| A Pinot Noir & California Cabernet Vertical Shoot-Out Recap |
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This was the first time I have ever hosted a vertical tasting and I promise
you, based on the results of this event, it definitely will not be the last one.
I selected these five wineries because of their consistency and their
affordability. Only the ZD's break the $30.00 barrier. I had been
collecting these wines for the past three years and after sampling different
vintages of each, I thought they would be a very good representation of
what subtle differences between one year and the next can make on the
overall taste and impression of the wine.
We had two Pinot Noir wines. One from the Carneros (Napa-Sonoma)
region of California (Acacia) and one from the Willamette Valley of
Oregon (Argyle). From there, we would move into our California
Cabernet's, one from Sonoma Valley (Sebastiani), and two from Napa
Valley (Franciscan Oakville Estates & ZD). I did not set out to make this
a competition between the wineries, Acacia vs. Argyle, Sonoma vs. Napa,
but you know human nature, people just naturally want to compare wines.
I wanted to taste the Acacia and Argyle Pinot Noir wines side by side
according to the vintage, in retrospect, I wish I hadn't because the two
styles of wine could not be any more different. With the Cabs though, I
stuck with one winery at a time and went from the oldest vintage to the
most current. There was definitely noticeable differences even within the
same winery's wines from one year to the next and that is exactly the point
I was trying to communicate to everyone at the tasting.
When it came to personal preferences among the guests as to which pinot
noir they liked better, Acacia or Argyle, I would say the crowd was split
50/50. So different were the two wine style that you had to either be in one
camp or the other. With the Acacia, the 2002 vintage was solid, but it was
the 2004 vintage that hit the ball out of the park. The 2002 vintage of the
Argyle was also solid, but most preferred the 2003 vintage over the rest.
Next we tasted through the Sebastiani Sonoma County Cabs starting with
the 2000 vintage and plowing thru to the 2003 vintage. The 2000 vintage
was regarded by most in the wine industry to be very poor in terms of
overall quality for most of California, but you'd never have known it by
this Cab. Nice, soft and fruity. The 2001 vintage built on that momentum,
but it was 2002 vintage that was clearly the best with the 2003 falling off
the pace a bit.
Franciscan's 2000, which was highly rated by W.S., showed the herbal or
"green" flavors that were associated with that vintage. Most did not care
for this wine as much as the next, which was the 2001 and it was a
monster! Up to this point, it was the best Cab in the show. The 2002 &
2003 were good, but not as promising as the 2001.
The ZD cabs were quite the roller coaster and if pressed, I will tell you
that they displayed the widest variations between vintages of any of the
wines we tasted this evening. The 2000, again profiled the short-comings
of a poor vintage and it was probably everyone's least favorite cab of the
evening. The 2001 was good and despite the critics being hard on their
2002, we thought it was good as well. We ended the evening with the ZD
2003 Cab and little did we know, we had save the best wine of the evening
for last. Shazaam! Was it ever fantastic! I'm kind of regretting that I
shared it with 25 people!!!
you, based on the results of this event, it definitely will not be the last one.
I selected these five wineries because of their consistency and their
affordability. Only the ZD's break the $30.00 barrier. I had been
collecting these wines for the past three years and after sampling different
vintages of each, I thought they would be a very good representation of
what subtle differences between one year and the next can make on the
overall taste and impression of the wine.
We had two Pinot Noir wines. One from the Carneros (Napa-Sonoma)
region of California (Acacia) and one from the Willamette Valley of
Oregon (Argyle). From there, we would move into our California
Cabernet's, one from Sonoma Valley (Sebastiani), and two from Napa
Valley (Franciscan Oakville Estates & ZD). I did not set out to make this
a competition between the wineries, Acacia vs. Argyle, Sonoma vs. Napa,
but you know human nature, people just naturally want to compare wines.
I wanted to taste the Acacia and Argyle Pinot Noir wines side by side
according to the vintage, in retrospect, I wish I hadn't because the two
styles of wine could not be any more different. With the Cabs though, I
stuck with one winery at a time and went from the oldest vintage to the
most current. There was definitely noticeable differences even within the
same winery's wines from one year to the next and that is exactly the point
I was trying to communicate to everyone at the tasting.
