Aromas of ripe black cherries, star anise, and vanilla with a hint of cola in the background. Smooth, complex flavors of cherry, plum, earth, tobacco, and soft traces of baking spice. Well balanced with excellent structure and substantial weight that will stand up to richer foods and cheeses.
May 14 is a special day for 5th generation vintner Paul Scotto – it’s the month and day of his birth and the beginning of a very special vineyard in the Arroyo Seco appellation, which inspired the V-14 name for this latest small lot release. His family traces their winemaking lineage back to Ischia, Italy, and a great-grandfather who moved the family to New York in 1903 and made their first sales in America from a wooden push-cart. The family moved to California just in time for the 1963 harvest and today they own and operate six wineries, one in Napa Valley, one in Amador County, and four in the Lodi area. Today Scotto Cellars is based in Lodi and is America’s 42nd-largest winery.
Located in the Santa Lucia Range in Monterey County, the name Arroyo Seco means “dry stream” in Spanish, which is appropriate because Paul’s mother’s family farmed and grew wine grapes for generations in Mexico. V-14 portfolio releases are based on Paul’s personal selection of small lots, sometimes single barrels, that exhibit exceptional potential.
Ideal harvest weather created extra hang time for this Pinot Noir and the ripeness that drove the rich flavor profile and medium garnet color density. After fermentation, the separate varietal lots were aged in neutral French and American oak barrels for 14 months prior to racking and bottling.
Specs
Varietal Composition: 97% Arroyo Seco Pinot Noir, 3% Lodi Petite Sirah
Appellation: Arroyo Seco
Barrel Regime: 14 months in neutral French and American oak barrels
100+ Years. 5 Generations.
200,000,000+ glasses poured.
Our family’s winemaking tradition began in 1883 when our Great Great Grandfather Salvatore Dominic Scotto began making wine at home, in the old Italian tradition, on the island of Ischia for family and friends.
Family winemakers have always been the backbone of America’s vineyards and wineries, especially in Lodi, the heart of California’s wine country. Fifth generation vintners Anthony Scotto III, his brothers Paul, Michael and sister Natalie carry on the Scotto winemaking tradition as their grandfather and father did before them. Scotto Family Cellars is a collection of signature wines reflecting the finest attributes of their historic Lodi appellation.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Greetings CaseMateys! LabRat checking in!
I received a lovely bottle to review (with a heads-up e-mail from Alice, of course) yesterday. I took the day off today to run a bunch of errands, so naturally they were predicting 4-8 inches of snow. I got an early start to my day and was home in time to start day drinking around 1:00 or 2:00 pm. The “winter storm” never really materialized (Chicago dodged yet another bullet).
Pop and pour:
Nose: Primarily ripe cherry, as I would expect from a California Pinot.
Palate: As expected, bright cherry notes, kinda zippy, smooth/easy drinker.
First ~ 2 hours (paired with some BBQ brisket, garlic mashed potatoes, and cole slaw):
Nose: eventually picked up some light earthy notes, but cherry remained prominent.
Palate: same as above with some cola in addition to the cherry, some darker fruit perhaps in the plum/currant range, and maybe some (very light) baking spices.
Impression: So far this is food friendly, nicely balanced, and goes down easy. It’s not particularly tannic, has some nice acidity.
~10 hours:
Nose: still nice ripe cherry notes, now also showing some vanilla and cola, along with some (light) earthy notes.
Palate: Pretty much unchanged from earlier.
Impression: easy drinking, approachable crowd pleaser. Pairs well with Boston cream doughnut.
I will re-visit the bottle tomorrow evening to see how things evolve. As always, thank you to WineDavid and the powers that be (Alice!) at WCC. Heading to bed soon, but I’ll be around off and on all weekend if anyone wants to chat about this wine.
So, I got this in time to drink before it went up for sale, and before the snowstorm started. Win-Win!
It arrived COLD so i gave it a few to warm a bit.
