Introducing BANSHEE WINES
We at Church Street Wine Cellars originally got to know our friend, Baron Ziegler when he often came to Vermont while working for Eric Solomon at European Cellars, one of our favorite importers of Southern French and Spanish wine gems.
Well he has recently started his own company along with fellow industry insiders Noah Dorrance, Andrew Crookes and Steve Graf. With their combined experience in restaurant, retail, wholesale and the import businesses, they are uniquely suited to service the distinct needs within each tier of the wine industry, and be the finest stewards for their stable of incredible producers, both foreign (under their import label, Valkyrie Selections, but more on that another time) and domestic.
Banshee Wines is doing the backdoor barrel routine (buying barrels from some of California’s top cult wineries for 15 cents on the dollar) as well making some really GREAT wines. These guys and this brand is absolutely ON FIRE…and you just have to own some of these wines! The QPR value (Quality/Price Ratio) is OFF THE CHARTS!
In Baron’s own words: “Banshee Wines is not your normal wine company. It is a band of wine industry insiders dedicated to producing benchmark wines without the cult wine prices. We specialize in finding hidden gems in other wineries’ cellars and then blending those barrels to create killer wines. For every barrel we take, we pass on 15 more that don’t make the cut.
The secret is that today, high-end wineries can’t sell all the wine they make and they don’t want to lower prices because they don’t want to diminish their brand. They would rather sell some of their wine to us and protect their luxury prices, knowing that we’ll maintain a strict confidentiality and produce top notch wines.”
Fine by us, and even better for you. You’ll find Banshee on some of the best restaurant lists in the world, in the cellars of select wine cognoscenti, and in only the finest retail shops…you know, those people that tend to know these types of things, like us at Church Street Wine Cellars!
Their goal is to deliver distinctive wines that beat the pants off many costing twice as much. Well know it we do, and we’re true believers in what these guys are doing. We know you will be too.
The Line-Up…
- Banshee Sauvignon Blanc Napa 2010 $19.99
This is a slighty grassy, lemon blossom and citrusy Sauvignon Blanc, with no malo but a rush of melony goodness on the palate. Medium-bodied, this wine has good texture AND acidity, which would come as no surprise if you knew the wine’s source. Banshee gets 98% of the fruit from one of the top Sauvignon Blanc producers in the Napa Valley (maybe you can get it out of us over a glass of wine). Try this with fresh-shucked oysters, a lobster boil or even a Chinese chicken salad. Yum! Everything about this summertime beauty screams “beat the heat”!
- Rickshaw Pinot Noir ’09 Sonoma County $16.99
The fruit is from Sonoma County, the wine is clean, ripe and flavorful and the concept is simple: evolved winemaking. Start with a surplus of quality wine that should be sold for more under a fancy label, select the best and sell for less. Bottle it under screwcap (au revoir, corked wine) in a bottle with a bright and snappy label and you’ve got yourself a fine deal. Nothing could be more natural.
This Pinot from Sonoma County sings from the minute you twist its cap. Full of aromas of sun-ripened blackberry and blueberry fruit, with a pretty cafe con leche note, the nose gives away its serious but accessible nature. Ripe, juicy and full of character, this gets even more impressive the moment it enters your mouth with the dark fruited tones of Sonoma Coast fruit and the soft open knit texture of Russian River Valley. With a likeable streak of oak toast running down the middle of the wine that adds dimension and richness, this is even appropriate for slightly heftier dishes like BBQ and fresh salmon. This speaks of the freshness of spring and the affordability to stock up for summer.
- Banshee Pinot Noir ’09 Sonoma County $24.99
A blend of five prominent vineyards, the 2009 Sonoma County Pinot Noir is a complex pinot with dark cherry fruit and sweet earthen minerality held together by bright acidity and long, ripe tannins. The vineyards utilized include a coveted high-density parcel in the Russian River Valley with Gold Ridge soils, a biodynamically farmed vineyard in the Sonoma Coast AVA, and a steep hillside location in the Petaluma Gap farmed organically.
