Opened 30 minutes prior to serving. Red berry and cherry aromas and flavors with roasted meat and olive tapenade. Good but slightly hollow to start, this filled out nicely with another 15-30 minutes in glass. Very good now.
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Last minute get together (Kevin's house): Slow o'd a couple hours. I do love syrah, and this has some cool climate syrah qualities. Olive, cured meat, beef blood. I really enjoyed this.
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It's Too Damn Hot to Drink Reds (Again) (Rocknroller's (Kevin & Vicki's Place)): Dark red color. Slow O for a couple hours. Drank a glass over 30 minutes. Dried herbs, red fruit, cherry, pepper, spice and wood; on the palate tart, medium body, red cherry, char, nice tannins, pepper and spices. This is a nicely nuanced wine with Northern Rhone aspirations. Drinking well, this has more life. 91+pts.
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Nice wine, very much in the house style for syrah, meaning that there is ripe (but not overripe) California fruit with juicy berry and plum qualities, with touchstones of Northern Rhone like exotic spice and herbs, as well as characteristic syrah black pepper. Better with a long decant, this wine has plenty of life left, so no hurry to drink up.
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-- popped and poured -- -- tasted non-blind over 2 - 3 hours --
NOSE: pleasant, aged savory aspect; ripe; hint of leather; a touch spicy; some sweet oak.
BODY: blood red color of great depth; some sediment present; bricking throughout; medium-full to full bodied.
TASTE: smooth; ripe, rich red fruits; some aged/leather and bitter oak flavors; floral hint; somewhat spiky acidity (or perhaps the 15% alc. poking through); light to medium-light brett --- too bretty for Ashley, and it barely crosses that threshold for me, too.
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Superbly perfumed aromas of savory dark fruits - old leather, black pepper, dried rose petal, grilled teriyaki-marinated meat.
Not entirely completely resolved with some tannic structure lingering on. Red cherry, dried plum and blackberry. Lovely secondary characters firmly established with gamey profile, and ashy spices.
This is an absolute classic of a gem unearthed from the depth of the rather lengthy wine list at Sparks Steakhouse in Midtown East, NYC. 91.
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Could be the very best Arc Syrah we've had. Everything in it's place. Guessing it might start to taper off in 5+ years, but this is a beauty. The elegance of a Syrah made by a Pinot bigot!
To wit...the back label, referencing the limestone nature of Ballard Cyn and the fact that such soils are the key to Burgs/Pinot Noir and how a Syrah might do in such a setting: "I'm intrigued by its Pinot Noir body and elegance and fascinated by how the soil might impact the resultant wine."
Well no surprise here! What a success.
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Had with dinner after a 1 hour decant. Oh wow, what a wine! Nothing to do with French Syrah, but everything to do with its own thing. Lots of red cherries and leather, nice sweetness to it, very fruit forward, but stopping short of going over the top. This went very nicely with a roasted leg of lamb with a chanterelle sauce. I enjoyed this very much and am glad I bought this half blind (thanks to grafstrb for the heads up on this producer!).
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Net net: don't decant if this is for a typical Syrah-based meal.
Decanted 6 hrs prior to marinated lamb dinner. Very nice as a sipping wine but did not really stand up to the pronounced flavors of the meal. The back label tells the story...relatively young Syrah vines planted in limestone-heavy soil (more appropriate for Pinot Noir), yielding a beguilingly light Syrah in color, aromatics, and flavors. This worked well when first tasted, but as the meal progressed it could not support the weight of the meal. Treat more like a light Pinot or even a Chard in terms of food pairings.
Oh...BTW...I really liked this wine in and by itself (quite beguiiling!) and will buy more of subsequent vintages...the craftmanship that went into it was evident, an I like the heads-u on the back label. None of the BS seen on ALL other back labels. Nice structure,a wine that is balanced within itself, basically showed all it could, given the soil and other intrinsic aspects (in my view, anyway!!!). Very nice treat, Joe Davis!
