2019 Arnot-Roberts Sonoma Coast - Que Syrah Vineyard

Childhood friends Duncan Arnot Meyers and Nathan Lee Roberts started Arnot-Roberts in 2001 and have quickly made it into one of the premier New California wineries, with a focus on single-vineyard wines from great sites around Northern California. 

As Arnot-Roberts observes, “Que Syrah Vineyard is a true gem on the Sonoma Coast. The vines were planted above the town of Occidental in 1994 by Al and Virginia Rago, about three miles from the Pacific at 850’ elevation. This is the oldest planting of Syrah on the Sonoma Coast, and credit goes to both the Ragos and to Ehren Jordan for being true mavericks in cool-climate farming of this grape variety in California.” 

Soils are sedimentary schist, shale, and fractured mudstone. Arnot-Roberts took over the vineyard in 2013. Farming is practicing organic. The wine fermented with indigenous yeasts (100% whole clusters) and then aged in neutral French oak barrels for a little less than a year. The alcohol level is just 12%.

The wine is medium-weight, dark-fruited, spicy, floral, pure, and vibrant. After five years, it is unwinding from its more primary phase and starting to show the complexity and detail that are hallmarks of the vineyard. This is a wine that offers both easy, hedonistic pleasure and real contemplative depth. Pour it into a Burgundy or other large wine glass and enjoy it with lamb, smoked eggplant, or an aged cheese.