Winemaker Notes
Que Syrah Vineyard is a true gem and the oldest planting of Syrah on the Sonoma Coast. The vines enjoy a long and cool growing season and are naturally self-regulated, finding their balance of canopy to fruit nicely on this forested coastal ridgetop. The wines we have made to date are electrifying in their spicy, aromatic personality and fill the glass with a mix of brilliant fuchsia color and vibrant briary fruit. Que Syrah has already shown strong potential in the cellar and, like the great wines of the Northern Rhone Valley, Arnot-Roberts looks forward to unlocking its riches for years to come as bottles mature in the cellar.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2020 Syrah Que Syrah Vineyard, from Nathan Roberts' home vineyard near Occidental, was picked very late for the year, on November 1. It offers up a beguiling mix of bacon fat, licorice, game, scorched earth, cracked pepper, grilled herbs and black fruit. The Que Syrah has a very strong, assertive profile loaded with the smokier, gamy qualities that are typical of Syrah, especially cool climate Syrah. I did not pick up any taint, but there is no question this is a wine with a very strong aromatic and flavor profile that may not be everyone's cup of tea.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
A vast appellation covering Sonoma County’s Pacific coastline, the Sonoma Coast AVA runs all the way from the Mendocino County border, south to the San Pablo Bay. The region can actually be divided into two sections—the actual coastal vineyards, marked by marine soils, cool temperatures and saline ocean breezes—and the warmer, drier vineyards further inland, which are still heavily influenced by the Pacific but not quite with same intensity.
Contained within the appellation are the much smaller Fort Ross-Seaview and Petaluma Gap AVAs.
The Sonoma Coast is highly regarded for elegant Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and, increasingly, cool-climate Syrah. The wines have high acidity, moderate alcohol, firm tannin, and balanced ripeness.