BTW...my rating really "Very good to excellent" in my bview...chack the ratings here on CT if you don't believe it)
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Brought to blind Syrah tasting -- decanted three hours beforehand. Notes combined from the group. Nose of cherries and raspberrys. Leather and musky notes mixed in with smoke. Really nice nose. Very elegant on the finish. Not as muscular as many of the other Cali Syrahs, but a very nice change of pace.
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15.0% alcohol. A bit of funk on the nose initially. This blew off, revealing a ripe, plush, focused Syrah. The emphasis was on fruit all the way. A meaty edge grabbed the blue and black fruit profile, along with rich earth notes. Good acidity. Long finish with some tannic muscle. This was lacking just slightly compared to previous bottles. A-
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15.0% alcohol. Still young, but I couldn't resist. It is also still one of the best American Syrahs I have had. Deep red/purple color. Intensely aromatic, with black and blue fruits, pepper, meat, earth, and spice. In the mouth, plush, ripe, balanced, and masculine. Loads of fruit, spice, complexity, and acidity. Stunning finish. This is great stuff. And it's just barely getting over its most youthful phase. Will go strong for years. A-/A
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$90 off the list at Nepenthe. Had this next to the '02 Alban Lorraine, and the contrast could not have been stronger. This was nearly translucent next to the opaque Alban. This shows off some of the peppery varietal characteristics with its lighter style and higher acidity. Showed some red currant as well as blackberry. Exceptionally well done demonstration of an alternative to the huge CA syrah style. That said, only one of us preferred this to the Lorraine.
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Stunning CA syrah. Blind I would have a very difficult time not calling this a very good young northern Rhone. This is a tour du force in winemaking. I continue to have a very difficult time deciding if Joe's pinots or syrahs are my favorite. I love them both so who needs a favorite. Nose is full of violets, meat, tobacco and blackberries. The palate is exquisitely balanced with bright blackberries, pepper, tobacco and a perfect amount of acidity which leads to a long finish that keeps pumping out spicy blackberry notes and draws you back for another sip. Bravo Joe!!
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Decanted 90 minutes. Agree with my previous assessment except the etoh seemed a bit more intrusive on this occassion. Loved the layered fruit combined with focussing acidity. These are great characteristics that more Cali syrahs should try to emulate. This wine 'suffered' being served proximate to a killer '98 CnP. Maybe I need to be more confident about aging these wines just as I am about French counterparts. Was terrific with a steak frittata.
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Different kind of syrah for me. Decanted 30 minutes. Bright red with some violet leanings. Really forceful nose of edgy (briary as described below?) red fruit (mostly cherry to me). From there some spice and flowers. No meat, blood, mocha, black pepper, or even blue and black fruits that seem to define so many Cali syrahs. Nice lifting fruit on the palate with decent weight. Nicely balanced on the finish with fruit, acid and tannins all lined up. For me this would have scored several points higher if it would trade its elegance for some more complexity or intrigue. I'll try again tomorrow to see if its added complexity or I come to love this style more.
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Clear and rich red color...decanted, but went right for it and boy was this ready. Firm red berries on the nose with some spice and fragrant floral notes. Very nice. But on the palate we had a good conundrum of in your face elegance. Great layers of fruit that was tied up in a great package...adequate frame work of acididty and grip that helped deliver the layers of fruit, leaving this very fluid from the entry to the finish...delicious stuff.
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note from memory - leather, red fruits, flowers, and herbs. soft on the palate, but large on effect. 15% etoh? you'd never know it. this was fabulous and another reason why arcadian is one of my favorite cali producers.
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so good ill be ordering a few more. seamless in the mouth with pepper and spice surrounding the fruit. Not a big wine in texture but big in results. great finish. great wine
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great wine. others have stated the lightness of this wine and it so true. not big and thick like some cali syrahs. definately needs a good decant. flavers of black fruits and a floral element with pepper and some spice. long enjoyable finish
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This is a wonderful bottle of wine. The nose is all about spice and bright briary red fruit. Some pepper. Hard to tell what is fruit and oak influenced. The palate is so light and shows so much vibrancy. Fabulous. Very good ripe dark fruit. The finish is long and very fresh. This is stunning stuff.
