WTN: Arcadian, La Frenz and La Frenz

[Jenise]

2001 Arcadian Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills, Lefond Vineyard
Intriguing perfumed nose of dried cherries and wet chamois. In the mouth, full-flavored raspberries, tomatoes and thyme. Bigger bodied than either the Gary's or Pisoni from the same vintage I've had in the past eight months, but of course it's Arcadian so the wine's not over the top. Great value at $38 Canadian.

2005 La Frenz Sauvignon Blanc, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Broocie brought one of these over a few weeks ago, and I was delighted to realize later that I still had one in my own cellar so I chose it yesterday to serve to a drop-in friend who perks up every time I serve her sauvignon blanc. Served at cellar temp, interesting ripe nose of citrus and washed rind cheese. In the mouth, complex sweet citrus and apple with fresh tarragon and cilantro. So ripe and juicy it teeters toward sweet, but in fact the wine finishes dry. Excellent offering from one of BC's best white wine producers.

2002 La Frenz Merlot, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
A gift from Sir Spohn. Maroon-purple color. Dense boysenberry and huckleberry fruit with a little cedar. Surprisingly full-bodied, but has the acidity and fine tannins to carry it. Drinks beautifully now but will reward further cellaring. Another excellent BC wine. Thanks, Bill!

I was really impressed by the new vintage of Arcadian I tried last December in a Yountville wine shop. It was Rio Vista and Pisoni that he had opened. He was having difficulties with the distributor-I wonder if the bottle's have arrived?

Jenise...not sure I should think of `tomatoes' as something I want to taste in wine...could the wine have been a bit cooked? Or did you mean that to be complementary... And I'm not sure you liked the wine (well, maybe `great value' tells me)

I've never had this vineyard, and I think Arcadian only made it in '01 and '02.

I have a magnum of the '01 Arcadian Pisoni we are opening next month at an event....

Nice to see La Frenz getting some recognition here on the forum.

[Jenise]

Brian, did you order some? I love these wines.

Jim, tomato? Not at all cooked, no, perhaps I should have been specific about 'fresh tomato', which coming from me (who considers tomatoes my #1 basic food group) is always a compliment. I get a lot of tomato flavor, both the fruit and the leaf, in central California pinots. Yes, we enjoyed the wine a lot. But hey, I've had the Pisoni twice in the last 6 or so months, and it's a long way from ready. If you're opening a magnum, DECANT!

Not yet. I smashed my car, and the insurance deductable means a severe reduction in wine purchasing for the next few months. I may end up splurging on one bottle, but, I am feeling fiscal stress right now.

[Jenise]

Brian, oh shucks, I'm sorry to hear that. Drat the luck. Don't know what your deductible is, but it sounds big. I keep mine fairly low, around $200. It only costs like $5 or $10 more a year, and calculated over ten years time and adjusted for inflation, the numbers bear out that IF you file one claim every ten years (and I have) then the lower deductible is cheaper. The huge deductibles are ONLY cost effective if you file zero claims. I personally haven't caused any accidents in ten years myself nor do I have any plans to do so, but three years ago a truck ahead of me on a dark stretch of highway dropped some huge cylinders and I hit one ($5000), and two years before that I was the blameless middle car in a three car sandwich where the car at fault had insufficient insurance to cover the repairs to my car ($16 grand) There went my deductibles! Just something to consider.

In my case, it did make a pretty significant difference in premiums. For one thing, I have an "excessive" car (A Subaru Sti), so I cna only blame myself. I basically was driving in a very, very sleepy state (long bicycle ride) and lost concentration. My Deductible is the big one ($1,000). Ouch.

I'll probably splurge on wine more occasionally, and the Arcadian is on my "mental list," but I have enough wine to drink, anyway.