2014 Arkenstone NVD Cabernet Sauvignon – And Alice in Wonderland!
The Winery
Photo ©Michael Kelly
What you see is not what you get! Let me explain. When you first arrive at Arkenstone, you view a medium sized brown modern but “plain” metal building. The grounds are pastoral with vines in view. There is an inviting and casual patio and some crush equipment in an “open air” covered area. Looks like a quaint and small operation at a typical 1500 feet elevation Howell Mountain winery. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The entire operation is essentially “underground”. The impact on the environment is almost nil. The operation is set up on a gravity flow system from above, down to the caves forty five feet below the ground which are immense. Now back to the “underground world of Arkenstone”.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
As we descended the stairs off the patio, it had a feeling of going down the rabbit hole. The difference however is that Alice in Wonderland didn’t know where she was going – here, Susan, our host certainly did. What transpired was a viewing deck for this enormous cavern with all the production equipment, tanks and storage of barrels. The two pictures are 180 degrees in opposite directions.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The owners are Susan Krausz and Ron Kaplan. Susan was our host for the day on my initial visit 7 years ago. Originally from Minnesota, her charm and hospitality still warmly mid-western, provided a calm and relaxing tour, history and tasting experience. Arkenstone was founded in 1988 and planted in 1998 with their inaugural vintage in 2006. The majority of wines are with estate fruit and two small projects that are non-estate. Today, Sam Kaplan is the winemaker extraordinaire for 20 vintages and counting. When compared to the above ground portion of the winery, one is awestruck with the immensity of the cavern. Not seen in the pictures are the “side streets” of the caves. With this size Arkenstone’s production today is approximately 2,000 cases in total. Susan and Sam mentioned they do production for several other small wineries in the area. Besides the “grandeur” of the caves, what strikes you both above ground and in the caves is the pristine cleanliness and quality of construction.
As with Alice in Wonderland, I was wondering what the next surprise would be. It was shortly found out that the wines were even more intriguing.
From our tasting, you can truly understand why the name Obsidian was chosen for their flagship Cabernet – as one definition calls Obsidian “born out of quickly cooled volcanic lava, so it has the potent energy of the interaction of several and powerful elements—fire, earth and water”. So it is with Arkenstone- truly a powerful and integrated wine.
The Wine -2014 Arkenstone Vineyards NVD Cabernet Sauvignon – “Wine is bottled poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Intense purple coloring entices one to sip, with a strong aroma of black cherry burst into the nose. Black cherry, chocolate, blueberries and red cherries on the palate. A very solid and enjoyable wine with a great mid long finish, structured and with beautiful tannins. An average of 92 points and today the bottle runs approximately $100- $110/bottle.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The Food and Wine Pairing “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners” – Andre Simon
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Having dinner this evening at Verona18 and needed a good Filet Mignon as I had been eating a lot fish this week. One of the couples I was having dinner does not like “oaky red wines”. So went through the “wine book” to find something smooth, good and minimal oak influence. Thought from memory this would work fine. Started the meal with a salad called the ‘Little Gem Wedge” which included blue cheese, croutons, bacon, hard-boiled egg, red onion, cherry tomatoes, radishes and lots of blue cheese dressing.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Next up was the Filet Mignon entrée cooked to a spot on medium rare and served with a lovely gorgonzola compound button on top. Fresh mashed potatoes and garden vegetables completed the meal. The wine was perfectly matched and our friend liked this wine without too much oak. Definitely one of the better wines enjoyed in 2023.
This wine will make my annual Best Wines Tasted for 2023. The list will be out mid-December.
Sláinte,
Michael
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