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At our Orlando off-line at Moonfish with Stucker and Sane....My contribution was the 2003 Arcadian Stolpman Syrah. Good comparison on styles with the Pax. This is one of my favorite bottlings and was “in trade” with Bruce for a taste of the Kutch. This will be absolutely great in 5 or 6 years but is still worth opening and pouring now – but decant longer than we did this evening. Red berries, black raspberry, a little pepper and spice. At 15%, the alcohol was very subdued. This is well-balanced and really smooth. I think this is a great QPR effort by Joe Davis. It was the table WOTN – and a solid 93 points.
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3/29/2022 - tederf wrote:
A bit over the hill but OK. I think 19 years might be the limit for this one.
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9/11/2019 - Burgundy Al wrote: 90 Points
Opened 30 minutes prior to serving. Red berry and cherry aromas and flavors with roasted meat and olive tapenade. Good but slightly hollow to start, this filled out nicely with another 15-30 minutes in glass. Very good now.
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9/22/2018 - grafstrb wrote:
-- popped and poured --
-- tasted non-blind over approx. one hour --
Red-fruited with high acidity. This bottle was clean -- not bretty like the last one. Very enjoyable. Drink now.
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7/4/2018 - galewskj wrote: 92 Points
Last minute get together (Kevin's house): Slow o'd a couple hours. I do love syrah, and this has some cool climate syrah qualities. Olive, cured meat, beef blood. I really enjoyed this.
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6/30/2018 - rocknroller wrote: 91 Points
It's Too Damn Hot to Drink Reds (Again) (Rocknroller's (Kevin & Vicki's Place)): Dark red color. Slow O for a couple hours. Drank a glass over 30 minutes. Dried herbs, red fruit, cherry, pepper, spice and wood; on the palate tart, medium body, red cherry, char, nice tannins, pepper and spices. This is a nicely nuanced wine with Northern Rhone aspirations. Drinking well, this has more life. 91+pts.
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4/8/2018 - amateurwino wrote:
Nice wine, very much in the house style for syrah, meaning that there is ripe (but not overripe) California fruit with juicy berry and plum qualities, with touchstones of Northern Rhone like exotic spice and herbs, as well as characteristic syrah black pepper. Better with a long decant, this wine has plenty of life left, so no hurry to drink up.
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3/28/2018 - pjhr Likes this wine: 94 Points
A beautiful syrah, even more vibrant and delicious than the last bottle!
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2/22/2018 - pjhr Likes this wine: 93 Points
Drinking beautifully! Delicious red berries, leather, and earthy notes on the nose and palate with juicy acidity on the long finish.
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1/29/2018 - grafstrb wrote: flawed
-- popped and poured --
-- tasted non-blind over 2 - 3 hours --
NOSE: pleasant, aged savory aspect; ripe; hint of leather; a touch spicy; some sweet oak.
BODY: blood red color of great depth; some sediment present; bricking throughout; medium-full to full bodied.
TASTE: smooth; ripe, rich red fruits; some aged/leather and bitter oak flavors; floral hint; somewhat spiky acidity (or perhaps the 15% alc. poking through); light to medium-light brett --- too bretty for Ashley, and it barely crosses that threshold for me, too.
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11/13/2017 - NarunP Likes this wine: 91 Points
100% Syrah
Brownish, bricked, garnet. Semi transparent. Widened rim.
Superbly perfumed aromas of savory dark fruits - old leather, black pepper, dried rose petal, grilled teriyaki-marinated meat.
Not entirely completely resolved with some tannic structure lingering on. Red cherry, dried plum and blackberry. Lovely secondary characters firmly established with gamey profile, and ashy spices.
This is an absolute classic of a gem unearthed from the depth of the rather lengthy wine list at Sparks Steakhouse in Midtown East, NYC. 91.
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2/28/2015 - stufis wrote: 93 Points
Could be the very best Arc Syrah we've had. Everything in it's place. Guessing it might start to taper off in 5+ years, but this is a beauty. The elegance of a Syrah made by a Pinot bigot!
To wit...the back label, referencing the limestone nature of Ballard Cyn and the fact that such soils are the key to Burgs/Pinot Noir and how a Syrah might do in such a setting: "I'm intrigued by its Pinot Noir body and elegance and fascinated by how the soil might impact the resultant wine."
