160 acre vineyard in 1997. The vineyard is predominantly a series of small undulating hills with southern exposures and sandy loam soils. Ten different Pinot Noir clones were matched with a variety of limiting rootstocks to maximize the options in the vineyard. Clone selections for Pinot Noir featured Dijon clones 115,667 and 867 along with cuttings from Champagne including clone 31 and clone 13. A total of 25 different Pinot Noir blocks are now planted within the Dierberg Vineyard. At harvest time, each of these blocks are picked separately and their flavor profiles and quality are evaluated as candidates for the final blend. Of particular interest to me are these two clones from Champagne which seem to retain their acidity at riper sugar levels. With this inaugural vintage the blend is primarily clone 31 with 25% clone 13 and 10 % clone 115.

The Production

Only the best Pinot Noir grape clusters are handpicked in the vineyard in the early morning hours when the fruit is still cool. Pinot Noir has a tendency to ferment very quickly thus preventing the wine full color and flavor extraction. To arrest the on-set of immediate fermentation, dry ice is added to the small open top fermenting vats. This "cold soak" (at 45 °F) slows fermentation while saturating the juice with rich fruit flavor and true Pinot Noir color from prolonged contact with the grape skins. Concomitant with the primary fermentation is malolactic fermentation (malic acid to lactic acid), which reduces the total acid and imparts softness to the wine. The grapes are pigeaged (foot treaded) 3 to 5 times daily to extract color and tannins. We then press the wine at 1 - 2 % sugar and allow it to complete fermentation in 6 barrels; this helps integrate the qualities of oak in the wine. The wine was aged in 100 % new Sirugue French oak barrels for 22 months and bottled unfined and unfiltered. The bottled wine was further aged 14 months to allow the integration of the wine to become more complete

Tasting Notes

This is perhaps the biggest richest Pinot Noir we’ve produced thus far at Arcadian. Deep dark color and rich viscous dark red berry fruits rise up out of the glass. Tasting of dark Bing cherries and allspice the wine finishes with good acidity contributing to a very lengthy finish. A total of 291 six packs were produced.