Sean Thackery Pleiades XVI Old Vines

The new shipment of Pleiades for BONDA arrived today. 4 cases to start. I haven't tried it yet, so I just opened a bottle. It is a lot more expensive than the XIV, but well worth it - will be $62 or so on the list as opposed to $52.

The label is still the same:

"The object of Pleiades is to be delicious, delight the jaded, offend the snob and go well with anything red wine goes with."

Bottle in January of 2008, a very late bottling for Thackery; he gives nothing up as far as composition:

"...includes Syrah, Barbera, Carignane, Petite Syrah, Sangiovese, and Viognier to name but a few."

For those of you who read this blog regularly, you know that this is my favorite wine, year after year. Each bottle is always different, always delish.

This bottle of the new vintage is lighter than the last XV I had, with a dark rust color, slightly opaque in the light. Big alcohol on the nose (probably because of its youth) with high cherry cola notes, earthy sweet pine, mint chocolate, with an earthy mushroom and coffee depth.

On the tongue, pure delight! Light and delicate at first, surprisingly medium tannins, with a roasted dark fruit, edgy coffee, thyme, and a bit of funk. I love this wine.

I originally wasn't going to open a bottle as the wine is probably travel shocked, but my father-in-law just got back and was visiting the boys. He loves Pleiades as well, he saw the case, and asked when we were going to try it. I said "Right now", and cracked the bottle.

His thoughts: "there is a certain softness, that is building Cinnamon, subtle cherry, What I love about the wine is the flow of oil that carries all the flavor. When I love a wine, that is what it has - that flow carrying the flavors".

Thanks Jim for the help in tasting the new vintage!

02.22.08 / 2003 Sean Thackery Andromeda Pinot Noir Devil's Gulch Vineyard

I have a couple of these in my cellar, but I saw they had some with Thackery's distributor, so I ordered a bottle for us to try at BONDA. It was a little disappointing, as it was neither delish nor corked - just closed.

Sean Thackery Pleiades XII

Earlier this evening I was down in my cave, looking for older vintages for the bachelor party, and came across a bottle of Pleiades XII. I only have two of them, but the label was so rotten, that I pulled it. Jamie came over and saw the bottle, and suggested we open it. I said OK, wine is meant to be drunk.

Off the cork it tasted a lot like the XV - big charcoal, junior mints, hints of oak, small berries - and seemed like it could go for awhile. After a bit, it started to close out and get a little medicinal. Still super tasty, this is the only wine that I bought in the first few months when we moved into our house that has been here the entire time.

Sean Thackery Pleiades XV

A gem of a wine bottles in August of 2006, featuring a blend of 12 grapes, some of which are Carignane, Mouvedre, Petit Syrah, Barbera, Sangiovese, Syrah, Viognier, Pinot Noir and some more. It is a field blend with grapes from St. Helena, vinted and blended in open air wood barrels in Sean's backyard in Bolinas.

I was first turned onto this wine in Nantucket, with XII - no vintages, just batches (one a year). Sean is a real genius. We were lucky enough to get XII through XV for BONDA and a few cases for ourselves.

This batch is super smokey when first opened, revealing the Syrah and Barbera. With ten or so minutes, the wine mellows to raspberry, herbs, black cherry - a fresh mix of red fruit with a soft mouthfeel and mellow tannins. The Pinot Noir and Mouvedre showing through - the Carignane playing with the Viognier - light and intense. The evolution of the Pleiades is quite something to discover.

I made an dish for dinner that I learned in college. It is orzo cooked in chicken broth and herbs, briefly stir fried with yellow and red peppers, garlic and chicken. The flavors of the wok fried chicken went surprisingly well with the wine - the peppers adding interesting interplay as well. The thyme and rosemary in the orzo also complemented the Pleiades.

This is a wine I can drink all the time, with any dish, at any time of the day. I love it.