Well no surprise here! What a success.
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4/8/2012 - smokie wrote: 92 Points
Nice syrah, but not as good as the Stolpman syrah by Stolpman, which was half the price of Arcadian. Now you know why I am not on the list anymore.
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5/14/2011 - djreme wrote: 94 Points
Very nice and smooth. These people make a good Syrah. Still have one bottle of the Gary's Vineyard 2001 that was equally as nice.
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2/4/2011 - paideia109 wrote: 93 Points
Probably slightly past peak.
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8/5/2010 - NiklasW Likes this wine: 90 Points
Had with dinner after a 1 hour decant. Oh wow, what a wine! Nothing to do with French Syrah, but everything to do with its own thing. Lots of red cherries and leather, nice sweetness to it, very fruit forward, but stopping short of going over the top. This went very nicely with a roasted leg of lamb with a chanterelle sauce. I enjoyed this very much and am glad I bought this half blind (thanks to grafstrb for the heads up on this producer!).
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2/27/2010 - stufis wrote: 88 Points
Net net: don't decant if this is for a typical Syrah-based meal.
Decanted 6 hrs prior to marinated lamb dinner. Very nice as a sipping wine but did not really stand up to the pronounced flavors of the meal. The back label tells the story...relatively young Syrah vines planted in limestone-heavy soil (more appropriate for Pinot Noir), yielding a beguilingly light Syrah in color, aromatics, and flavors. This worked well when first tasted, but as the meal progressed it could not support the weight of the meal. Treat more like a light Pinot or even a Chard in terms of food pairings.
Oh...BTW...I really liked this wine in and by itself (quite beguiiling!) and will buy more of subsequent vintages...the craftmanship that went into it was evident, an I like the heads-u on the back label. None of the BS seen on ALL other back labels. Nice structure,a wine that is balanced within itself, basically showed all it could, given the soil and other intrinsic aspects (in my view, anyway!!!). Very nice treat, Joe Davis!
BTW...my rating really "Very good to excellent" in my bview...chack the ratings here on CT if you don't believe it)
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2/20/2010 - popquizkid wrote:
Brought to blind Syrah tasting -- decanted three hours beforehand. Notes combined from the group. Nose of cherries and raspberrys. Leather and musky notes mixed in with smoke. Really nice nose. Very elegant on the finish. Not as muscular as many of the other Cali Syrahs, but a very nice change of pace.
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9/11/2009 - gutt22 wrote:
15.0% alcohol. A bit of funk on the nose initially. This blew off, revealing a ripe, plush, focused Syrah. The emphasis was on fruit all the way. A meaty edge grabbed the blue and black fruit profile, along with rich earth notes. Good acidity. Long finish with some tannic muscle. This was lacking just slightly compared to previous bottles. A-
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3/3/2009 - gutt22 wrote:
15.0% alcohol. Still young, but I couldn't resist. It is also still one of the best American Syrahs I have had. Deep red/purple color. Intensely aromatic, with black and blue fruits, pepper, meat, earth, and spice. In the mouth, plush, ripe, balanced, and masculine. Loads of fruit, spice, complexity, and acidity. Stunning finish. This is great stuff. And it's just barely getting over its most youthful phase. Will go strong for years. A-/A
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1/24/2009 - pgm wrote: 91 Points
$90 off the list at Nepenthe. Had this next to the '02 Alban Lorraine, and the contrast could not have been stronger. This was nearly translucent next to the opaque Alban. This shows off some of the peppery varietal characteristics with its lighter style and higher acidity. Showed some red currant as well as blackberry. Exceptionally well done demonstration of an alternative to the huge CA syrah style. That said, only one of us preferred this to the Lorraine.
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1/2/2009 - RussW wrote:
Stunning CA syrah. Blind I would have a very difficult time not calling this a very good young northern Rhone. This is a tour du force in winemaking. I continue to have a very difficult time deciding if Joe's pinots or syrahs are my favorite. I love them both so who needs a favorite. Nose is full of violets, meat, tobacco and blackberries. The palate is exquisitely balanced with bright blackberries, pepper, tobacco and a perfect amount of acidity which leads to a long finish that keeps pumping out spicy blackberry notes and draws you back for another sip. Bravo Joe!!