Pop and pour…Nose: cherry. Palate: lots of cherry. In the glass: not too dark, lighter. It was not too complex, easy drinker, would satisfy a group of easy going friends with or without food. This wine wouldn’t turn anyone away. Not sweet, not sharp, just inviting cherry that would pair well with most foods. The bottle was gone before I knew it (oops), so I can not give it a taste another day, but it was good right out of the bottle. It tasted young, though, and might improve with time in the cellar, but definitely could be enjoyed right now, too.
@kasandrae thanks for the reply - this tells me that you are not as ‘sensitive’ to sweetness as someone who only drinks their coffee black, and explains why your reaction to this wine will be different than others. Cheers
@kasandrae@tercerowines
Always good to see you around Larry.
At .147% RS, and lacking any comments regarding noticeable sweetness, other than perhaps the cherry/cola comments, would you expect this to noticeably “sweet”? Just wondering why you asked…
@kasandrae@rjquillin there have been studies that look at whether people are ‘bitter averse’ or not. For simplification purposes, if you drink your coffee black and enjoy it as such, you tend to like red wines over white, tend to drink white that are very dry or have a lot of body like roussanne and marsanne, and tend to prefer reds that are earthy and ‘rough around the edges’. You also tend to be more sensitive to ‘sweet’ in general, and therefore at .15%, you are probably bound to pick this up as sweet - whereas someone who drinks their coffee with cream or milk generally will not. That is one of the biggest challenges with wine - discussing it but taking into account objectively different taste buds. Lots more to say on this but hopefully this gives you some insight here . . .
@kasandrae@rjquillin@tercerowines
For what it’s worth, I tasted over 3 nights (just finishing off the last glass) and did not perceive this wine as sweet at all. Fruity, yes…but not sweet to my palate.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations).
2020 V-14 Arroyo Seco Pinot Noir - $40 = 22.21%
@cosmo108 I’d go for a split. I’m in the Castro area of SF. Don’t have a casemates membership these days tho. Easiest to reach me at this username @ gmail
Ok ok by now y’all have read the pro reviews because we all live and die by them right? … no?
Oh well Enthusiast had this to say:
87 Points. Muddled mulberry, toasted oak, forest floor and smoked meat aromas show on the nose of this bottling. The palate’s dried berry flavors are wrapped in fairly brooding oak spices. MK 3/1/23
2020 V-14 Arroyo Seco Pinot Noir
Tasting Notes
Specs
What’s Included
4-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
Not for sale online, $360.00/case MSRP
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Mar 27 - Wednesday, Mar 29
2020 V-14 Arroyo Seco Pinot Noir
4 bottles for $59.99 $15/bottle + $2/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $139.99 $11.67/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
3% petite sirah?! Oy!
2020 V-14 Arroyo Seco Pinot Noir (Scotto Cellars)
Greetings CaseMateys! LabRat checking in!
The “winter storm” never really materialized (Chicago dodged yet another bullet).
I received a lovely bottle to review (with a heads-up e-mail from Alice, of course) yesterday. I took the day off today to run a bunch of errands, so naturally they were predicting 4-8 inches of snow. I got an early start to my day and was home in time to start day drinking around 1:00 or 2:00 pm.
Pop and pour:
Nose: Primarily ripe cherry, as I would expect from a California Pinot.
Palate: As expected, bright cherry notes, kinda zippy, smooth/easy drinker.
First ~ 2 hours (paired with some BBQ brisket, garlic mashed potatoes, and cole slaw):
Nose: eventually picked up some light earthy notes, but cherry remained prominent.
Palate: same as above with some cola in addition to the cherry, some darker fruit perhaps in the plum/currant range, and maybe some (very light) baking spices.
Impression: So far this is food friendly, nicely balanced, and goes down easy. It’s not particularly tannic, has some nice acidity.
~10 hours:
Nose: still nice ripe cherry notes, now also showing some vanilla and cola, along with some (light) earthy notes.
