Arnot-Roberts
Que Syrah Vineyard Syrah
Sonoma Coast, Sonoma County, California, USA
Delicious and just a tiny bit funky.
Delicious and just a tiny bit funky.
Oct 5th, 2022
Among everyday wine drinkers, Syrah gets a bad rap. No one is exactly sure why this is, but many (myself included) think the blowsy Shiraz craze of the early aughts has something to do with it. Serious wine lovers know, however that Syrah is one of the world’s greatest red grapes, provided it is planted on the right sites and harvested at the right time (both of which, it must be said, are not so common in California). There are an increasing number of benchmark bottling a of Syrah in California, this one perhaps chief among them. The Arnot-Roberts guys, @duncanarnot and Nathan Lee Roberts (not on IG?) have been making arguably California’s most profound cold-climate Syrah from the Que Syrah vineyard way out on the Western Sonoma Coast for many years now. When I say cold, I mean really cold. Fog drenched, windy as hell, just a stone’s throw from the ocean, this vineyard gets ripe at like 12.2% -12.8% alcohol or it doesn’t get ripe at all. And the wines it makes…. Crunchy blue fruit, bloody meat and rusty nails, dried flowers and powdery refined tannins. With age bacon fat and leather emerge. All draped in a saline umami jacket that makes the mouth water. I can only buy a couple of bottles of this a year, but each one is a battle between drink and hold. So I split the difference. I decided to open this one up and both regretted it (it will improve for another decade) and luxuriated in it. May you be so lucky to have similar problems.
Among everyday wine drinkers, Syrah gets a bad rap. No one is exactly sure why this is, but many (myself included) think the blowsy Shiraz craze of the early aughts has something to do with it. Serious wine lovers know, however that Syrah is one of the world’s greatest red grapes, provided it is planted on the right sites and harvested at the right time (both of which, it must be said, are not so common in California). There are an increasing number of benchmark bottling a of Syrah in California, this one perhaps chief among them. The Arnot-Roberts guys, @duncanarnot and Nathan Lee Roberts (not on IG?) have been making arguably California’s most profound cold-climate Syrah from the Que Syrah vineyard way out on the Western Sonoma Coast for many years now. When I say cold, I mean really cold. Fog drenched, windy as hell, just a stone’s throw from the ocean, this vineyard gets ripe at like 12.2% -12.8% alcohol or it doesn’t get ripe at all. And the wines it makes…. Crunchy blue fruit, bloody meat and rusty nails, dried flowers and powdery refined tannins. With age bacon fat and leather emerge. All draped in a saline umami jacket that makes the mouth water. I can only buy a couple of bottles of this a year, but each one is a battle between drink and hold. So I split the difference. I decided to open this one up and both regretted it (it will improve for another decade) and luxuriated in it. May you be so lucky to have similar problems.
Aug 19th, 2021100% knowingly opened this wine too early, but I couldn’t help myself. It’s one of my favorite California wines, and 2018 was such a spectacular vintage I couldn’t wait to see what Que Syrah Sera. And boy oh boy this is an epic wine in the making. It’s still incredibly “primary” but gives every indication that it will blossom into a mind-blowing wine. Right now it smells of bloody meat and thyme and forest floor. In the mouth deeply stony flavors of cassis and blackberry are shot through with potash and chopped green herbs while a gorgeous green olive / dirty martini salinity lingers in the finish with a grapey fruit that says “you idiot, if you’d just waited a year or two....” I don’t regret it though. Another winner from @duncanarnot and crew.
100% knowingly opened this wine too early, but I couldn’t help myself. It’s one of my favorite California wines, and 2018 was such a spectacular vintage I couldn’t wait to see what Que Syrah Sera. And boy oh boy this is an epic wine in the making. It’s still incredibly “primary” but gives every indication that it will blossom into a mind-blowing wine. Right now it smells of bloody meat and thyme and forest floor. In the mouth deeply stony flavors of cassis and blackberry are shot through with potash and chopped green herbs while a gorgeous green olive / dirty martini salinity lingers in the finish with a grapey fruit that says “you idiot, if you’d just waited a year or two....” I don’t regret it though. Another winner from @duncanarnot and crew.
Mar 18th, 2021
Black pepper and bright berries for days. Lilac. Smokey, grapey, just a touch of beef. Tart, energetic and refreshing if not profound.
Reminds me of Souhaut.
Black pepper and bright berries for days. Lilac. Smokey, grapey, just a touch of beef. Tart, energetic and refreshing if not profound.
Reminds me of Souhaut.
wild berries, wild herbs, mint; medium body, quite tannic, medium+ acidity, 12.2% ABV; 100% whole cluster ferment
wild berries, wild herbs, mint; medium body, quite tannic, medium+ acidity, 12.2% ABV; 100% whole cluster ferment
Apr 20th, 2020
Hitting the spot now. Unusually rich for an A-R syrah.
Hitting the spot now. Unusually rich for an A-R syrah.
Dec 15th, 2017
Takes a while to open up but then it delivers the profile of the northern Rhone.
Takes a while to open up but then it delivers the profile of the northern Rhone.
1 person found it helpfulNov 20th, 2021
Might be my favorite Syrah now a days
Might be my favorite Syrah now a days
1 person found it helpfulJan 24th, 2017What Syrah from the new world should be
What Syrah from the new world should be
1 person found it helpfulFeb 18th, 2016