100% Pinot Noir, less than 4000 cases made from Sonoma Coast and Russian River AVAs. Most of the wine received a 3-5 day cold soak before beginning a 50% whole-berry, 50% crushed berry fermentation. The wine was then sent to rest in 100% French {Francois Freres, Seguin Moreau, etc} oak barrels, about 35% new, for 14 months. Expensive pedigree for sure, but that’s the Banshee mission!
Oozing class, this beauty does everything that topnotch pinot noir should do…and then some.
- Rickshaw “Red Wine” ’07 Napa Valley $16.99 (60% Merlot, 34% Cabernet, 6% Petit Verdot)
From a GREAT VINTAGE, the 2007 Rickshaw Red Wine is a killer blend of 100% Napa Valley fruit (from a Merlot heavyweight) that punches much higher than its weight class and price suggest. Rich espresso notes mix with refined dark fruits on the palate complimented by an intoxicating pencil lead/anise nose. It would be an amazing deal at $30 but for $15 there is not a better Napa wine anywhere in the world. A delicious blend of 60% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot. This was a one off (IT MAY NEVER BE MADE AGAIN, unless someone is again willing to drop $6000 ton top-quality Napa Merlot for $1600 a ton) – SO GET IT WHILE YOU CAN!
- Banshee Cabernet ’08 Napa Valley $37.99
The 2008 Banshee Napa Valley Cabernet comes from some of the most lauded Cab vineyards in Napa but is priced at wallet-friendly prices. When you taste it, you’re immediately transported to the world of $80+ cult Cabernet, rather than lingering in the $38 price point, which is largely dominated by HUGE production, poorly made Cabs. We can’t drink enough of this stuff ourselves, and we think that you’ll be as impressed as we are. The downside is that there was only 400 cases made and it is sold out at the winery.
About 60% comes from 20 year old vines from the famed Ink Grade Vineyard atop Howell Mountain. The remainder is from the low yielding Cab vines of the famous Stagecoach Vineyard in Pritchard Hill.
After harvesting only 4-6 bunches per vine (a tiny 2.2 – 2.5 tons per acre), the wine was fermented in small temperature controlled steel fermenters and then put in 100% new French oak for 20 months. (Radoux and Demptos barrels).
So suave it makes “The Most Interesting Man in World” blush. It deftly balances flavors of rich espresso, Tahitian vanilla, and black cherry with alluring violet perfumes wafting out of the glass. Rarely does one find a wine that so effortlessly and seamlessly combines the masculine and feminine.
- Banshee “Mordecai” Proprietary Red California 2009 $24.99
It started out as a high class problem. The guys were able to secure parcels from some of the best, and most well known vineyards in California. Places like Whitehawk, Alder Springs, Grist, Parmalee Hill, and, well, we can’t mention any more names – at least they can’t say what they get from where. Suffice it to say, there are some heavy hitters in their possession. That is the high class part.
The problem part was that they didn’t have a large quantity of any one of those wines. So they really didn’t want to bottle 8 different wines with only a handful of cases of each available.
The solution? Make a delicious proprietary red wine by daring to cross a few boundary lines. The blend struts some the best Syrah in California, a Turley single vineyard Zin source, Napa Mourvedre, Grenache from Paso and a few other bits and pieces that worked well with the rest of the blend. Again, why pay Turley or other overly-inflated prices?
Bold with a panoply of dark and red berry fruit but structured enough to be a serious wine, the Banshee Mordecai is like nothing else on the market. Somehow the Banshee boys keep coming across some of the best barrels and highest quality fruit sources around and spinning them into wonderfully affordable delicious wines. In the case of the “Mordecai” they have come up with what we call a kitchen sink blend, a little bit of a lot of things. This is wildly crowd pleasing!
THE SPECIAL OFFER: How do you buy a 97-Point $175 a bottle Napa Valley cult-classic Cabernet Sauvignon for less than $38? Buy it from Church Street Wine Cellars with the Banshee label on it of course!
