We started this a couple days earlier than the listed date, when I smoked some beef short ribs with a sort-of Korean glaze of my own invention. I like Syrah with that kind of thing, and this did not disappoint. I think this has filled out a bit, without losing that cool-weather zip. My wife noted the black pepper component first--yes, very Syrah. Doesn't have all the roasted meat/olive savory notes of some, but has a nice mix of reddish and slightly darker fruit without being overripe at all. 2011 is an underrated vintage if you like wines with balance, not just ripe gobs of fruit. The yields everywhere were low, which also means berry size was often small and the wines have tannins to age with. If I buy A-R syrah again, I'll let it sit a good long time.
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Medium garnet in color. It shows some age but not bricking. On the nose, it is savory. Notes of green olives, herbs, green peppers and a bit of spicy black pepper. On the palate, it is dry, medium tannins with mild caressing grip, acid is medium plus, alcohol feels low. Flavors of black olives now with an herbal/floral undertone. Some violets and sage come to mind. Very old world in style. The subtlety and grace make it feel as if it were Cote-Rotie. Beautiful bottle. This is at peak of maturity and I would drink on the short term.
PAIRING: Pollo A La Brasa (obviamente Peruano!) [A+]
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Found this lost gem while reorganizing the cellar. Decanted in the glass. Fruit has largely faded, giving rise to an anise and rose petal bouquet. Tannins have aged gracefully, and the finish comes with pepper and subtle tobacco notes. A very enjoyable drink, though rather one-dimensional at this point in its life. Drink Now.
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Moderately intense red color. Opened and tasted over several hours. Did need at least an hour. Black pepper, ,smoked meat, bacon and grilled herbs on the nose which do carry through to the palate as well. After on hour some cherry fruit showed up. Black licorice and black tea also made an appearance . Not a fruit bomb and clearly not over extracted . Savory finish with pleasant acidity to go well with food. Based on the smell and taste this would easily hide and fit in with a Cayuse Tasting. Drank with grilled pork tenderloin in a blueberry chipotle sauce.
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Dinner with friends at home, Mill Valley, CA. Popped and poured. From magnum.
A stellar showing, the best and unfortunately last bottle from the vintage in my cellar. This wine has blossomed beautifully in the past year. A pure, crystalline expression of cool climate California syrah with a wonderful and deft balance of clean, bright and crunchy mid-weight fruit and intense floral, pepper, sage and slightly wild gamey aromas. Long, round and lively in the mouth, finishing pure and clean with mineral and white pepper notes again repeating on the finish, framed with a savory florality. In a great place.
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For our fundraiser for the high school. I got just a sip of this as we compared it to a 2009 Cote Rotie from Guigal. This was more in the vein of a St. Joseph, lighter, less robust. Lots of savory notes, and a weightless power more like Burgundy than the Rhone. Showing the cool 2011 vintage. I much prefer to a fruit bomb, but like a little more punch in my Syrah.
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12.25% abv. This could be mistaken for a burg if tasted blind. Floral nose with baking spices. Lighter bodied, but with a long finish. Tart strawberries on the palate. Drinking very well now.
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Coravined a taste after a bottle of Sleight of Hand Levitation. Lighter color. Similar nose and onitial mouth feel but overall leaner and not as huge as the SoH. Lots of peoper. Longer finish. A bit more complex. Very interesting! Drinking very well.
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Savory... Whisk aerated and left in bottle for 1hr. The nose popped with dark Syrah fruit, charred meat and pepper. Textbook Syrah. The palate carried the same flavors with minerally acid, integrated tannin and a happy finish. Showing well, plenty of fruit, structure suggests plenty of longevity.
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Slightly pale for Syrah but big wonderful nose. Lots of black olive and black pepper. Slightly astringent from acids, tannins and stems. Will give the next bottle to late 2018 or so. Intriguing wine!
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At home in Princeton with Val's chili. First experience with this wine, bought on release...Splash decant.
Color is light garnet/purple, translucent. Nose is "green/herbal characteristics, green pepper, olives with dark fruits behind it. I recall this was whole cluster, nose suggests its not integrated. Blue fruits, rhubarb, roasted meats, savory notes, black olives, black tea. Spice and black pepper very pronounced on the finish. Medium/light body and medium finish
Acidity frames this wine nicely. Would describe it as "interesting", especially for the varietal. Not a typical Syrah - new or old world - and may not be for everyone. The stage of evolution is hard to pin down (for me) as it may just be where its going to be or start to put on some weight and loose some of the green characteristics...seems to be a good bet to let it evolve a bit.
