Description
In 2001, Arnot-Roberts was founded by childhood friends, Duncan Arnot Meyers and Nathan Lee Roberts, in Healdsburg, California with a focus on producing distinctive wines that highlight the nature of the terroirs where the grapes are grown.
The elevated Trout Gulch Vineyard is tucked within a dark and forested coastal canyon about 4 miles from the ocean in Santa Cruz County. It was planted in 1980 with the old Wente clone of Chardonnay, which is considered by many to be the heritage selection of Chardonnay in California. Its extreme location puts Trout Gulch on the absolute edge of ripening potential for Chardonnay—both Duncan and Nathan feel incredibly lucky to be able to work with fully-matured Chardonnay from such a unique site.
To retain the nuanced fruit and mineral expression of the site, the wine spends just under a year in older French oak before bottling. The Arnot-Roberts approach is always one of minimal intervention in the cellar, without any ‘make-up’ added to the wines.
Any connotations of big, rich, alcoholic and oaky American Chardonnay are challenged by the purity and transparency of the terroir, as well as the variety’s affinity towards cool-climate pockets—certainly exemplified through one of America’s leading producers.