Banshee Cabernet Sauvignon Napa 2007 – the real deal
We just procured a very limited supply of this 97-point spectacular Cabernet from our friends at Banshee, even though they are now sold of their awesome 2008 now (but don’t worry, they bottled their 2009 Cab a week ago Friday and it’s on it’s way to us). Check out the review below…$175 bottle retail (by mailing list), and it can be yours with the Banshee label for only $37.99!
“The 2007 XXXX Cabernet Sauvignon (90% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot aged 20 months in 100% French oak) is a La Mission Haut-Brion look-alike. Burning ember, scorched earth, blackberry, smoked herb, and sweet cassis fruit characteristics are all present in this full-bodied, dense, concentrated offering. With a whopping finish as well as great balance and purity, it should drink well for 20+ years. ”
It deftly balances both rich espresso and black currants with alluring violet perfume. Rarely does one find a wine that so effortlessly and seamlessly combines the masculine and feminine.
Some fun facts:
The winery where this gem was born has a flagship wine that releases for well over $250 a bottle.
It was made by one of the top 3 winemaking consultants in the world.
The winery sold this exact wine with a different label for $175 a bottle.
BANSHEE bought all of the unlabeled bottles they had (after pooling their life savings to do it and writing the biggest check of their lives!) and are offering it for less than 1/4 of the price!
This big Cab was made to go with a grass fed NY strip. Light up the grill baby!
While we’ve all heard that every wine has a story, so does every winemaker. One of the highlights of being in the wine business is getting to know the people behind the unique and interesting wines that we have at Church Street Wine Cellars in Burlington, Vermont. I’ve had the pleasure to get to know our friend, Joe Davis, who frequently comes by when he is in Vermont. One of the most enjoyable conversations I’ve had with Joe was over a glass of wine on a cold February evening a couple of years ago when I asked Joe how it is he came to be a winemaker.
Joe Davis was born and raised in Monterey, California in an Italian family who worked for generations in the fishing industry. Joe spent his childhood on the decks of his family’s fishing boats. He was constantly seasick as a youngster, so the prospect of following in his family’s footsteps wasn’t very appealing to Joe. Daring to not follow tradition, Joe got the courage to ask his grandfather what profession he thought he should pursue, “in case I don’t go into the family business”? Without hesitation, Joe’s grandfather told him the only respectable jobs are farming, cheesemaking, winemaking, or becoming a doctor.
With the intent to venture in different direction, Joe was the first in his family to go to college where he had a talent and propensity for science. While he was college in Seattle, Joe worked in a wine store where he became a devotee to pinot noir after a customer gave him a bottle of Domaine Dujac as a gift.
After college Joe was accepted into two top medical schools. Joe not only was the first in his family to go to college, but was on his way to becoming a doctor. It was after a year in medical school that Joe became interested in the wine program at UC Davis and decided to pursue his current career to the benefit to all other pinot devotees out there! I asked Joe how his family took the news he was leaving medical school? Without hestation and with a sense of humor that comes naturally to Joe, he responded, “like a fart in a submarine!” Thereafter, Joe said his parents moved his bedroom out to the garage. “I was the only kid on the block who got into his bedroom with a clicker.”
The family disappointment that there wasn’t going be a doctor among the clan was shortlived. Not only is Joe known for his highly sought after Burgundian-style pinot noirs, but also honed his skills in making chardonnay while working in his first job as a winemaker at Morgan Winery in the 1980′s. Right out of the gate, Joe became an instant celebrity along with the other movie stars in Monterey with his first chardonnay at Morgan.
After a long night out with the boys, Joe said he was awakened one morning by his feisty Italian mother with a broom in his back exclaiming, “what did you do last night?”. The neighborhood was crawling with TV cameras and reporters all looking to talk to Joe. Joe stammered down the hall of his house, trying to piece together the activities of the night before and he was pretty sure it didn’t involve anything “felonious”. When he opened the front door, he was greeted with flashing cameras eagerly waiting to snap his picture while Joe stood there in his skivies and bedhead. Joe said his picture looked like something that would have been taken down at the County jail.