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On night two of this Clary Ranch Syrah from Arnot-Roberts.About as cool climate as you can get with California Syrah. This is a really tasty wine. Loads of briny black olive and chewy stems framed by blue fruit and zippy acidity all wrapped in fine but grippy tannins. It could go a few more years but the level of acid and stemminess likely will outlast the fruit. Drink by 2020.
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It has been 2 years since my last time with this wine. In 2013 it was all cracked black pepper. In 2015 it has gone smoky and faatty, so yes, bacon! Further on in the mid-palate the dark fruit and black pepper reappear and carry through to the finish. It remains a high acid Syrah, so those looking for richness should seek elsewhere. That being said it is classic Syrah with energizing brightness that works very well with food.
Bacon!
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PopnPour, tasted over 2 hrs and Day 2 -dark red/purplish -bacon/meaty funk, black olive tapenade, black pepper, very Cote-Rotie-ish; nose muted on Day 2 -med acidity, lighter weight and med- concentration, faint dark berry and savory elements but less pronounced than the nose, not a lot of complexity at this point, med tannins with OK length; more depth and intensity on Day 2 -gorgeously aromatic lighter weight Northern Rhone ringer, but it seems that the fading fruit has left a bit of a void in the mid-palate rather than being replaced by secondary/tertiary elements so the result is less complexity with evolution rather than the increase I had anticipated, may just need some more time as suggested by Day 2 tasting
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Couldn't get a true read on this wine. First time opening up a Clary Ranch and dind't know what to expect. In true AR fashion, it was a light style syrah, almost pinot like in the glass. Light to medium body. Picked up a lot of earthy notes, some olives and herbs. Enjoyed it, but not sure why.
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Opaque dark purple. No longer weedy and green in the manner it appeared a year ago. Now the those "green" aromas are typically varietal in nature: green olives. Really a lovely nose here. Perhaps a bit foursquare in terms of flavors, and not much length, but certainly good. Still, the aromatic improvement leads me to think that further positive evolution is definitely not out of the question.
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Lots of green pepper corn here. The general statement seems to be "hey, check back in with me in five years." Very savory, like beef stew with many herbs in it.
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2010 Northern Rhones (+treats) at Ross' place: Tasted double blind (this was a ringer). Stemmy and green nose with pepper and olive, with some red-blue fruit hiding behind the stems. Similar on the palate: lots of stems and green/vegetal aspects, young, tannic and clear. Lots of purity behind that - quite translucent. Soft finish with soft tannins and a little rhubarb fruit. Quite nice.
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2010 Northern Rhones tasted blind (Ross', NYC): A rather stemmy, herbal aroma with very fresh red fruits and olive flavours beneath on the palate. There's a sense of remarkable purity and brightness to the flavors, and bright acidity that keeps it very lively.
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Unexpected, light in body for a Syrah, bright and acidic with good red fruit. Lots of interesting flavors. Funk, herbs, minerals, moss, grass. Not my favorite but I appreciate it for its unique profile.
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More cracked black pepper than I could have ever imagined in a wine. There was also warm, green herbs. After some time had passed a lovely, smoky aroma was added to the mix, with a meatiness on the palate. This was a lean Syrah, but I liked the balance.
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Blind Pinots and Syrahs at David's (Enfield, CT): Great stuff. At first this has one of the most vivid aromas of freshly ground black pepper I've ever smelled in a wine, and with time it opens out aromatically to reveal more saline, spicy, meaty, and smoky elements that keep unravelling with more air. There's a sense of incredible freshness to the red and dark fruited flavours on the palate here, and a lightness of touch that makes it all too easy to drink. Served blind, I had no idea this was Californian - was guessing this to be a St. Joseph all the way.
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Pop and pour and served without food. Dark color. Beautiful nose with perfume, lilacs and herbs. This has a distinctive A-R flavor profile that I enjoy. Lively, with medium to light weight in the mouth, and good dark fruits. Nicely done.
