The Harvest
1999 was an especially long cool vintage with the complete grape growth and development cycle lagging far behind schedule. Flowering in the spring was affected by rain and set was uneven and poor. Yields were reduced to less than 2 tons to the acre. Cooler weather throughout the summer increased hang time, however an unusually warm week occurred the second week of October. This warm weather developed wonderful flavors in the grapes and we began harvest the next week. The grapes arrived into the cellar in perfect condition with wonderful acidity and moderate potential alcohol. Despite the early rains at flowering, 1999 has proven to be one of my favorite all time vintages. Fantastic wine is the result!

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. Parcel B produces the best quality Chardonnay by far and it is in this parcel that Talbott Winery harvests grapes for its own Talbott Chardonnay. Our particular block within parcel B is Set 5, which is located in the upper 1/3 of the gently sloping vineyard. We select blocks located high on the slopes to ensure good drainage and intensity of flavor in the grapes. Soils consist of sandy loam and Monterey shale making for excellent drainage. The vines are on 5C rootstock and are a combination of Wente and Mount Eden clones. The trellis is a split canopy designed to acclimate the clusters to sun early in the year, thus avoiding sunburn later in the summer. This trellis design also helps to produce more evenly ripened fruit.

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 Chardonnay, he employed their traditional techniques to bring forth the uniqueness of these particular rows within Set 5.

The grapes were handpicked and delivered to the winery in the morning and then whole cluster pressed using a small bladder press. The more delicate, low phenolic juice offsets the lower yield of whole cluster pressing. The juice is cold settled for 24 hours and then racked to barrel. Fermentation took place in 100% new Sirugue French oak barrels. Concomitant with the primary fermentation is the malolactic fermentation (a conversion of malic acid to lactic acid). This conversion helps to reduce the total acid and softens the wine. The wine is aged sur lee for 15 months to reduce oxygen uptake and to soften the mouthfeel of the wine. Barrels are hand stirred every two weeks for six months to improve the textures of the wine. No filtration was required of this wine and only a bit of milk was used to fine out some proteins.