It so happened that former President Reagan took wines from his home state of California to the White House. When the United States made peace with Russia and the Cold War came to an end, Ronald Reagan presented Mikhail Gorbachev with a gift of wine. One of the selections was Joe’s chardonnay. Thereafter, Joe was presented with a key to the city, and more importantly, Joe got to move his bedroom back into the house.
On a recent visit to Vermont, Joe told us he is pursuing a new venture of value wines called “Big Cock”, “Fat Cock” and “Long Cock”, amazingly approved by our Federal labelling authorities (although he was turned down when he offered up “Twisted Cock”). According to Joe, all was fine while he was talking about size. But when he ventured away from “Cock” size, he was told “NO” in no uncertain terms. No doubt the name alone will get people’s attention, but knowing Joe, the wines will be delcious and well worth the money, keeping the masses coming back for more. In the meantime, come on by Church Street Wine Cellars and pick up an extraordinary bottle of Arcadian wine. And if you ever get a chance to spend time with the man behind the wines, you won’t be disappointed either!
We have a variety of Arcadian wines for sale at Church Street Wine Cellars, at 2 Church Street, Burlington, Vermont, including but not limited to, the following:
Church Street Wine Cellars, at 2 Church Street, in Burlington Vermont invites you to the coolest in-store tastings in town. Stay tuned for our e-mails of educational in-store wine tasting events, by by the most knowledgeable staff!
If you didn’t make the last tasting, you missed some great value Italian wines paired with extensive tasting notes to see and feel where the wines are from, or tasting the flavorful, lightly-salted, air-dried Friulian Speck, the Genoa Salami, the array of great cheeses: Sottocenere (aka Perlagrigia) an ash-rind semi-soft Venetian cows’ milk cheese with fabulous truffle shavings; a 4-yr aged, organic and crystalline Parmiggiano-Reggiano hard cheese; or the soft Roccheta, a Piedmontese cows & sheep milk cheese paired with Castelveterano Sicilian un-cured (no vinegar) green olives with Red Hen fresh-baked Ciabatta to accompany our themed tasting.
Well, hopefully you will join us for future tastings and the notes will suffice to entice you to come taste our wares at our free, educational in-store wine tastings…
1. Greco di Tufo, Terredora di Paolo “Loggia della Serra” DOCG Campania 2009
Sale $17.99, Save $2.00, Reg. $19.99
2009 Terredora Greco di Tufo Loggia della Serra
Review by Antonio Galloni, Wine Advocate # 189 (Jun 2010)
Rating: 91 Points, Drink 2010 – 2014 “The 2009 Greco di Tufo Loggia della Serra is a vivid, multi-dimensional wine laced with white peaches, minerals, flowers and mint, all of which come together in a beautifully nuanced style. The warmth of the vintage radiates through to the long, creamy finish. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2014. These new releases from Terredora are among the most impressive I tasted. From top to bottom these are serious wines readers will not want to miss. The 2009 whites, all of which are aged in steel, reflect the rich, generous style of the vintage, while the 2004 Taurasis are simply off the charts.”
With more than 120 hectares of vineyard land, Terredora di Paolo is Campania’s largest wine producer and vineyard owner, with a worldwide reputation for the quality of its wines. Their commitment to excellence was proven in 1994 when they decided to vinify their own grapes. This decision was prompted by their belief that great wine comes from the balance of natural resources: terrain, varieties used, climate and man’s ability to work with nature. With ample dedication and professionalism Walter Mastroberardino and his children Lucio, Daniela and Paolo, have put this new winery in the elite division of southern Italian wineries.
