2000 Arcadian Pinot Noir Francesca's Cuvée

Community Tasting Notes (45) Avg Score: 92.1 points

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  7/17/2023 - ekorn wrote:

  My last bottle of this. Soft, crumbly cork. Decanted -- tons of fine sediment. Poured into Grassl Crus.
  
  Red fruited with a sweet and sour profile and a strong dead leaf/soil character. Less fruit here than my last bottle. Still enjoyable but this bottle was clearly mature; drink now.

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  3/5/2023 - ekorn Likes this wine:

  GRAFSTRB's most recent note pretty much nails the bottle we opened last night. Color shows age - plenty of bricking on the rim. Expressive nose of red fruit and earth, which carries through to the palate. The tertiary notes dominated on the palate, but there was enough fruit to carry them. Really delicious, mature wine that was well-loved by everyone around the table.

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  6/19/2022 - grafstrb wrote: 95 Points

  This felt like the perfect bottle to open for Father's Day; it's a wine I've always loved, and it was made by a father for his daughter. Cheers!
  
  -- decanted 1 hr. before initial taste --
  -- tasted non-blind over a couple hours --
  
  NOSE: high-toned and expressive; firmly red-fruited (boysenberry/cranberry/rhubarb/cherry mix); slight smoky aspect.
  
  BODY: slightly hazy; garnet color with slight bricking throughout; color is of medium-shallow to medium depth; medium bodied.
  
  TASTE: no tannins; high acidity; earthy/savory and red-fruited -- dirty strawberry, rhubarb, and boysenberry; more tertiary than primary now, with the fruit seemingly starting to fade away; medium-light to medium oak note; little hint of spice (perhaps oak-derived). Drink Now and over the near term. Such a wonderful wine!
  
  50, 5, 13, 18, 9 - 95

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  1/20/2021 - grafstrb wrote: 97 Points

  -- decanted one hour before initial taste --
  -- tasted non-blind over 4.25 hours --
  
  NOSE: O.M.G.! swoon-worthy aromas of baked strawberry and baked cherry; high-toned savory facet; an earthy note; hint of mineral; gorgeous mix of primary and tertiary elements; not bretty; fully open and expressive; complex; absolutely stunning!
  
  BODY: medium to medium-full bodied; dark garnet core with slight bricking throughout; color is of medium depth.
  
  TASTE: smooth; medium+ to high acidity; dark red fruits -- dark cherry; a touch earthy; very gentle Pinot funk (*not* brett); light oak on the front palate; this is in such a magical spot right now! rich, full, decadent, and elegant all at the same time; Francesca's birth year wine; this wine continues to flex. I wouldn't be surprised if this continues to develop positively over the short or medium term, but let's be clear: it's in its prime window right now, and it would be extremely unfortunate for anyone holding multiple bottles to miss the present stage of this wine's life.
  
  50, 5, 14, 18, 10 = 97

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  2/21/2020 - grafstrb wrote: 92 Points

  -- decanted 40 minutes before initial taste --
  -- tasted non-blind over 1.25 hours --
  
  NOSE: expressive; high-toned and rustic; acquiring some overt tertiary aspects now.
  
  BODY: slightly hazy; garnet-violet color of medium to medium-deep depth; a little bit of age is noticeable on the color, but this has a generally youthful appearance for its age; light to medium-light bodied.
  
  TASTE: thin and watery on the palate, initially; high acidity; more red-fruited than anything else; old wood; 13.0% alc. not noticeable; hints of coffee and spice; front palate did round-out with some air, although it was a little thin on the mid-palate (it's entirely possible this bottle would have benefited from more air than it received). Excellent, but not quite as compelling as a couple previous bottles --- hard to tell if it's bottle variation, or difference in bottle prep.. Based on this bottle, I'd say Drink Now and over the next 5 years, but previous bottles hinted at a much longer lifespan. Very much worth opening now if you have multiple bottles.
  
  50, 5, 13, 16, 8 = 92

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