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Slow-ox 1 hr, tasted over 2 hrs and day 2 -opaque purple-red -gorgeous peppery, spicy, berry aromatics -bright med+ acidity, power without weight, med+ chalky tannins, sappy sweet and spicy dark berries, earthiness -bright, complex, peppery N Rhone features but more fruit-driven and less savory, excellent now with several years upside to resolve the somewhat rustic tannins
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A-R Open House event. Tasting the prior vintage at the same event a year ago I had to struggle to come up with enough superlatives. This vintage seems more inscrutable. I perceived an abundance of herbal or leafy elements in the nose--in a word, green. This was true for both this Clary Ranch as well as the Griffin's Lair. It was frankly a bit surprising, even a little offputting, and complicated my ability to appreciate the flavors that followed. The Syrah characteristics that were so much in evidence with the 2010 were harder for me to discern here. A question of vintage or my personal tastebuds? There's interesting material on the palate; perhaps it needs to knit itself together a bit more. I'm going to leave these bottles alone for awhile.
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10/19/2023 - jjct Likes this wine:
Deliciously fresh and peppery. Picked early, this is a very light style of syrah, but has plenty of flavor.
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4/3/2023 - Not647f wrote:
We started this a couple days earlier than the listed date, when I smoked some beef short ribs with a sort-of Korean glaze of my own invention. I like Syrah with that kind of thing, and this did not disappoint. I think this has filled out a bit, without losing that cool-weather zip. My wife noted the black pepper component first--yes, very Syrah. Doesn't have all the roasted meat/olive savory notes of some, but has a nice mix of reddish and slightly darker fruit without being overripe at all. 2011 is an underrated vintage if you like wines with balance, not just ripe gobs of fruit. The yields everywhere were low, which also means berry size was often small and the wines have tannins to age with. If I buy A-R syrah again, I'll let it sit a good long time.
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1/30/2022 - CGWIND Likes this wine: 90 Points
Lots of lovely spice and pepper. Nice tannin. Lovely syrah
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3/8/2020 - R.H. Likes this wine:
Fantastic but you have to like the restrained / high acid style. Herbal and some pyrazine notes on palate. With Peking duck @ decoy
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1/28/2020 - DoubleMagnum wrote: 92 Points
Medium garnet in color. It shows some age but not bricking. On the nose, it is savory. Notes of green olives, herbs, green peppers and a bit of spicy black pepper. On the palate, it is dry, medium tannins with mild caressing grip, acid is medium plus, alcohol feels low. Flavors of black olives now with an herbal/floral undertone. Some violets and sage come to mind. Very old world in style. The subtlety and grace make it feel as if it were Cote-Rotie. Beautiful bottle. This is at peak of maturity and I would drink on the short term.
PAIRING: Pollo A La Brasa (obviamente Peruano!) [A+]
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1/16/2020 - Badgerchemist Likes this wine: 92 Points
Found this lost gem while reorganizing the cellar. Decanted in the glass. Fruit has largely faded, giving rise to an anise and rose petal bouquet. Tannins have aged gracefully, and the finish comes with pepper and subtle tobacco notes. A very enjoyable drink, though rather one-dimensional at this point in its life. Drink Now.
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9/4/2019 - jjct Likes this wine:
Delicious and fresh. In a great place.
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7/25/2019 - rustyRudy Likes this wine: 94 Points
Moderately intense red color. Opened and tasted over several hours. Did need at least an hour. Black pepper, ,smoked meat, bacon and grilled herbs on the nose which do carry through to the palate as well. After on hour some cherry fruit showed up. Black licorice and black tea also made an appearance . Not a fruit bomb and clearly not over extracted . Savory finish with pleasant acidity to go well with food. Based on the smell and taste this would easily hide and fit in with a Cayuse Tasting. Drank with grilled pork tenderloin in a blueberry chipotle sauce.
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10/31/2018 - Ben F Likes this wine: 94 Points
Dinner with friends at home, Mill Valley, CA. Popped and poured. From magnum.
A stellar showing, the best and unfortunately last bottle from the vintage in my cellar. This wine has blossomed beautifully in the past year. A pure, crystalline expression of cool climate California syrah with a wonderful and deft balance of clean, bright and crunchy mid-weight fruit and intense floral, pepper, sage and slightly wild gamey aromas. Long, round and lively in the mouth, finishing pure and clean with mineral and white pepper notes again repeating on the finish, framed with a savory florality. In a great place.