100% Greco di Tufo, Showcasing pale-medium gold reflections with a rich and powerfully aromatic nose of apricot, apple, peach and citrus fruits. On the palate it is full bodied, soft and well-balanced with excellent acidity. It improves with age. It is ideal with hors d’oeuvres, shellfish, grilled fish dishes, buffalo mozzarella, chicken and cold meat.
2. Aglianico Rosato, Terredora di Paolo DOC Irpinia 2010 Sale $14.99, Save $3.00, Reg. $17.99
A great rosé should be made from very ripe grapes, which is sometimes can be difficult to obtain from Aglianico in the cool climate of the Irpinia region. Thanks to the Terredora di Paolo vineyards, located in the finest areas of the Irpinia region, with limestone and clay soil and south-facing slopes, constantly warm temperatures and cool nights with cold dry breeze, year after year, the vines achieve extraordinarily mature fruit with a crystalline purity of acidity corresponding perfectly to the Terredora di Paolo style.
100 % Aglianico. To create Rosaenovae Terredora di Paolo gently presses the entire grapes, skipping away from the conventional saignèe method and the briefly cold maceration. The free run juice is then fermented at low temperature and later on the wine stays on the lees with a weekly batonnage. No malolactic fermentation is made.
A salmon pink hue, with radiant highlights and incredible youth. An intense, rich, bewitching bouquet of red fruit and citrus zest associated with more complex notes redolent of cedar and spring sap. The aromas evolve gently in the glass evolving from dried fruits, fresh almonds and frangipane, to notes of Tarte-Tatin, oven-baked apples and caramel. In tastings, the wine is soft and silky on the palate with a marvelous harmony of flavor and concentration of fruit. The attack is fruity and crisp. Finesse and fruit combine to create a full palate that melts in the mouth, giving way to candied citrus and dried fruits. It caresses and literally enfolds the full vivacity and rich structure of the Aglianico grapes without ever constricting or dominating. The Rosaenovae reveals a perfect equilibrium between concentration and finesse, richness and freshness, intensity and elegance.
The structure and richness make it a perfect accompaniment to savvy appetizers, vegetarian dishes, main courses, pastas, risottos marinara, magnificently complementing fish, such as salmon, dried salted cod, fish soup, fried calamari or warm octopus and potato salad; meat, such as lamb, veal, guinea fowl, and even pheasant; and soft cheeses, such as Mozzarella, Burrata and Chaource or Brillat-Savarin. It can also be served with red fruit based deserts that are less sweet, such as a red fruit zabaglione or a red fruit gratin.
June 2011 – WINE ADVOCATE
Terredora di Paolo S.S. Rosaenovae 2010 —88 points. “The 2010 Rosanovae Rosato is an unusual rose made from Aglianico, the grape used for Taurasi. The Roasnovae shows the more feminine side of the variety as it hovers on the palate with exquisite finesse and elegance. It is a delicate, understated wine that impresses for its balance and sheer class. I loved it. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2014.” —Antonio Galloni
3. Damilano Barbera d’Asti DOC Piemonte 2009 Sale $13.99, Save $6.00, Reg. $19.99
A terrific Barbera from Damilano, a small producer whose family holdings include pieces of the Liste and Cannubi vineyards that is known mainly for their ready-to-consume Barolo’s. The wine is from a recently acquired vineyard in Asti. Their Barbera d’Asti replaces the Barbera d’Alba, which was made from rented vineyards, and which will no longer be produced. With it’s high acidity, Barbera is a great food wine, especially anything made with tomatoes. Deep ruby/purple color. Dark cherry on the nose. Excellent balance and length. 100% Barbera. 20% is aged in new French barriques, 40% is aged in used barriques (2nd
passage) and the remaining 40% aged in Tonneaux, all for 6 to 8 months.
2009 Damilano Barbera d’Asti
Review by Antonio Galloni, Wine Advocate # 190
(Aug 2010)
Rating: 89 Points, Drink 2010 – 2014 “Damilano’s 2009 Barbera d’Asti is a big, powerful wine loaded with dark fruit, minerals and spices, showing terrific balance in a full-bodied, rewarding style. This is the second release from a recently acquired parcel in Asti, where Barbera is capable of reaching greater heights than just about anywhere else. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2014.”