When it came to personal preferences among the guests as to which pinot
noir they liked better, Acacia or Argyle, I would say the crowd was split
50/50. So different were the two wine style that you had to either be in one
camp or the other. With the Acacia, the 2002 vintage was solid, but it was
the 2004 vintage that hit the ball out of the park. The 2002 vintage of the
Argyle was also solid, but most preferred the 2003 vintage over the rest.
Next we tasted through the Sebastiani Sonoma County Cabs starting with
the 2000 vintage and plowing thru to the 2003 vintage. The 2000 vintage
was regarded by most in the wine industry to be very poor in terms of
overall quality for most of California, but you'd never have known it by
this Cab. Nice, soft and fruity. The 2001 vintage built on that momentum,
but it was 2002 vintage that was clearly the best with the 2003 falling off
the pace a bit.
Franciscan's 2000, which was highly rated by W.S., showed the herbal or
"green" flavors that were associated with that vintage. Most did not care
for this wine as much as the next, which was the 2001 and it was a
monster! Up to this point, it was the best Cab in the show. The 2002 &
2003 were good, but not as promising as the 2001.
The ZD cabs were quite the roller coaster and if pressed, I will tell you
that they displayed the widest variations between vintages of any of the
wines we tasted this evening. The 2000, again profiled the short-comings
of a poor vintage and it was probably everyone's least favorite cab of the
evening. The 2001 was good and despite the critics being hard on their
2002, we thought it was good as well. We ended the evening with the ZD
2003 Cab and little did we know, we had save the best wine of the evening
for last. Shazaam! Was it ever fantastic! I'm kind of regretting that I
shared it with 25 people!!!
Acacia Vineyards – Carneros (Napa), California – Founded in 1979
· The first California winery to establish a reputation for vineyard-designated
Pinot Noir, based on purchase grapes.
· They only make Chardonnay & Pinot Noir (Burgundy grapes)
· They produce single vineyard Pinot Noirs from the St. Clair Vineyard,
Beckstoffer and from their own Estate Vineyard called “Field Blend”.
· Winemaker Anthony King was an editor on a physics textbook in Austin, TX.
· He worked at Texas Vineyards before moving to Ca. to go to UC Davis.
· The 2002 vintage had very little fog (not normal) with moderate summer
weather.
· The 2003 vintage started with a cool spring & warm May. Had to harvest one-
third of the Pinot Noir in Late August, which brings on low sugar levels and higher
acidity.
· The 2004 vintage got off to an early start with no spring frost. Crop loads had
been reduced and an extended heat spell in August produced perfectly ripe grapes.
Argyle – Willamette Valley, Oregon – Founded in 1987
· Winemaker & Co-Founder, Rollin Soles is a native Texan, that graduated
with a degree in Microbiology from Texas A&M in 1978.
· He was introduced to wine by a former biochemistry professor whose relatives
owned a small winery in Switzerland, where he spent his first winemaking adventure
working there as a “cellar rat”.
· In 1980, he became the first Texan to graduate from UC Davis with a
Master’s.
· He began his winemaking career at Wente Brothers in the Livermore Valley
and then Chateau Montelena in Napa.
· Soles then returned to Europe to hone is winemaking skills in the Beaujolais
region in France.
· When he came back to the States, he met Australian, Brian Croser (Petaluma)
and together they founded Arygle winery in Oregon focusing on Sparkling wine,
Chardonnay & Pinot Noir.
· Argyle was named “Oregon’s Premier Winery” by Wine Spectator in 2000.
· All grapes are hand-harvested into small baskets and transported to the
winery. Grapes are chilled overnight to 35 F before crushing the next day. Chilling
preserves the ripe fruit characteristics and naturally limits oxidation.
· The Willamette Valley Pinot Noirs spend 8 to 9 months in French Oak Barrels
and are bottled unfiltered.
