ARNYCA Cellars was founded by Steve Distler and Luis Pettinato. Steve was born and raised in New York City; his first introduction to wine was while in graduate school at the Rochester Institute of Technology (where he earned his master’s degree in education). Later he taught history for 3 years at The American Sign Language and English Secondary School in New York City. Steve furthered his wine education by working retail at Italian Wine Merchants in New York City where he discovered a love for Italian wines – perhaps a nod to his Italian heritage (his mother was born in Italy).
Steve intended to open a wine bar in New York City; his plans changed after he took a short 4-day vacation to Napa Valley. Inspired by the wines and the region he moved to Napa full time in 2007. As he says, jokingly – he moved away from New York because the pace of the city was a bit slow for his taste. Embracing the much slower Napa Valley lifestyle and still nurturing the idea of opening a wine bar, ultimately, he did so with several partners opening Carpe Diem in downtown Napa. Carpe Diem remains open, although Steve is no longer involved.
Sometimes a collection of talent is pooled based on random introductions made from contacts while working within the wine industry. Prior to starting ARNYCA Cellars, Luis was the Restaurant Manager at The Grill at Meadowood and Steve was employed at Del Dotto Vineyards. One afternoon, Luis came with several friends for a tasting at Del Dotto and both he and Steve connected over personality and a shared passion for food and wine. Later when Steve was the General Manager at O’Brien Estate, he hired Luis, who now works at VGS Chateau Potelle Winery.
Before a career in wine Luis worked at Le Cordon Blue in Buenos Aires. For 15 years he worked in kitchen management at fine restaurants in both Los Angeles and Napa Valley.
And while at O’Brien Estate they met winemaker Mark Davis; Mark has made all vintages of ARNYCA and continues to do so. He is a graduate of the University of California Davis with a degree in both Viticulture and Enology. Like most young winemakers these days he has an international pedigree of wine making experience including in Australia and in South Africa. And in 2012 he started his own label, Cobden Wini Wines.
Rather than name the wines after themselves they created a name that combines a sense of three places; AR for Argentina where Luis was born and raised (Buenos Aires), NY for New York City where Steve was born and raised and CA for California where they both met and currently live.
Select Wines
The focus is on several limited production wines including a rosé made from Pinot Noir from the Russian River, a Cabernet Franc, a rare for a Napa Valley producer, Albariño, a white Spanish variety and a rosé of Grenache. In 2020 ARNYCA released a very limited production (20 cases) of the ARNYCA Brut, a sparkling wine from California’s North Coast. Their first Cabernet Franc was from the 2013 vintage and first rosé from the 2015 vintage.
Aromatically, these are all wines that benefit from time in the glass to expose additional layers which don’t show immediately upon opening. One question has never been pursued at ARNYCA, “what is this wine’s score?, rather the more important question is, “what would these wines pair well with?”
Whites/Rosé
Beginning in 2020, ARNYCA began producing a non vintage sparkling wine. The ARNYCA Sparkling Wine Brut (non vintage, a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir) is medium golden in color. The bouquet immediately offers aromas of bruised apple, honeysuckle, bosc pear, mandarin orange and citrus blossom. And there is a minerally component. It smells simultaneously fruity and fresh. On the palate there are flavors of freshly cored Golden Delicious apple and the resulting juice, kiwi, pear, pineapple, kumquat and loquat. It is bright and refreshing with an intensity of flavor which persists for some time on the fruit filled finish. Quick to bottle, quick to enjoyment. Their idea behind this bottling was to produce an enjoyable, easy drinking and celebratory wine.
The 2023 ARNYCA Rose of Grenache was produced for first time from the Alloria Vineyard in the Sierra foothills (Calaveras County). This vineyard is close to New Melones Reservoir, and is at an elevation of 2,200 feet featuring shale shale based soils. The grapes were harvested specifically to make this wine and went straight to press (no saignée). This wine is medium copper; the minerally bouquet offers aromas of raspberry, wild strawberry and a light sweetness reminiscent of cotton candy. The lightly fleshy texture accompanies a brightness of acidity. This wine offers flavors of raspberry, pink lemonade, red delicious apple, limeade and lingers with a light note of dill that this variety often expresses. The finish is mouth watering, refreshing and begs another sip. There is plenty of vivaciousness in this superbly balanced beauty. It was not cold stabilized prior to bottling, so one may notice some titrates at the bottom of the bottle. It is 12.3% alcohol. And prior to producing a rose from Pinot Noir from Russian River previously. Production is usually around 80 cases.
The 2017 ARNYCA Rosé of Pinot Noir is salmon-flesh colored in the glass (pinkish orange). Aromatically this wine is generous showing aromas of strawberry, rhubarb and a Jolly Ranch watermelon nuance. Not light on the palate, the wine features both intensity of flavor (citrus) and a pleasant weight. Supple and seamless from beginning to end the wine shows a pleasing roundness or viscosity if you will but also a crispness – especially on the finish. This wine can be ‘dangerous’ as it drinks far too easily and before you know it, the bottle has been drained.
The label on the ARNYCA rosé changes from vintage to vintage, but always portrays variations of an image of a rose. Oakland, CA born Matthew Olyphant is an acclaimed artist whose works have been shown at a number of fine galleries both domestically and internationally. His works often portray a sense of movement. Matt’s brother is the actor, Timothy Olyphant. Steve owns Matthew’s original painting for this label – which was created using spray-paint. In a nod to social media communication, the label is also a hashtag.