4. Tenuta San Leonardo “Terre di San Leonardo” IGT Trentino Alto-Adige 2007 $18.99
This 50% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc Bordeaux blend from Trentrino-Alto Adige made by Carlo Ferrini is a food-friendly wine at a seriously wallet-friendly price. Speaking eloquently of its Northern Italian terroir, this vibrant wine shows nicely ripened red fruit, tempting minerality, and a charming streak of acidity.
The Estate, founded in 1724, has a rich ancient past. The current owner, Marquis Carlo Guerrieri Gonzaga is the descendent of a famous Italian aristocratic family. The Marquises know how to yoke their aristocratic polish to a genuine rural simplicity. They do it spontaneously, directly involving all the people with they work to at Tenuta San Leonardo.
As a result the vineyards, home only to Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot, become more and more beautiful and the grapes even more delicious. The property spans over 300 hectares. Twenty of them are planted to vine. The cellar equipment includes stainless steel fermentation tanks and small and medium size oak barrels for aging.
The grapes are destemmed and soft-crushed, with minimal use of sulphur dioxide. The juice ferments and macerates on the skins for a long period of time, during which the cap is punched down daily. The must is cold-clarified by allowing the lees to settle. 80% aged for 18 months in big Slavonian oak barrels and the remaining 20% in French barriques for at least 6 months.
5. Dolcetto di Dogliani “San Luigi” Pecchenino DOC Piemonte 2009
Sale $14.99 , Reg. $17.99, Save $3.00 !
2009 Pecchenino Dolcetto di Dogliani “San Luigi”
Review by Antonio Galloni,
Wine Advocate # 192 (Dec 2010)
Rating: 88 Points, Drink 2010 – 2012 “Pecchenino’s 2009 Dolcetto di Dogliani San Luigi offers up plump, juicy dark fruit with excellent varietal character in an accessible, mid-weight style. Floral notes add lift on the fresh, vinous finish. This is an excellent choice for drinking over the next few years. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2012.”
The palate is fresh and elegant with a pleasant finish. Perfect with pasta with red sauce, meat, cheese and salami.
Dogliani in the province of Cuneo is well known for its winemaking tradition and it can claim an ancient foundation for it. The community’s most illustrious citizen was Luigi Einaudi, the first president of the Republic of Italy. A good Piedmontese, he still found time, despite his official duties, to keep his fingers on the pulse of his wine estate, situated in the vicinity of Dogliani. The town’s name is derived from Doglia and Lano, which is a corruption of Janus or Giano, the Roman god par excellence, who was lord of the sky and of sunlight. Janus later assumed special powers as protector of the beginning and end of all things.
According to legend, Janus visited the Langhe and stopped off at Dogliani, detained by the excellence of the local wine. Dolcetto di Dogliani has long appeared on the tables of mere mortals, including some of the most illustrious of them. In 1369, the Marquesses of Saluzzo granted the citizens of Dogliani the right to dispose of their goods and exemption from taxes as well as from the obligation of military service.
However, they imposed a tax “in wine” to assure that their noble cellars would be supplied with good Dolcetto. Dolcetto di Dogliani was specifically mentioned for the first time in 1593 in a declaration titled “Orders for the Harvest.” That document provides official confirmation that Dolcetto grapes were being grown at Dogliani even before the end of the 16th century. For the vine dressers of the Langa Doglianese, it is sufficient that the history of their wine can be traced back 500 years, even if reliable historians and researchers argue that in some areas the grape was being grown around the year 1000.
6. Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, La Valentina DOC Abruzzo 2007 Sale $13.99, Reg. $15.99, Save $2.00!