· The 2002 Vintage had a warm but unsettled Spring wrought large clusters but
with the diversity of berry size we like to see--what we call “peas and pumpkins.”
Just as in 2001, we were required to drastically drop clusters in August, leaving one
to no clusters per vine shoot. In late September and early October we had a couple
of rain scares dropping up to a ½ inch of rain each event. On October 5th the
prediction was two inches rain in a week’s time! On October 6 the rain was dropped
from the forecast and the longest Indian Summer on record ensued. We were able
to pick fruit at its peak of ripeness under sunny skies and with limited chaos on the
crush pad.
· The 2003 Vintage had a September week of wet weather. Some berry
splitting and a couple of potential mold issues would have multiplied our grief if
another week of wet ensued. Then a very hot, dry east wind during the week of
22nd September. 95F on September 27th is unprecedented in our cool climate
region! Our fears of splitting and mold were replaced by raisining and shriveling!
The solution was to start up our irrigation system in the best vineyard blocks
replacing evaporated berry and vine moisture, allowing us to wait out the heat.
· The 2004 Vintage started with a very cold winter and grape cluster numbers
were down 25%. There were three unusual heat spikes in Summer & Early Fall,
but two heavy rains helped push the harvest back to the end of September and
early October.
Sebastiani Vineyards – Sonoma Valley, California – Founded in 1904.
· Sebastiani’s vineyards were planted in 1825 by Franciscan fathers of the
nearby Spanish mission San Francisco Solano.
· An immigrant from the Tuscany region of Italy, Samuele Sebastiani, acquired
the land and founded the winery in 1904.
· When Prohibition went into effect in 1920, Sebastiani was one of only 10
wineries to stay open and the only one in Sonoma Valley, making sacramental
wines. It had been joked, and perhaps with some grain of truth, that during this
time there was a resurgance of people becoming very religious. If you know what I
mean!
· After Samuele died in 1944, his son August took over until he passed away in
1980. At that time, his wife, Sylvia took over.
· In 1979, Mark Lyon joined the staff and is now the current winemaker.
· Throughout the 1990’s, many of their vineyards, including the Cabernet
Sauvignon vineyards were re-planted with the ideal clones and rootstocks to
improve wine quality.
· Today, August & Sylvia’s daughter Mary Ann runs the winery and her son
Marc has joined her making that the fourth generation to work in the family
business.
· Sebastiani is now over 100 years old and produces 180,000 cases a year.
· The 2000 vintage growing season in 2000 started off with an early budbreak,
followed by very cool temperatures. This extended the bloom period for weeks in
some cases. July brought a record heat wave speeding up the ripening process.
Cool temperatures at the end of August and September slowed things down again
and allowed the complexities, colors and flavors of the fruit to develop more fully.
· The 2001 vintage was one of the best vintages we have seen in 20 years for
Cabernet Sauvignon due to the lower crop levels, earlier harvest and great
weather. The crops were low and quality high in 2001 because of a phenomenal
growing season. Lower rain levels during the winter with a hot May and June (when
it is usually cool) made for small berry size. It was followed by a cool July through
mid-September to develop ideal flavor with moderate tannin levels. Finally, we had
a heat wave the last week of September, which ensured ripeness of the late season
Cabernet. We harvested from September 15th to October 18th.
· The 2002 vintage is probably the biggest and richest vintage we have had in
the last decade. We had low crop levels, with tiny berries coupled with an early
harvest with ample heat in late September to fully ripen the fruit. The spring started
out fairly cold and dry then heated up at the end. We had a usual beautiful Sonoma
summer with average temperatures from July to early September. Then a nice heat
spell kicked-in after that, further shrinking berry size and overall yields. As a
result, the Cabernet fruit had higher tannins and color levels than in the past. We
harvested from September 15th to November 7.
· The 2003 vintage was a nail-biting, late growing season…one vintners will not
soon forget. We had a cold, rainy April, which slightly delayed grape development
and reduced crop levels. Summer was mild with average heat (no extreme
temperatures), and we were a good 3-4 weeks behind our usual ripening pattern.
