Arcadian Winery 2003 Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noir

*Bottle #70: Arcadian Winery 2003 Santa Rita Hills Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noir
*Price Tag: $30
*Running Tab: $973

What a holy hot awful mess is Seattle this whole week. I’m in my lovely non-air conditioned ’97 Nissan pick-up truck (don’t be jealous), dripping in sweat trying to get onto the freeway, cursing the weather and needing a drink more than anything in the world.

Ungrateful Northwesterner? Maybe. Poor and still driving the same truck she got at 16? Probably so. Lush by nature? Definitely.

To deter the heat, one might consume chilled white wines, alleviating heatstroke by instant intoxication because the sun is soaking out all energy and you’re replacing that with booze.

Wise decision, grasshopper.

I went the other direction, keeping it red but keeping it light. Keep it loose, keep it tight.

My first encounter with the Arcadian Winery 2003 Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noir was at the Corson Building. It was the fifth wine poured at this six course communal dinner in Georgetown (highly recommended restaurant, I might add) and served with a roasted chicken. It was like the union of Bogie and Bacalli: brilliant and full of life on their own but together… Together, is what makes that a beautiful friendship.

Keeping in mind that wine is always better with food and food is always better with wine (please refer to March 31st), I took the Arcadian 2003 Pinot for a second test drive but this time, it was just the two of us at the wheel. And at 2003, I thought she was ready to take the driver’s seat.

Does age really matter? I know some men who would fight for the negative on that account…

Some great Pinot minds (men…) question even aging the varietal at all. Bottle that shit, get it out and make some skrilla is an attitude a lot of vintners have in these times. True blood Burgundian wine producer and negotiant, Pierre Maufoux, was quoted saying a Pinot should be drinkable after 18 months after the vintage and isn’t necessary to age any longer.

It’s been a little past that date for the 2003 Arcadian but she was far from past her prime.

The nose was loaded of ripe raspberry and strawberry with a cool, messy herbal and stem-like quality. With some time for her to open up, a hint of cinnamon and rhubarb pie came out, later a meaty tone arose. After nearly 20 minutes, the meat was nailed down as pepper-smoked bacon. It was non-negotiable and was deliciously carnivorous.

On the palate, that same fruit was dominant. The acidity that followed was a great crescendo on the midpalate, giving an impression of a bigger, more robust wine until it diminished and allowed that fruit to carry on through to the finish. A bit of alcohol heat but smooth with easy, light tannins, fruit-forward with a dry finish.

Remember back when Dave Matthews Band had only two studio albums and “Crash Into Me” was the biggest song in the late 90s? I do. So does this wine as the palate nearly mimics the flow of that particular single: a soft and bright lovestruck lullaby that grows into a whirlwind of emotions and wind instruments (it’s about worshiping women that turns into voyeurism) and then calms back down again into a lullaby.

Strength was in the wine’s structure with all of these Grade A qualities piecing together, even without the perfectly tender and flavorsome chicken, and in spite of the fact that I was melting as I drank it.

Score: 9.