Fattoria La Valentina was founded in 1990 and is situated near Santa Teresa in the municipality of Spoltore, on the hills near Pescara. After an intense study of the area the winery’s main objective was the achievement of top quality and in promoting Abruzzo’s DOC wines. The modern winery uses avant-garde technology while the cellar contains about 500 barriques and truncated cone-shape oak barrels, used for fermentation and ageing. Since 1998 enologist Luca D’Attoma has been in charge of technical management.
100% Montepulciano d’Abruzzo with deep ruby color, purple, sharp scent, sharp and very intense with hints of saffron and red fruit notes, underbrush and black cherry. The taste is clean and full, rich finish ends with red fruit, ripe. Fully reflects the variety of origin with a style that combines tradition and modernity. In combination with hearty pasta dishes with sauces with game, grilled meat and fish dishes with a good structure. Wine to drink now or keep for five years.
Santa Teresa, the main vineyard, is on a hill a few kilometres from the Adriatic Sea, south/south-west facing, over-looking the Maiella and Gran Sasso massifs. Five hectares of Montepulciano vines were planted 27 years ago with close proximity to both sea and mountains.
“These new releases from La Valentina are among the most impressive I tasted this year. The wines are made from low yields, see long maceration times on the skins lasting several weeks and are bottled unfiltered, resulting in very pure expressions of Montepulciano and these unique
terroirs. Consulting oenologist Luca D’Attoma works on all these wines, with the exception of the Binomio which La Valentina makes in partnership with Inama, one of Veneto’s leading properties.” —Antonio Galloni in Wine Advocate (4/2009)
Join the Church Street Wine Cellars team for another in a series of educational wine dinners in downtown Burlington, Vermont! Just down the road from our stone & brick underground wine cellar on Church Street, we are hosting a very special winemaker event! Save the date on Thursday, June 23rd, 2011 for an evening with winegrower Joe Davis of Arcadian Winery. Our friend Joe, headliner for the Stowe Wine & Food Classic June 24 – 26, 2011 at Trapp family Lodge has graciously agreed to come to Vermont a day early to host this exceptional dinner. Not one of the wines Joe is pouring has scored less than 90+ points from Steven Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar or earned extreme accolades from Allen Meadow’s Burghound.
Church & Main Restaurant is hosting this event, beginning promptly at 6:30 pm, and the tariff is $65 per person plus tax and gratuity (the wine we are pouring alone will cover that!). Reservations must be made only at Church & Main either in person or call 540-3040, a credit card number will be taken and processed to reserve your space. Seats are limited to a comfortable forty people for this intimate dinner.
To view this in a concise PDF along with wines to be shown,click here.
Wines to be shown include the following, reviews are from Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar, November/December 2007:
2006 Arcadian Winery Chardonnay Sleepy Hollow Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands “Greenish-yellow color. Pungent pineapple, tangerine and peach aromas are complicated by smoky minerals and brown spices. Rich and weighty but energetic too, offering sweet citrus and tropical fruit flavors and a chewy texture. Nervier on the finish, which features a note of lemon peel and very good clarity and persistence. This is drinking very well right now. 90 points
2005 Arcadian Winery Pinot Noir Fiddlestix Vineyard Sta. Rita Hills “Medium red. Spicy redcurrant and strawberry on the nose, with subtle earthiness and musky herbal character. Bitter cherry and cracked pepper flavors possess impressive concentration but are a bit wound up today. Air brought up sweeter raspberry, then a big hit of bitter cherry pit. The tannins are standing out right now. This needs time.”90(+?) points“
2006 Arcadian Winery Pinot Noir Dierberg Vineyard Santa Maria Valley “Deep red. Exotic, pungent bouquet of blackberry, cherry skin and illicit herbs. Offers musky dark fruit flavors and chewy texture, with complicating notes of smoked meat and candied rose. This powerful pinot could stand up to a rich lamb dish. Finishes with good punch and a strong smoky echo. 90 points.”
