1998 Pisoni Vineyard

The Harvest
Though 1998 was a very cool year and brought about difficulties in other Pinot Noir vineyards, Pisoni vineyard remained true to form with an exceptional set and uniform development throughout the vineyard. This year truly exemplified our belief that successful growth of world-class Pinot Noir requires a healthy vineyard situated in a warm microclimate within a cool region. Pisoni Vineyard is a prime example of this scenario. The particular rows we lease at the top of the vineyard are always the first to be harvested due to excellent drainage and the earliest exposure to the heat of each day. In a year like 1998, the grapes benefited from additional hang time and retained more acidity, producing the best example from that vineyard to date. Harvest began on September 25th, three weeks later than normal.

The Vineyard
When Gary Pisoni was freshly graduated from San Jose State University in 1974, he decided to travel to Europe and found himself for no particular reason in the region of Burgundy, more specifically Vosne Romanée. One evening, during dinner, he was offered a glass of local wine and had an epiphany. The wine was from the famed Domaine de la Romanée-Conti vineyards. He was instantly hooked and spent several days exploring the wines of the region. One night, after drinking several bottles with the locals, he returned to his hotel room to retrieve his pocketknife. He made his way into the vineyards and began to cut some sticks away from the vines. He wrapped them in wet towels and hid them away in his suitcase.

When Gary then returned from Burgundy and began propagating his cuttings from DRC's La Tache Vineyard. As the vines developed, he selected a 50-acre plot on his family's farm to plant the vines. He carefully laid out the vineyard, planting and trellising the vines almost identically to the ones he had seen in Burgundy. Over the years, he increased the site to some twenty acres.

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 the particular rows in our one-hectare parcel in the top portion of the vineyard.

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 2-3% sugar and allow it to complete fermentation in barrel; this helps integrate the qualities of oak in the wine. The wine was aged in new François Frères 100% French oak barrels for sixteen months and bottled unfined and unfiltered.