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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 92.2 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 38 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by 560 B&W on 10/24/2023 & rated 93 points: A better bottle. Not declining yet. Shockingly fresh. 12.5% (137 views) | | | Tasted by Ben Christiansen on 1/27/2023: It's gone from rock hard in its youth, to foxy (and not in a Jimi Hendrix way) at this point. Like the little kid you always hoped would grow out of being an a-hole, but now that he's older, he's still and a-hole. If you've still got them (like me) poor you. (570 views) | | | Tasted by Nutty08 on 11/5/2022 flawed bottle: Rhone Birthday 2022; 11/4/2022-11/6/2022: Closed nose. Seems rather off putting, with some olive and meat notes but otherwise limited accessibility on the palate. Didn't care for this--maybe better on night 2.
Not really better on night 2. I think this may have been spoiled by Brett or some similar spoiling organism. (692 views) | | | Tasted by DoubleMagnum on 8/28/2022 & rated 94 points: This keeps getting better. More complex, more dirt, smokey bacon fat, olive on the nose. Lean, assertive and elegant on the palate. Long, dry finish. This is as close as it gets to great Northern Syrah. (436 views) | | | Tasted by retired_and_roving on 1/15/2022: Drinking really well, more lean, racy and savory with some crunchy red berries. Worth the wait! (672 views) | | | Tasted by 560 B&W on 5/28/2021 & rated 93 points: Seems to be declining. Maybe a bad bottle? 12.5% (743 views) | | | Tasted by jjct on 3/13/2021: While I agree that the fruit is new-world sweet, this wine presents to me very nice savory flavors, great acidity, and good purity. Drinking nicely. (663 views) | | | Tasted by jwebtx on 2/4/2021: Band-aid, leather, berry, then a firm structure. Bought on release and stored at cellar temp. Pass. (633 views) | | | Tasted by Cote d'Or on 10/23/2020 flawed bottle: Smoky bitter and flat. Think this is an off bottle. (575 views) | | | Tasted by Ben F on 1/12/2019: Dinner at home, Mill Valley. Opened 1 hour prior to serving.
High pitched, almost shrill in the nose and palate. Not consistent with my memories of the other bottle I had of the same. Did not show well especially following a beautifully mature 99 Guigal Cote Rotie D’Ampuis. Possibly a flawed bottle. (900 views) | | | Tasted by WineGuyDelMar on 11/30/2018 & rated 93 points: Dark purple color. Decanted 2.5 hours. Perfectly balanced and so savory without being overly so like the 2013. Maybe more age mellows out the savory, don’t know. Charcoal, tar, olives, bacon and a long, lingering finish. What a great wine. I wish I had more of this because it is excellent. This wine is super extracted but not heavy handed. This wine can go for many more years but why wait? (1189 views) | | | Tasted by theronware on 1/30/2018: Quite rich and sweet. Plum and rich black fruits with a broad and insistent underpinning of charcoal/graphite. Lots of meatiness/bacon too. Doesn't really have enough nerviness for me and I could take or leave this. In fact, I mainly left it and drank the $20 Jura Trousseau that was open at the same time and that was much more food friendly. I don't get the Northern Rhone comparisons as this is so quintessentially Cali in its fruit and sweetness. (1179 views) | | | Tasted by mjf@ulkner on 12/6/2017 & rated 93 points: Blackberry and plum fruit. Lots of savory notes- classic bacon, some black olive and leather. Would definitely peg this as Northern Rhone in a blind tasting- restrained and elegant- with and underlying power. Terrific syrah this should be a benchmark for Californian versions of the varietal (1153 views) | | | Tasted by 560 B&W on 8/24/2017 & rated 93 points: PnP. Early years of the A-R low alcohol style. Love it. Meaty/gamey notes of the site with acidity and balance. 12.5% (1142 views) | | | Tasted by DoubleMagnum on 5/4/2017 & rated 93 points: American Chave? Bone dry goodness! I swear this is Hermitage. How can I explain something to be understated and assertive at the same time. I think the word is Elegance. Meat, game, lots of black olive, savory hebs and a hint of medicine cabinet. Fragrant. Soft, rounded tannins, supple texture. Very good length. Impressive effort. I don't think I've had Syrah like this out of California before. (1196 views) | | | Tasted by yossarian.livez on 11/8/2015 & rated 92 points: Delightful. Nose full of taxidermy and smoke with some floral undertones. Palate showing both reserved black and bright red fruits, olives, black pepper, and earth to go with fresh acid and tannic backbone. But don't get me wrong this is ready for a fresh old world syrah. Really good stuff, no rush. (1878 views) | | | Tasted by Mike Dildine on 10/4/2014 & rated 94 points: Exceptionally expresive fruit and floral aromas. On the palate, blue fruit smoke, pepper and spice. Long and deep, an outstanding effort. (2395 views) | | | Tasted by t_moderne on 1/10/2014: Opened about 1 hour before tasting. This was placed in a brown paper bag and served with 6 other wines, all syrah or syrah-grenache blends.