2006 Arcadian Winery Syrah Santa Ynez Valley “Bright red. Peppery red berry and cherry aromas are complemented by notes of black olive and cracked pepper. An energetic rendition of syrah, offering gently sweet raspberry and cherry flavors and slow-building spiciness. Impressively focused and pure, with strong finishing snap and tangy persistence. This doesn’t act like a wine from a hot vintage. A great value. 91 points.”
2006 Arcadian Winery Syrah Sleepy Hollow Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands “Vivid ruby. High-pitched red and dark berry aromas are complicated by notes of cracked pepper, Asian spices, violet and smoky minerals. Lively, finely etched red fruit flavors are framed by silky tannins and gain richness with aeration. Leaves notes of blueberry and black raspberry behind on the spicy, impressively persistent finish. Davis told me that this wine’s pH is very low and that it weighs in at 13.7% alcohol. He vinified it with 50% whole clusters. 92 points“
Unlike many of his colleagues, Joe Davis, the founder and winemaker of Arcadian Winery, does not come from a long line of winemakers. His people were Monterey fisherman—with first-hand accounts of John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row! But he was not destined for the family business.
Back in 1982, when Joe was a college student in Seattle, first destined for medical school, he began working at a wine shop when a customer brought him a gift of a bottle of Domaine Dujac 1978 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru from Burgundy. After a taste of the rare wine, Davis became a Pinot Noir devotee and knew that he wanted to make wine himself. He promptly transferred to the University of California Davis to study winemaking, and eventually took a position working for and being mentored by Dan Lee at Morgan Winery.
It was there in the 1990s that he honed his skills making Chardonnay, and then implemented a Pinot noir program relying on Burgundian winemaking techniques. From there, he serendipitously landed a position with his idol, Domaine Dujac, for two years before returning to California to start Arcadian Winery in the Santa Ynez Valley in 1996.
Today, Davis is one of the best known figures in Santa Barbara wine country, thanks to his top-quality Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, and Syrahs. At the heart of Arcadian’s success is Davis’s terroir-driven philosophy: make wines that fully express the distinct characteristics of each vineyard and of California’s Central Coast region. He does so by using traditional French artisanal techniques and hands-on vineyard management.
As a classicist, his wines often need a few years to really offer their charms. As writer Dennis Schaefer has said, “Almost every winemaker who makes Pinot Noir professes to follow the Burgundian model. And, more or less that’s true. But with some winemakers, the ‘less’ part is apparent, and plenty of shortcuts may be employed. With winemaker Joe Davis, everything is always ‘more’ Burgundian.”
Founded in 1996, Arcadian owns no vineyards, but winegrower Joe spends considerable time in his contracted vineyards from Monterey, Santa Maria and Santa Barbara counties, making him as much a farmer as a winemaker.
Production is 8,000 cases annually of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah. The wines are released after extended barrel aging and often lag the market by one or two vintages. Arcadian exports wine to thirteen countries.
This winery, owned and operated by winemaker Joe Davis, has emerged as a serious producer of elegant, balanced Pinot Noirs that are capable of developing real complexity with bottle age. Pungently aromatic, spicy and minerally, and possessing firm acidity, they deliver clarity and intensity of flavor at relatively low levels of alcohol. Just like the Pinot Noir, Davis’ Chardonnay is much more Burgundian than Californian in style.
The mission of Arcadian, and a question Joe Davis asks himself with each bottle he makes, is whether it is worth it to produce these vineyard-specific wines. Do each of the wines consistently represent a sense of place? Are they different enough from one another, and yet still consistent from each site year to year, and also in terms of overall quality? Based on the wines we’ve tried, we think Joe does indeed accomplish that mission.
To this end, whenever possible Joe gains control over the vineyard by leasing the land as opposed to simply purchasing the grapes at harvest. By controlling yields from these vineyards and keeping them very low (he farms his Pinot Noir to 2 – 2.5 tons to the acre), he increases grape quality. The resulting wine speaks more about where it came from than about the hands that made it. As with Joe, this ”somewhereness” vs. ”someoneness” concept appeals to us because we believe the best wine is made more in the vineyard than in the winery.