Palate: Pretty much unchanged from earlier.
Impression: easy drinking, approachable crowd pleaser. Pairs well with Boston cream doughnut.
I will re-visit the bottle tomorrow evening to see how things evolve. As always, thank you to WineDavid and the powers that be (Alice!) at WCC. Heading to bed soon, but I’ll be around off and on all weekend if anyone wants to chat about this wine.
Cheers!
K
So, I got this in time to drink before it went up for sale, and before the snowstorm started. Win-Win!
It arrived COLD so i gave it a few to warm a bit.
Pop and pour…Nose: cherry. Palate: lots of cherry. In the glass: not too dark, lighter. It was not too complex, easy drinker, would satisfy a group of easy going friends with or without food. This wine wouldn’t turn anyone away. Not sweet, not sharp, just inviting cherry that would pair well with most foods. The bottle was gone before I knew it (oops), so I can not give it a taste another day, but it was good right out of the bottle. It tasted young, though, and might improve with time in the cellar, but definitely could be enjoyed right now, too.
@kasandrae Nice stemware!
@kasandrae question - do you drink your coffee with creamer or milk? Or black? My guess is the former but will wait for your response…
@tercerowines I prefer creamer (plain, no flavor) but would use milk if I had none, and black if nothing was available.
@jfuruno Thank you! They are JoyJolt Black Swan Red Wine Glasses 26.8 oz (size matters
)
@kasandrae thanks for the reply - this tells me that you are not as ‘sensitive’ to sweetness as someone who only drinks their coffee black, and explains why your reaction to this wine will be different than others. Cheers
@kasandrae @tercerowines
Always good to see you around Larry.
At .147% RS, and lacking any comments regarding noticeable sweetness, other than perhaps the cherry/cola comments, would you expect this to noticeably “sweet”? Just wondering why you asked…
Black, strong, always.
@kasandrae @rjquillin there have been studies that look at whether people are ‘bitter averse’ or not. For simplification purposes, if you drink your coffee black and enjoy it as such, you tend to like red wines over white, tend to drink white that are very dry or have a lot of body like roussanne and marsanne, and tend to prefer reds that are earthy and ‘rough around the edges’. You also tend to be more sensitive to ‘sweet’ in general, and therefore at .15%, you are probably bound to pick this up as sweet - whereas someone who drinks their coffee with cream or milk generally will not. That is one of the biggest challenges with wine - discussing it but taking into account objectively different taste buds. Lots more to say on this but hopefully this gives you some insight here . . .
@kasandrae @tercerowines
Festinating, or at least quite interesting.
Any open source studies?
@kasandrae @rjquillin AND there is no judgement here about what is ‘better’ or not - just what one prefers vs someone else . . .
@kasandrae @rjquillin @tercerowines
For what it’s worth, I tasted over 3 nights (just finishing off the last glass) and did not perceive this wine as sweet at all. Fruity, yes…but not sweet to my palate.
@karenhynes @kasandrae @rjquillin and that makes sense. If you preferred your coffee black, your perceptions would have been different…
In for a case. This is in my price point and I’m almost out of the Peterson Tollini case.
/giphy outer-invisible-possum
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations).
2020 V-14 Arroyo Seco Pinot Noir - $40 = 22.21%
In for a case:
parched-clairvoyant-raven
Marin/SF split??
@cosmo108 I’d go for a split. I’m in the Castro area of SF. Don’t have a casemates membership these days tho. Easiest to reach me at this username @ gmail
Ok ok by now y’all have read the pro reviews because we all live and die by them right? … no?
Oh well Enthusiast had this to say:
87 Points. Muddled mulberry, toasted oak, forest floor and smoked meat aromas show on the nose of this bottling. The palate’s dried berry flavors are wrapped in fairly brooding oak spices. MK 3/1/23
fwiw
Where is the winery???
@tercerowines I mean why is the winery not participating?
CT / MA / RI split anyone?