Arnot-Roberts Winery, Trousseau 2022, North Coast, CA

This French “Bastard” (AKA Trousseau) is from three sites across the North Coast of California. As usual, Arnot-Roberts let each site express the specification of each terroir. A wine that will surprise you with a light body, but with a great expression and a nice acidity. To enjoy this once is to adopt it for life.

COUNTRY: United State of America (USA)

STATES: California

APPELLATION (AVA): North Coast

REGION: California Coast

SUB-REGION: North Coast

VINEYARD(S): Luchsinger Vineyard, Bohan, Bartolomei Vineyard

VINTAGE: 2022

GRAPES: Trousseau

SOIL: Volcanic cobble over ancient river stones; Goldridge 

PRACTICE: Sustainable, Organic

VINIFICATION: 100% whole clusters and aged in neutral oak

STYLE: Still

COLOR: Light cherry with Boston brick

BODY: Light

TASTE: Dry

PRIMARY AROMAS: Spice, cedar, rose petal, sweet dried cherry, orange peel, spice

FLAVOR: Green bell pepper, licorice roots, wood smoke, cloves with nice acidity and a linear astringenc

FORMAT: 750 ml

ALCOHOL:  12%

SERVICE AND SUGGESTION: Ideal companion for stew, Beef Bourguignon, Poule au Pot ( Chicken stew), red wine monkfish, roast wild poultry.

ABOUT THE PRODUCER: Arnot-Roberts

“Arnot-Roberts was founded in Healdsburg in 2001 by childhood friends Duncan Arnot Meyers and Nathan Lee Roberts. Beginning with one barrel of wine made in their basement, the winery started small and grew slowly by sourcing grapes from some of the most remarkable vineyards in California. Duncan and Nathan grew up together in the Napa Valley and from an early age were immersed in the rhythm of agrarian life surrounded by the vineyards and winemaking of the early 1980’s.

“The focus of Arnot-Roberts is to produce distinctive, site-driven wines that highlight the nature of the unique terroirs in which the grapes are grown. The journey to this end has led Duncan and Nathan to seek out vineyards throughout Northern California and now includes incredible sites in Napa Valley, Sonoma Coast, Santa Cruz Mountains, Santa Rita Hills, Clearlake, and Sierra Foothills. Single-vineyard wines are the core of the production as well as a few appellation bottlings that clearly speak of their individual upbringings. Some of the vineyards are old and dry-farmed, some are newer plantings, but all are farmed and cared for by passionate and conscientious growers, which is paramount to the fundamental goal of Arnot-Roberts: producing the most honest and expressive wines possible.” (arnotroberts.com)

ABOUT THE WINEMAKING: Each site was harvested and fermented on its own, without destemming and the resulting wines are aged separately in a mix of neutral French oak barrels and stainless steel. Blending takes place in the early spring and the wine is bottled without fining or filtration in early May.

ABOUT VINEYARDS:

Luchsinger Vineyard: Clear lake Bernie Luchsinger emigrated to the United States in the mid 1960s from Chile and planted his vineyard in Kelseyville thirty years later. Now, Bernie along with his daughter Pilar are growing some of the most interesting grape varieties that we work with: both the Trousseau, and the Touriga Nacional for our rosé. The vineyard is planted at 1400’ on volcanic alluvium soils laid over ancient riverbed cobblestones in the Big Valley area west of Clear Lake, the second largest natural body of water in California after Lake Tahoe. These varieties both thrive in the long, warm days and cool nights of the Big Valley, and retain their acidity and personality well in this arid environment. We are lucky to have pioneers like the Luchsingers who were willing to take a risk with relatively unknown varieties in an effort to find what was best for their land, and in turn, gave us the opportunity to start something fresh. We feel fortunate for the gorgeous fruit cultivated each year under the watchful eyes of the Luchsinger family. Elevation: 1400’ *Clone/Selection: Trousseau: Clone 8 Touriga Nacional: Clone 2 *Soils: Cole series; Alluvial fine sandy loam *Vine Density: 6’x8’ *Farming: Sustainable *Planted: 2002

Bohan Ranch: The Bohan Ranch is located at 1400’ on a ridgetop west of Cazadero, 3 miles from the Pacific Ocean. The ranch was originally purchased in the 1940s by Mick Bohan and was used for raising sheep until the first Zinfandel vines were planted in 1972, making them the first vines on the Sonoma Coast in the modern era. Historically, Russian settlers at Fort Ross had planted vines from Peruvian cuttings as early as 1817. Vineyard plantings on the ranch were slowly expanded through the early ‘80s, with more varieties added. Finally in 2010, our friend Tegan Passalacqua was able to convince George Bohan to graft over a couple acres of unproductive Merlot to Trousseau. We arranged for cuttings to be taken from the Luchsinger vineyard and the switch was made, allowing us access to a few barrels worth of fruit per year. The thin-skinned Trousseau grapes grown in this coastal site are bright and energetic and loaded with punch. A little bit of this wine goes a long way in our blended North Coast Trousseau, and we are thrilled to get it. Elevation: 1400’ *Clone/Selection: Trousseau *Soils: Empire Series; sandy loam, shale *Vine Density: 4’x8’ *Farming: Sustainable *Planted: Originally Planted: Grafted 2010

Bartolomei Vineyard: The Bartolomei Vineyard is located in a secluded valley in the Green Valley sub-appellation of the Russian River Valley. The site is surrounded by mature coniferous timber and is planted predominantly to Pinot Noir; but tucked away from sight in the “deep end” of the vineyard is our section. Based on a mutual love for Trousseau, we were able to convince the vineyard owners in 2010 to graft over about 300 vines- about enough for a barrel or two. This cool site has very fine sandy goldridge soil and delivers the smallest, most concentrated Trousseau berries that we farm. The resulting wine is quite dark in color compared to our other two sites, (Bohan and Luchsinger), and adds a nice punch of pigment and tannin to our North Coast Trousseau blend. We are happy that Catherine and Rod decided to take a gamble for us with Trousseau, we think it is paying off.