The 2023 ARNYCA Albariño (sophomore vintage) Alloria Vineyard is medium to deep gold in color; the distinctive and aromatically layered bouquet offers scents of yellow peach, nectarine, honeysuckle, dried straw with some tropical fruits including papaya and pineapple. There is a sweeter baking spice note here also at play including of caramel. On the palate there are flavors of apricot, yellow peach, yellow mango, baked pineapple and papaya. The mouth feel is texturally rounded and supple, complemented by a finish of rich and persistent fruit and equally rich acidity. Sometimes generic descriptors are the best, simply put, this wine is delicious. Steve’s go to and favorite dish for pairing with this wine is the scallops at TORC in downtown Napa. This wine was aged in all neutral oak for 5-6 months depending on vintage prior to bottling. The inception of this wine came in 2015 when Steve and Luis first started discussing the possibility of producing an Albariño when one the clients at O’Brien Winery was producing Albariño that year. Their first vintage of this wine was from the Sonoma side of Carneros.
Reds
The 2022 ARNYCA Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc with the Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from a premium site in hills of eastern St. Helena AVA. This wine is deep ruby and nearly opaque in color; the bouquet is a union of both fruit, baking spices, savory attributes and barrel influences. These aromatics include a brambly character, baked plum, dark cherry, old cedar box, sweet tobacco spice, petrichor, cinnamon stick, nutmeg and dark chocolate. On the palate there are flavors of plum, cherry, and blackberry with a very light note of sage. The finish lingers with a light note of toasted cedar and broad textured tannins sporting a lightly dusty and gravelly character. This wine is highly approachable upon release but it clearly also has the hallmarks for aging. For reference we tasted this wine only 2 years post vintage about 6 weeks post bottling. There is absolutely nothing linear about this wine. As of our latest update to this review, ARNYCA has produced a Cabernet Sauvignon only in the following vintages: 2016, 2018, 2021 and 2022.
Rather than focusing on the somewhat ubiquitous Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Steve and Luis decided to focus on a variety they both enjoy drinking – Cabernet Franc. Steve has always enjoyed both the complexity of this variety and all its nuances. Cabernet Franc is their flagship wine; in fact they produce three wines from this variety including from Howell Mountain, Trailside Vineyard in Rutherford and one from Knights Valley in neighboring Sonoma County.
The 2022 ARNYCA Howell Mountain Cabernet Franc is blended slightly with skosh of Cabernet Sauvignon from both Howell Mountain and Calistoga. The bouquet offers scents of blackberry, dark raspberry and black cherry accompanied by dark chocolate, mocha, espresso, Graham cracker and a light barrel influence of toasted oak. On the palate there are darker and ripe fruited flavors including of blackberry, dark cherry, boysenberry, dark raspberry and Pakistani mulberry accompanied by milk chocolate. The finish linger with a light woodsy spice, tobacco and a dusty character. The ripe, resolved and rounded tannins are integrated well into the seamless finish. And that is out of the gate, as we tried this wine slightly less than 2 years post vintage. This wine has none of the green characteristics that are sometimes associated with this variety. Drinks very well by itself in its early development. This is the inaugural vintage from this particular site. Total production is 100 cases.
In a rare personal touch reflected of Steve’s intimate connection with this brand, Steve literally touches every bottle of wine produced by ARNYCA; he writes the bottle number by hand on each of the labels. The label for this wine is a tribute to Steve’s parents, both of whom are deaf; in fact Steve learned sign language as his first language. The fingerspelling (American Sign Language) shown on the label spells out each letter in ARNYCA.
The 2014 ARNYCA Cabernet Franc was sourced from vineyards in Howell Mountain and Calistoga. The wine spent 22 months in French oak and is 100% varietal. In a blind tasting one might lean more towards this wine being a Cabernet Sauvignon. Lively and bright on the bouquet the youthful aromas are immediately inviting. Fruit forward with aromas of blackberry, boysenberry, mocha and dark chocolate. Generous and well layered aromatically. Packs an intensity of fruit but without massive tannins. Supple on the mouth feel from the start to the finish – lingers smoothly with dusty but very well integrated slightly chalky tannins. Features a richness not always associated with this variety.
In early 2020, Steve sent basketball player Lebron James several bottles of ARNYCA; he knew of James’ interest in wine. When the NBA decided to cancel the 2020 season, basketball players had time on their hands. James posted one of the ARNYCA bottles he drank to his followers on Instagram.
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In 2023 ARNYCA partnered with the National Association for the Deaf (NAD) and will donate a portion of the proceeds from the sales of their wines to support issues affecting the deaf and hard of hearing community. NAD was founded in 1880 to help promote the interests of the Deaf Community on a national level. And ARNYCA also partnered with NICA Angels, a Nicaraguan based non profit focusing on clean water, education and economic development for rural communities.
Other than a tiny bit of distribution to select Napa retail spaces including Goose & Gander in St. Helena and Compline in Napa, all the wines are sold direct to consumer via their mailing list. Total production is typically between 500 and 600 cases each vintage. Starting in 2023, 7 cases of every bottling are held back for library wines. And ARNYCA offers a customizable wine club with either 6 bottles shipped per year (ARNYCA Life) or 12 bottles (ARNYCA Society). For more information, to schedule a private tasting with Steve or to purchase wines, visit: www.arnycacellars.com
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