Our Philosophy
At Arcadian, we strive to create wine that fully expresses the distinct characteristics of each vineyard and California's Central Coast region. To this end, whenever possible, we gain control over the vineyard by leasing the land as opposed to just purchasing the grapes. By controlling yields from these vineyards and keeping them very low (we farm our Pinot Noir to 2-2.5 tons to the acre), we increase grape quality. The resulting wine speaks more about where it came from than about who made it. This "somewhereness" vs. "someoneness" concept appeals to us because we believe the best wine is made in the vineyard and less in the winery.

The Vineyard
Sleepy Hollow Vineyard is situated along the Santa Lucia bench in the northwestern section of the Salinas Valley of Monterey County. Planted to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in 1974, it was independently owned until 1990 when Robert Talbott purchased the property for his Talbott Winery.

The vineyard itself is broken up into two major parcels: A and B. Within Parcel A, we farm 4.5 acres in Set 2, which is located at the top of the vineyard. We prefer blocks higher up on the slope to ensure good drainage and intensity of flavors in the grapes. Soils consist of sandy loam and Monterey shale making for excellent drainage. The vines are on their own roots and are a combination of Martini and an upright clone the French call "Pinot Droid". Spacing is set at 5x6 and the trellis is a split canopy designed to acclimate the clusters to sun early in the year thus avoiding sunburn later in the summer. It also helps to ripen the grapes more evenly. Pruning is conducted in the winter with only 2 spurs per cordon kept with two clusters per cane in the spring.

The Production
The wines of Burgundy have long captivated Arcadian Winery's winemaker, Joe Davis. He has studied and emulated those Burgundian artisans he most admires and for this bottling of Pisoni Pinot Noir, he employed their traditional techniques to bring forth the uniqueness of these particular rows within Set 5.

Only the best Pinot Noir grape clusters are sorted in the vineyard and then hand picked. After sorting the fruit again when it reaches the winery, the stems are evaluated to determine percentages of whole cluster versus whole berry for fermentation. If the stems have lignified to a brown, the grapes are fermented 100% whole cluster. (If not, all or a portion of the fruit is de-stemmed and only whole berries are fermented).

Dry ice is then added to the fermenting vats to arrest immediate fermentation. This "cold soak" (at 45 °) slows fermentation 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 total acid and imparts softness to the wine. With frequent pigeage (foot treading) and careful monitoring, Joe Davis allows the sugar in the juice to drop to 1-2 ° Brix. The juice is then immediately pressed into 100% new French oak barrels. The wine completes fermentation in barrel fully integrating the qualities of oak in the wine. The wine is aged 13 - 16 months and bottled unfined and unfiltered. Further cellar aging is recommended for this wine to reach its full potential.