August brought random thunderstorms; then it warmed up in September, shifting
things into high gear. We took a gamble and let the majority of the Cabernet fruit
hang on the vine until the end of October.
Franciscan Oakville Estates – Oakville (Napa), California – Founded in
1972
· Franciscan was founded in 1972 by a group of lawyers and doctors from San
Francisco. They aparently didn’t know what they were doing because they declared
bankruptcy just a few years later. Then Raymond Duncan and Justin Meyer, who
owned Silver Oak, stepped in and bought the winery in 1975.
· In 1978 it was purchased by the Peter Eckes Company of Germany and Justin
stayed on for a short while as President before returning to Silver Oak.
· The winery was floundering until 1985 when they found Agustin Huneeus, A
Chilean exile who had built Concha y Toro in Chile and named him President.
· As President, his first move was to begin making Franciscan wines using
Franciscan grapes. It’s crazy, but the winery was buying lesser quality for its own
wines and selling off the superlative grapes growing in its own vineyards.
· These vineyards are surrounded by the likes of Opus One, Beringer, Silver
Oak and Groth.
· Larry Levin, became the winemaker in 1997 when he came over from Dry
Creek Winery, where he had been for eighteen years.
· While in high school, his older brother attended U.C. Davis. Larry read all his
brother’s enology books inspiring him to study winemaking and to eventually attend
U.C. Davis himself.
ZD Wines – Rutherford (Napa), California – Founded in 1969
· In 1968, two former aerospace engineers, Norman de Leuze and Gino Zepponi
pooled their resources of $3,000.00 a piece and applied for a winery permit. At that
time, there had not been a winery permit issued in Sonoma County for nearly 20
years. The permit was issued in 1969.
· They rented a small farm building in the Carneros region of Sonoma County
and set out to produce Pinot Noir & Chardonnay like the renowned Burgundy
region of France.
· In 1979, after purchasing a six-acre parcel of land along the Silverado Trail in
Rutherford, Napa, they built a new winery.
· One year later, they planted Cabernet and began focusing on just three
varietals.
· ZD wines have graced the tables of White House dinner parties, spanning
three administrations and have garnered over 342 awards of excellence in
prestigious competitions.
· In 1997, ZD Wines was named Winery of the Year by Wine & Spirits Buying
Guide.
Wine Ratings
2002 Acacia – WS 90 2002 Argyle – WS 90
2003 Acacia – WS 88 2003 Argyle – WS 89
2004 Acacia – WS 90 2004 Argyle – WS 89
2000 Sebastiani – WE 90 2000 Franciscan – WS 90 2000 ZD – WS 87
2001 Sebastiani – WS 89 2001 Franciscan – WS 90 2001 ZD – WE 91
2002 Sebastiani – WS 90 2002 Franciscan – WE 91 2002 ZD – WS 86/ WE 86
2003 Sebastiani – Not rated 2003 Franciscan – Not rated 2003 ZD – Not rated
· The first California winery to establish a reputation for vineyard-designated
Pinot Noir, based on purchase grapes.
· They only make Chardonnay & Pinot Noir (Burgundy grapes)
· They produce single vineyard Pinot Noirs from the St. Clair Vineyard,
Beckstoffer and from their own Estate Vineyard called “Field Blend”.
· Winemaker Anthony King was an editor on a physics textbook in Austin, TX.
· He worked at Texas Vineyards before moving to Ca. to go to UC Davis.
· The 2002 vintage had very little fog (not normal) with moderate summer
weather.
· The 2003 vintage started with a cool spring & warm May. Had to harvest one-
third of the Pinot Noir in Late August, which brings on low sugar levels and higher
acidity.
· The 2004 vintage got off to an early start with no spring frost. Crop loads had
been reduced and an extended heat spell in August produced perfectly ripe grapes.
Argyle – Willamette Valley, Oregon – Founded in 1987
· Winemaker & Co-Founder, Rollin Soles is a native Texan, that graduated
with a degree in Microbiology from Texas A&M in 1978.
