California Supreme: Arnot-Roberts

In 2011, when I was living in Napa and got to know Duncan Arnot and Nathan Roberts, their winery Arnot-Roberts was relatively new. Even though they started with one barrel in their basement ten years prior, the buzz was only building. Today, through their site-driven wines, they are atop the New California movement that has caught the attention of Europe, Asia, and beyond. Since day one, the low-intervention winemaking and sense of place in each fabulous bottle have been our core picks. 

Their Sonoma Syrahs are so good that Marcel Juge called them "Cornas" when he blind-tasted them in his cellar in Cornas. They regularly receive critical praise as the best bottling of the variety in California in any given year. The Santa Cruz Mountain Cabernet Sauvignons are more mineral and profound than most of Bordeaux "made" today. Chardonnays from several distinct vineyards from Santa Barbara to Sonoma have an unrivaled salinity and texture. Their lesser-known bottlings of Trousseau, Ribolla Gialla, and Sauvignon Blanc are singular expressions that always have a place on my dinner table each vintage.

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