The Harvest
1998 was one of the most difficult vintages I have faced in my years as a winemaker. Particularly in the naturally cooler growing region of the Santa Lucia Highlands, which make up the western portion of the Salinas Valley. This year truly exemplified my belief that successfully growing world-class Pinot Noir requires a healthy vineyard situated in a warm microclimate within a cool region. Due to the residual impact of El Niño, 1998 was a very cold year overall. Rainy days during the flowering period produced a very poor set with lots of uneven berries among the clusters. Throughout the spring and into the summer, it remained cold and vine development lagged behind schedule. By September, most winemakers felt "All dressed up with no place to go." The unseasonably cold weather throughout the fading summer and into the fall left many of us wondering if we would ever get ripeness in the berries. This overly cold weather negatively impacted the fruit quality and though sugars were developing, flavors were not. Consequently, we were very diligent in our triage of the fruit in the vineyard. Our yields at harvest fell to well below 30 hectoliters per hectare.

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 is broken up into two major parcels: A and B. Within Parcel A, we farm 6 acres in Set 1 South, which is located at the top of the gently sloping vineyard. We select blocks located high on the slopes 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 with a split canopy trellis designed to acclimate the clusters to the sun early in the year, thus avoiding sunburn later in the summer. This trellis design also helps to produce more evenly ripe fruit. Pruning is conducted in the winter with only 2 spurs per cordon kept. And in the spring, we prune to 2 clusters per cane. In 1998, we further reduced clusters to one per shoot or about 2 pounds per vine, well below the industry average of 12-15 pounds per vine.

The Production
The wines of Burgundy have long captivated Arcadian Winery's winemaker, Joseph Davis. He has studied and emulated those Burgundian artisans he most admires and for this bottling of Sleepy Hollow Pinot Noir, he employed their traditional techniques to bring forth the uniqueness of these particular rows within Set 1 A South.

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 15 months and bottled unfined and unfiltered.