One of our favorite addresses in Sonoma, Arnot Roberts, makes fantastic wines with European influence. We have visited the winery a few times, which is nothing special and is located in an industrial complex off the beaten path on the outskirts of Healdsburg. While it is not an illustrious operation, the wines they produce are nothing short of heroic. One of their go-to wines is the Watson Ranch Chardonnay, which we enjoy and offer every vintage. 2020 is spectacular and at the top of the list for some of the best vintages of Watson Ranch ever. Sourced from the southernmost vineyard site in Napa, Watson Ranch is a hillside vineyard east of highway 29 and is the only site in Napa Valley that is pure limestone soil. The vineyard was a quarry at one point and was used to rebuild San Francisco after the earthquake in 1906. Arnot Roberts buys most of its fruit via long-term contracts, and the vineyards they source the fruit from, at a minimum, are farmed sustainably. Their philosophy is to showcase the vineyard sites. To do this, they tend to pick on the earlier side (Chardonnays are in the low 12% alcohol range), are very gentle with the wine-making process, employ indigenous yeasts, and only use older oak barrels. The result is classic mineral-driven Chardonnays with tons of dry extract, complexity, focus, and length that age incredibly well. Watson Ranch is a mineral-driven wine showing white flowers, lemon, lime, tons of dry extract, and a beautiful saline mineral-driven finish. While it needs a few years in the cellar to really shine, typically putting weight on with age, it ultimately blossoms into a pseudo grand cru Chablis reminiscent of the Blanchot vineyard. This is a potentially incredible bottle and showcases the height California Chardonnay can achieve in capable hands.
2021 Arnot-Roberts Chardonnay Watson Ranch
2021 Arnot-Roberts Chardonnay Watson Ranch
$39.99
$39.99
One of our favorite addresses in Sonoma, Arnot Roberts, makes fantastic wines with European influence. We have visited the winery a few times, which is nothing special and is located in an industrial complex off the beaten path on the outskirts of Healdsburg. While it is not an illustrious operation, the wines they produce are nothing short of heroic. One of their go-to wines is the Watson Ranch Chardonnay, which we enjoy and offer every vintage. 2020 is spectacular and at the top of the list for some of the best vintages of Watson Ranch ever. Sourced from the southernmost vineyard site in Napa, Watson Ranch is a hillside vineyard east of highway 29 and is the only site in Napa Valley that is pure limestone soil. The vineyard was a quarry at one point and was used to rebuild San Francisco after the earthquake in 1906. Arnot Roberts buys most of its fruit via long-term contracts, and the vineyards they source the fruit from, at a minimum, are farmed sustainably. Their philosophy is to showcase the vineyard sites. To do this, they tend to pick on the earlier side (Chardonnays are in the low 12% alcohol range), are very gentle with the wine-making process, employ indigenous yeasts, and only use older oak barrels. The result is classic mineral-driven Chardonnays with tons of dry extract, complexity, focus, and length that age incredibly well. Watson Ranch is a mineral-driven wine showing white flowers, lemon, lime, tons of dry extract, and a beautiful saline mineral-driven finish. While it needs a few years in the cellar to really shine, typically putting weight on with age, it ultimately blossoms into a pseudo grand cru Chablis reminiscent of the Blanchot vineyard. This is a potentially incredible bottle and showcases the height California Chardonnay can achieve in capable hands.
