2008 Arnot-Roberts Syrah North Coast
Community Tasting Note
sid_loves_wine Likes this wine:
Friday, February 8, 2019 - Was hesitant to buy this as I thought the A.R. Trousseau was highly overrated (edited years later to add- I now love that wine)- but incredibly glad I did. VERY very much Northern Rhone in character, like a fresh St. Joesph in particular; blackberry, violets, lavender, pepper, black olive and mint, plus a tiny meaty note with a sweetness to it- think brown-sugared bacon (this meaty note blew off after some time in a decanter- I wish it hadn't.) Nice stemmy aromas but with present fruit. The oak is practically absent- I think they use a touch of it. If there's any oak character at all, it's a tiny milk chocolate note which frankly also disappeared quickly.
The northern rhone character is heightened by the incredibly light palate, with surprisingly acidic, tart fruit, way more so than the most acidic pinot noir I've ever tasted. Less of the "saline" character of a french syrah and more barely-ripe blackberry/mulberry acid, some red fruit such as cranberry. Because of this, it really does need food- I'm not one to insist on enjoying good wine with food except in cases such as this. I've had other well-made Rhone-like, acidic California Syrah (thinking of Vollmond, for one), but none as delicious or complex as this.
Really good stuff- awesome secondary notes, but drink soon before the fruit fades entirely. Hope to try some other A.R. now. I paid $30 for this but have seen it for $40- I'd probably knock off a point if I'd paid that much, but wouldn't feel it was too expensive.
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