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4/21/2018 - Not647f wrote:
For our fundraiser for the high school. I got just a sip of this as we compared it to a 2009 Cote Rotie from Guigal. This was more in the vein of a St. Joseph, lighter, less robust. Lots of savory notes, and a weightless power more like Burgundy than the Rhone. Showing the cool 2011 vintage. I much prefer to a fruit bomb, but like a little more punch in my Syrah.
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2/20/2018 - treidling Likes this wine: 93 Points
Still outstanding. Lighter in body than I remember but focused. Great now and probably only a year or two left at peak performance.
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1/17/2018 - DrakkarNoir Likes this wine:
12.25% abv. This could be mistaken for a burg if tasted blind. Floral nose with baking spices. Lighter bodied, but with a long finish. Tart strawberries on the palate. Drinking very well now.
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11/21/2017 - Sourdough Likes this wine: 92 Points
Coravined a taste after a bottle of Sleight of Hand Levitation. Lighter color. Similar nose and onitial mouth feel but overall leaner and not as huge as the SoH. Lots of peoper. Longer finish. A bit more complex. Very interesting! Drinking very well.
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9/22/2017 - 560 B&W Likes this wine: 94 Points
Still. Just. Fantastic.
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9/14/2017 - brinko99 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Savory... Whisk aerated and left in bottle for 1hr. The nose popped with dark Syrah fruit, charred meat and pepper. Textbook Syrah. The palate carried the same flavors with minerally acid, integrated tannin and a happy finish. Showing well, plenty of fruit, structure suggests plenty of longevity.
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9/1/2017 - andrewdodd86 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Good but Griffin's Lair was better. Similar Blackberry, maybe a touch more raspberry. Earth, graphite, didn't age quite as well. High acid.
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6/7/2017 - 560 B&W Likes this wine: 94 Points
Nope, hadn't peaked. Fantastic nose with more complexity. Tannins are very much still there. 12.25%
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1/15/2017 - Sourdough Likes this wine: 90 Points
Slightly pale for Syrah but big wonderful nose. Lots of black olive and black pepper. Slightly astringent from acids, tannins and stems. Will give the next bottle to late 2018 or so. Intriguing wine!
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11/30/2016 - 560 B&W Likes this wine: 93 Points
Decanted. In its prime; probably peaked. Lovely, nervy cool climate Syrah. 12.2%
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1/28/2016 - walkerjfw wrote: 89 Points
At home in Princeton with Val's chili. First experience with this wine, bought on release...Splash decant.
Color is light garnet/purple, translucent. Nose is "green/herbal characteristics, green pepper, olives with dark fruits behind it. I recall this was whole cluster, nose suggests its not integrated. Blue fruits, rhubarb, roasted meats, savory notes, black olives, black tea. Spice and black pepper very pronounced on the finish. Medium/light body and medium finish
Acidity frames this wine nicely. Would describe it as "interesting", especially for the varietal. Not a typical Syrah - new or old world - and may not be for everyone. The stage of evolution is hard to pin down (for me) as it may just be where its going to be or start to put on some weight and loose some of the green characteristics...seems to be a good bet to let it evolve a bit.
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1/2/2016 - River Rat Likes this wine:
On night two of this Clary Ranch Syrah from Arnot-Roberts.About as cool climate as you can get with California Syrah. This is a really tasty wine. Loads of briny black olive and chewy stems framed by blue fruit and zippy acidity all wrapped in fine but grippy tannins. It could go a few more years but the level of acid and stemminess likely will outlast the fruit. Drink by 2020.
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10/5/2015 - Rieslingfan wrote:
It has been 2 years since my last time with this wine. In 2013 it was all cracked black pepper. In 2015 it has gone smoky and faatty, so yes, bacon! Further on in the mid-palate the dark fruit and black pepper reappear and carry through to the finish. It remains a high acid Syrah, so those looking for richness should seek elsewhere. That being said it is classic Syrah with energizing brightness that works very well with food.
Bacon!
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1/31/2015 - B Paul wrote: 89 Points
Nice overall but little on the green/light side.