What a surprise. I thought this was a French Languedoc syrah that was in the mix.
Lots of barnyard notes - leather, horse hair and a touch of manure. Very earthy. Shows some black fruit and pepper notes but it is the iron/horse salad and earth notes that stand at the forefront. Opened up a bit and softened with time. Very much an old world style to it. (3145 views) | | | Tasted by Mike Dildine on 10/5/2013 & rated 94 points: 12.5% alcohol. Dark, almost opaque ruby red. Expressive, very floral aromas. On the palate, raspberry, tropical fruit, meat, smoke and pepper. Rich mouthfeel with a lingering aftertaste. Outstanding and very distinctive. (2915 views) | | | Tasted by Ben Christiansen on 4/17/2013: Spice and high aromatics. Punchy and fleshy on the palate. Wonderfull stuff. (3135 views) | | | Tasted by Rieslingfan on 2/19/2013: Same as the last bottle I had. Delicious. Not sure how I am going to keep my hands off of the last one. (2989 views) | | | Tasted by Wrmcbratney on 2/8/2013: Bright red fruit, slight CO2, peach pit, apricot, smoke, bacon. Good acidity, nice tannins, long finish. (2204 views) | | | Tasted by John Dunlap on 12/9/2012: Served witn many wines over dinner. No formal notes other than to say that the wine is lovely. Rich with great balance. Not over the top. No score given, but in the 90s. (2195 views) | | | Tasted by Rieslingfan on 11/21/2012 & rated 92 points: Lots of bright red and black fruits, some peppery accents and a lovely, clean finish. This starts out broad and comes to a point, such that I keep going back to the glass for more. (1913 views) | | | Tasted by Screameagle on 11/21/2012 & rated 92 points: My first Arnot Roberts but not my last. A beautiful syrah from a really good vineyard. Great now but has lots of upside. Decanted for about 3 hours which was about right. (2050 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, California Syrah on the Big Stage (Jun 2013)
(Arnot-roberts Syrah Griffin's Lair Sonoma Coast) Subscribe to see review text. | By Josh Raynolds
Vinous, May/June 2012, IWC Issue #162
(Arnot-Roberts Syrah Griffin's Lair Vineyard Sonoma Coast) Subscribe to see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, The Best of Sonoma (Feb 2012)
(Arnot-roberts Syrah Griffin's Lair Vineyard Sonoma Coast) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous. (manage subscription channels) |
| Arnot-Roberts Producer Website
Jamie Kutch left a highly paid career as a stock trader in 2005 to move to California and pursue his dream of making wine. People thought he was crazy, until the first Pinot Noir he released scored 93 points in Wine Spectator. That shouldn't come as a surprise as Jamie has cut his teeth among some of the best producers in the Pinot Noir world. From his time spent working at the revered Kosta Browne in Sonoma to receiving sage advice from none other than Aubert de Villaine of Domaine de la Romanee Conti, Jamie has taken everything he has learned to produce some of the most compelling and terroir driven wines in California.
The Kutch wines are made as naturally as possible. After the grapes are harvested by hand, they are sorted meticulously and moved only by gravity, before being fermented in small open-top containers with hand and foot punch downs using indigenous yeasts. When fermented, the wine is gravity flowed into French Oak barrels, where they age sur lie (on the lees). The vineyard pursues a minimalist philosophy, trying to produce the purest expression of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from a particular place and time.
Since foundation 2001, Arnot-Roberts has been one of the most progressive and revolutionary producers on the California landscape. Initially their focus was just on making great Californian wines, but when the cool 2005 vintage gave them wines in a more austere, high acid style than the region was used to, Nathan and Duncan reacted completely differently to practically everyone else in California – they loved them and decided to pursue lower ripeness levels and higher acidity in all of their wines henceforth.
The intent is to produce wines that express the character of the sites in which the grapes are grown. No vineyards are owned. Fruit was sourced by arrangements with farmers from prime sites in Napa, the Sonoma Coast, the Santa Cruz Mountains, the Santa Rita Hills, Moon Mountain and the Sierra Foothills. The focus is on single vineyards, but some regional / appellation wines are also made if the grapes show strong association with their origins. The common thread is that most of the fruit is sourced from cooler vineyard sites.
Syrah Varietal article (Wikipedia) | (Wines Northwest)
Note that some producers in the Northern Rhone distinguish between simply Syrah and "Serine", the latter described as ‘an ancient clone of Syrah, the berries of which are more oval-shaped and less deeply pigmented than Syrah’ by producer Tardieu-Laurent. USAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Sonoma CountyMendocino CountySonoma Coast * Sonoma Coast AVA (Wikipedia)
* Sonoma Coast AVA (Wine Institue) |
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