· He was introduced to wine by a former biochemistry professor whose relatives
owned a small winery in Switzerland, where he spent his first winemaking adventure
working there as a “cellar rat”.
· In 1980, he became the first Texan to graduate from UC Davis with a
Master’s.
· He began his winemaking career at Wente Brothers in the Livermore Valley
and then Chateau Montelena in Napa.
· Soles then returned to Europe to hone is winemaking skills in the Beaujolais
region in France.
· When he came back to the States, he met Australian, Brian Croser (Petaluma)
and together they founded Arygle winery in Oregon focusing on Sparkling wine,
Chardonnay & Pinot Noir.
· Argyle was named “Oregon’s Premier Winery” by Wine Spectator in 2000.
· All grapes are hand-harvested into small baskets and transported to the
winery. Grapes are chilled overnight to 35 F before crushing the next day. Chilling
preserves the ripe fruit characteristics and naturally limits oxidation.
· The Willamette Valley Pinot Noirs spend 8 to 9 months in French Oak Barrels
and are bottled unfiltered.
· The 2002 Vintage had a warm but unsettled Spring wrought large clusters but
with the diversity of berry size we like to see--what we call “peas and pumpkins.”
Just as in 2001, we were required to drastically drop clusters in August, leaving one
to no clusters per vine shoot. In late September and early October we had a couple
of rain scares dropping up to a ½ inch of rain each event. On October 5th the
prediction was two inches rain in a week’s time! On October 6 the rain was dropped
from the forecast and the longest Indian Summer on record ensued. We were able
to pick fruit at its peak of ripeness under sunny skies and with limited chaos on the
crush pad.
· The 2003 Vintage had a September week of wet weather. Some berry
splitting and a couple of potential mold issues would have multiplied our grief if
another week of wet ensued. Then a very hot, dry east wind during the week of
22nd September. 95F on September 27th is unprecedented in our cool climate
region! Our fears of splitting and mold were replaced by raisining and shriveling!
The solution was to start up our irrigation system in the best vineyard blocks
replacing evaporated berry and vine moisture, allowing us to wait out the heat.
· The 2004 Vintage started with a very cold winter and grape cluster numbers
were down 25%. There were three unusual heat spikes in Summer & Early Fall,
but two heavy rains helped push the harvest back to the end of September and
early October.
Sebastiani Vineyards – Sonoma Valley, California – Founded in 1904.
· Sebastiani’s vineyards were planted in 1825 by Franciscan fathers of the
nearby Spanish mission San Francisco Solano.
· An immigrant from the Tuscany region of Italy, Samuele Sebastiani, acquired
the land and founded the winery in 1904.
· When Prohibition went into effect in 1920, Sebastiani was one of only 10
wineries to stay open and the only one in Sonoma Valley, making sacramental
wines. It had been joked, and perhaps with some grain of truth, that during this
time there was a resurgance of people becoming very religious. If you know what I
mean!
· After Samuele died in 1944, his son August took over until he passed away in
1980. At that time, his wife, Sylvia took over.
· In 1979, Mark Lyon joined the staff and is now the current winemaker.
· Throughout the 1990’s, many of their vineyards, including the Cabernet
Sauvignon vineyards were re-planted with the ideal clones and rootstocks to
improve wine quality.
· Today, August & Sylvia’s daughter Mary Ann runs the winery and her son
Marc has joined her making that the fourth generation to work in the family
business.
· Sebastiani is now over 100 years old and produces 180,000 cases a year.
· The 2000 vintage growing season in 2000 started off with an early budbreak,
followed by very cool temperatures. This extended the bloom period for weeks in
some cases. July brought a record heat wave speeding up the ripening process.
Cool temperatures at the end of August and September slowed things down again
and allowed the complexities, colors and flavors of the fruit to develop more fully.