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11/16/2008 - jwsmith wrote: 91 Points
Big powerful cornas like syrah, very good and balanced. Excellent value. Slightly bitter on the final finish
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9/1/2008 - thomaskeil wrote: 90 Points
Decanted 90 minutes. Agree with my previous assessment except the etoh seemed a bit more intrusive on this occassion. Loved the layered fruit combined with focussing acidity. These are great characteristics that more Cali syrahs should try to emulate. This wine 'suffered' being served proximate to a killer '98 CnP. Maybe I need to be more confident about aging these wines just as I am about French counterparts. Was terrific with a steak frittata.
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8/29/2008 - pizzler wrote: 93 Points
Excellent balance with plenty of fruit and structure to support a long-lived wine. Dark fruit flavors with vanilla and caramel aftertastes. Yummy!
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2/13/2008 - thomaskeil wrote: 91 Points
Different kind of syrah for me. Decanted 30 minutes. Bright red with some violet leanings. Really forceful nose of edgy (briary as described below?) red fruit (mostly cherry to me). From there some spice and flowers. No meat, blood, mocha, black pepper, or even blue and black fruits that seem to define so many Cali syrahs. Nice lifting fruit on the palate with decent weight. Nicely balanced on the finish with fruit, acid and tannins all lined up. For me this would have scored several points higher if it would trade its elegance for some more complexity or intrigue. I'll try again tomorrow to see if its added complexity or I come to love this style more.
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1/25/2008 - charbo wrote:
3rd in 6 months and it is continuing to sing
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10/19/2007 - Tejano wrote: 94 Points
Clear and rich red color...decanted, but went right for it and boy was this ready. Firm red berries on the nose with some spice and fragrant floral notes. Very nice. But on the palate we had a good conundrum of in your face elegance. Great layers of fruit that was tied up in a great package...adequate frame work of acididty and grip that helped deliver the layers of fruit, leaving this very fluid from the entry to the finish...delicious stuff.
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10/13/2007 - etherscreen wrote:
note from memory - leather, red fruits, flowers, and herbs. soft on the palate, but large on effect. 15% etoh? you'd never know it. this was fabulous and another reason why arcadian is one of my favorite cali producers.
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9/8/2007 - charbo wrote:
so good ill be ordering a few more. seamless in the mouth with pepper and spice surrounding the fruit. Not a big wine in texture but big in results. great finish. great wine
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9/6/2007 - jivey wrote:
Not my thing.
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5/26/2007 - charbo wrote:
great wine. others have stated the lightness of this wine and it so true. not big and thick like some cali syrahs. definately needs a good decant. flavers of black fruits and a floral element with pepper and some spice. long enjoyable finish
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4/24/2007 - DCornutt wrote: 95 Points
This is a wonderful bottle of wine.
The nose is all about spice and bright briary red fruit. Some pepper. Hard to tell what is fruit and oak influenced.
The palate is so light and shows so much vibrancy. Fabulous.
Very good ripe dark fruit.
The finish is long and very fresh.
This is stunning stuff.
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4/4/2007 - tederf wrote: 93 Points
At our Orlando off-line at Moonfish with Stucker and Sane....My contribution was the 2003 Arcadian Stolpman Syrah. Good comparison on styles with the Pax. This is one of my favorite bottlings and was “in trade” with Bruce for a taste of the Kutch. This will be absolutely great in 5 or 6 years but is still worth opening and pouring now – but decant longer than we did this evening. Red berries, black raspberry, a little pepper and spice. At 15%, the alcohol was very subdued. This is well-balanced and really smooth. I think this is a great QPR effort by Joe Davis. It was the table WOTN – and a solid 93 points.
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4/2/2007 - tederf wrote: 93 Points
Second bottle in one week! Great. With brisket at Passover Sedar.
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3/3/2007 - CO CHRIS wrote:
Had to do it, I'm going to try at least ONE Arcadian to see if I want more before it sells out...15% alc listed - what the hell is going on here? :^)
Smoked meat/gamey notes on the palate and nose....
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