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12/20/2014 - Cote d'Or wrote:
PopnPour, tasted over 2 hrs and Day 2
-dark red/purplish
-bacon/meaty funk, black olive tapenade, black pepper, very Cote-Rotie-ish; nose muted on Day 2
-med acidity, lighter weight and med- concentration, faint dark berry and savory elements but less pronounced than the nose, not a lot of complexity at this point, med tannins with OK length; more depth and intensity on Day 2
-gorgeously aromatic lighter weight Northern Rhone ringer, but it seems that the fading fruit has left a bit of a void in the mid-palate rather than being replaced by secondary/tertiary elements so the result is less complexity with evolution rather than the increase I had anticipated, may just need some more time as suggested by Day 2 tasting
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10/8/2014 - UofM wrote: 90 Points
Couldn't get a true read on this wine. First time opening up a Clary Ranch and dind't know what to expect. In true AR fashion, it was a light style syrah, almost pinot like in the glass. Light to medium body. Picked up a lot of earthy notes, some olives and herbs. Enjoyed it, but not sure why.
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3/23/2014 - slanum wrote:
Opaque dark purple. No longer weedy and green in the manner it appeared a year ago. Now the those "green" aromas are typically varietal in nature: green olives. Really a lovely nose here. Perhaps a bit foursquare in terms of flavors, and not much length, but certainly good. Still, the aromatic improvement leads me to think that further positive evolution is definitely not out of the question.
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12/13/2013 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Lots of green pepper corn here. The general statement seems to be "hey, check back in with me in five years." Very savory, like beef stew with many herbs in it.
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10/8/2013 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine:
2010 Northern Rhones (+treats) at Ross' place: Tasted double blind (this was a ringer). Stemmy and green nose with pepper and olive, with some red-blue fruit hiding behind the stems. Similar on the palate: lots of stems and green/vegetal aspects, young, tannic and clear. Lots of purity behind that - quite translucent. Soft finish with soft tannins and a little rhubarb fruit. Quite nice.
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10/8/2013 - salil wrote: 90 Points
2010 Northern Rhones tasted blind (Ross', NYC): A rather stemmy, herbal aroma with very fresh red fruits and olive flavours beneath on the palate. There's a sense of remarkable purity and brightness to the flavors, and bright acidity that keeps it very lively.
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9/13/2013 - mkotlarz wrote: 89 Points
Unexpected, light in body for a Syrah, bright and acidic with good red fruit. Lots of interesting flavors. Funk, herbs, minerals, moss, grass. Not my favorite but I appreciate it for its unique profile.
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9/6/2013 - Rieslingfan Likes this wine: 91 Points
More cracked black pepper than I could have ever imagined in a wine. There was also warm, green herbs. After some time had passed a lovely, smoky aroma was added to the mix, with a meatiness on the palate. This was a lean Syrah, but I liked the balance.
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9/5/2013 - salil wrote: 91 Points
Blind Pinots and Syrahs at David's (Enfield, CT): Great stuff. At first this has one of the most vivid aromas of freshly ground black pepper I've ever smelled in a wine, and with time it opens out aromatically to reveal more saline, spicy, meaty, and smoky elements that keep unravelling with more air. There's a sense of incredible freshness to the red and dark fruited flavours on the palate here, and a lightness of touch that makes it all too easy to drink. Served blind, I had no idea this was Californian - was guessing this to be a St. Joseph all the way.
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6/11/2013 - t_moderne wrote: 91 Points
Pop and pour and served without food. Dark color. Beautiful nose with perfume, lilacs and herbs. This has a distinctive A-R flavor profile that I enjoy. Lively, with medium to light weight in the mouth, and good dark fruits. Nicely done.
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5/16/2013 - Cote d'Or Likes this wine:
Slow-ox 1 hr, tasted over 2 hrs and day 2
-opaque purple-red
-gorgeous peppery, spicy, berry aromatics
-bright med+ acidity, power without weight, med+ chalky tannins, sappy sweet and spicy dark berries, earthiness
-bright, complex, peppery N Rhone features but more fruit-driven and less savory, excellent now with several years upside to resolve the somewhat rustic tannins
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5/4/2013 - slanum wrote:
A-R Open House event. Tasting the prior vintage at the same event a year ago I had to struggle to come up with enough superlatives. This vintage seems more inscrutable. I perceived an abundance of herbal or leafy elements in the nose--in a word, green. This was true for both this Clary Ranch as well as the Griffin's Lair. It was frankly a bit surprising, even a little offputting, and complicated my ability to appreciate the flavors that followed. The Syrah characteristics that were so much in evidence with the 2010 were harder for me to discern here. A question of vintage or my personal tastebuds? There's interesting material on the palate; perhaps it needs to knit itself together a bit more. I'm going to leave these bottles alone for awhile.
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