· The 2001 vintage was one of the best vintages we have seen in 20 years for
Cabernet Sauvignon due to the lower crop levels, earlier harvest and great
weather. The crops were low and quality high in 2001 because of a phenomenal
growing season. Lower rain levels during the winter with a hot May and June (when
it is usually cool) made for small berry size. It was followed by a cool July through
mid-September to develop ideal flavor with moderate tannin levels. Finally, we had
a heat wave the last week of September, which ensured ripeness of the late season
Cabernet. We harvested from September 15th to October 18th.
· The 2002 vintage is probably the biggest and richest vintage we have had in
the last decade. We had low crop levels, with tiny berries coupled with an early
harvest with ample heat in late September to fully ripen the fruit. The spring started
out fairly cold and dry then heated up at the end. We had a usual beautiful Sonoma
summer with average temperatures from July to early September. Then a nice heat
spell kicked-in after that, further shrinking berry size and overall yields. As a
result, the Cabernet fruit had higher tannins and color levels than in the past. We
harvested from September 15th to November 7.
· The 2003 vintage was a nail-biting, late growing season…one vintners will not
soon forget. We had a cold, rainy April, which slightly delayed grape development
and reduced crop levels. Summer was mild with average heat (no extreme
temperatures), and we were a good 3-4 weeks behind our usual ripening pattern.
August brought random thunderstorms; then it warmed up in September, shifting
things into high gear. We took a gamble and let the majority of the Cabernet fruit
hang on the vine until the end of October.
Franciscan Oakville Estates – Oakville (Napa), California – Founded in
1972
· Franciscan was founded in 1972 by a group of lawyers and doctors from San
Francisco. They aparently didn’t know what they were doing because they declared
bankruptcy just a few years later. Then Raymond Duncan and Justin Meyer, who
owned Silver Oak, stepped in and bought the winery in 1975.
· In 1978 it was purchased by the Peter Eckes Company of Germany and Justin
stayed on for a short while as President before returning to Silver Oak.
· The winery was floundering until 1985 when they found Agustin Huneeus, A
Chilean exile who had built Concha y Toro in Chile and named him President.
· As President, his first move was to begin making Franciscan wines using
Franciscan grapes. It’s crazy, but the winery was buying lesser quality for its own
wines and selling off the superlative grapes growing in its own vineyards.
· These vineyards are surrounded by the likes of Opus One, Beringer, Silver
Oak and Groth.
· Larry Levin, became the winemaker in 1997 when he came over from Dry
Creek Winery, where he had been for eighteen years.
· While in high school, his older brother attended U.C. Davis. Larry read all his
brother’s enology books inspiring him to study winemaking and to eventually attend
U.C. Davis himself.
ZD Wines – Rutherford (Napa), California – Founded in 1969
· In 1968, two former aerospace engineers, Norman de Leuze and Gino Zepponi
pooled their resources of $3,000.00 a piece and applied for a winery permit. At that
time, there had not been a winery permit issued in Sonoma County for nearly 20
years. The permit was issued in 1969.
· They rented a small farm building in the Carneros region of Sonoma County
and set out to produce Pinot Noir & Chardonnay like the renowned Burgundy
region of France.
· In 1979, after purchasing a six-acre parcel of land along the Silverado Trail in
Rutherford, Napa, they built a new winery.
· One year later, they planted Cabernet and began focusing on just three
varietals.
· ZD wines have graced the tables of White House dinner parties, spanning
three administrations and have garnered over 342 awards of excellence in
prestigious competitions.
· In 1997, ZD Wines was named Winery of the Year by Wine & Spirits Buying
Guide.
Wine Ratings
2002 Acacia – WS 90 2002 Argyle – WS 90
2003 Acacia – WS 88 2003 Argyle – WS 89
2004 Acacia – WS 90 2004 Argyle – WS 89
2000 Sebastiani – WE 90 2000 Franciscan – WS 90 2000 ZD – WS 87
2001 Sebastiani – WS 89 2001 Franciscan – WS 90 2001 ZD – WE 91
2002 Sebastiani – WS 90 2002 Franciscan – WE 91 2002 ZD – WS 86/ WE 86
2003 Sebastiani – Not rated 2003 Franciscan – Not rated 2003 ZD – Not rated
