Recently shared a bottle of the 2006 SH Chardonnay about ten days ago with Joe Bradley visiting from Colorado at a dinner here in the valley (SY Kitchen). It was pretty spectacular wine that night. As been often said" No great wines only great bottles" and while I would expect bottle variation from time to time generally speaking this wine should still be in a good spot. I do hope that if you have remaining bottles of the 06 that you open and share your thoughts. Lets hope I can redeem myself with this fourteen year old bottle of Sleepy.
It’s good to see Joe back active on the boards. I unfortunately wasn’t very lucky with my 06’s and 07’s. I started opening these after I was contacted by a fellow Arcadian collector that they might be oxidizing. Over a few months, I went through all 10 bottles I had left. I had 4 06’s and 6 07’s, unfortunately 7 of the 10 ended up being oxidized. The ones that weren’t oxidized were spectacular and exactly what I have experienced drinking aged Arcadian Chardonnay. Either way I would check in on them and hopefully they are drinking well for you.
I just opened a 2008 last night. The color was almost glowing yellow gold, and I wasn’t sure if that was worrisome or not, but the bottle was great. Incredibly intense flavors framed by high acids. Held up perfectly well through the evening.
Having said that, I think there is 100x more downside than upside to holding onto the 2008 and earlier chardonnays. I’d line them up for drinking in the coming months, and if they’re still good like mine last night, be happy for the experience and move on.
2006 Arcadian Chardonnay Sleepy Hollow Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands (6/19/2023)
– popped and poured –
– tasted non-blind over 2 hours on Day 1; revisited on Day 2 –
Quite nice, but this is now on its gentle descent towards full maturity. Rich fruit attack, quickly followed by a wave of fuzzy mineral; the fruit seems to fade more quickly than it did in its youth. Good acidity, but the youthful energy has left the building. Unless you prefer fully mature Chardonnay, this is best to Drink Now and over the near term.