We had an interesting experience with the 2015 vintage of Arnot-Roberts Trousseau last weekend and I’m wondering if those who have had it may have experienced something similar or different. Not sure if it’s just bottle variation or perhaps some kind of flaw, or what.
I opened a bottle about a year ago (or pretty soon after it shipped from the winery). I was expecting a lighter-style wine, for sure, but the wine tasted really thin and tight to me. Color seemed right, and no TCA or other flaws, so I chalked it up to opening the bottle too early, and didn’t touch the second bottle, until last weekend. I brought it to a fellow Berserker’s house, and coincidently, he already had the bottle open, so I left my other bottle alone (thankfully, I had brought a second bottle to share: Gamay Noir from Jolie Laide, which showed beautifully, but that’s a different thread).
We poured the opened Trousseau, only to find it was a brickish (borderline orange) color looking as if it had more than a year or so of age on it. I honestly can’t describe the flavor except to say there wasn’t much fruit. The tannic structure was still there. It just didn’t taste like good wine. (maybe the other berserkers who were in attendance can pop in and give a better tasting note, but I tried it three times throughout the afternoon, and poured it out each time). there were no signs of TCA or other flaws. The nose seemed to be fine, too.
The problem is, I know this can be good wine. I’ve tasted previous vintages, and another friend in attendance opened a bottle more recently and reported that this bottle was certainly not like what she had a few weeks prior. So we opened the bottle I brought, hoping to see an improvement. There wasn’t.
Do these wines only have a tiny drinking window? I would have expected so much more! Anyone pop one of these recently?
the wine is faulty. my friend sold it in his shop and had to return the entire stock to the distributor. we opened several bottles and they were all oxidized.
aha! that probably explains it (although i didn’t get any vinegar notes or maybe just not experienced enough to pick up on it). thanks for the quick response!
At the Seven % tasting in July Arnot-Roberts showed an excellent array of wines. I don’t think they showed a trousseau. At least my notes don’t show one.
On another note, I totally agree with you on the Jolie Laide Gamay Noir. Absolutely delicious and at 11.2% alc. dangerously gulpable .
I’ve had the wine twice. Brick red both times, though it did show some strawberry fruit as well. It was ok, but far too stemmy for my tastes. Hoping some age helps.
With Puffeney and other Jura wines as my frame of reference, I had the idea that almost comically light color and stemmy delicacy but with surprising presence were pretty normal for this variety, if not for Arnot Roberts, which in one or two prior vintages seemed a bit fruity and overly-forward, but still delicious.
I thought it was credible rendition of an old world grape, compared to many other experiments with varietals that should remain in their indigenous regions only…Which is not to say I’d own, but them I’m a terrible old world elitist snob
That certainly is an interesting color and one that the winemakers would not want to see in such a young wine, at least I would not think so.
The fact that this is a lighter wine it’s such an interesting concept to me. I make a Cinsault in a much lighter style - my 2016 us only about 11.5% alcohol and is not that much darker than many roses out there - but still packs a punch.
That said, some wine consumers who try it think it’s just a light wine, without much substance.
I think this has more to do with expectations and frame of reference than anything else. I refer to this wine as my ‘MTV Unplugged’ wine - a young kid, sitting in the corner, playing an acoustic guitar and singing without a Mic. Not all red wines need to be ‘fully amped’, do they?
Thanks Larry for your thoughts! I wasn’t sure if you were referring to your Cinsault in this last part of your response, or the Trousseau. If the Trousseau:
I wasn’t expecting this wine to be ‘fully amped’ at all! It’s why I brought it (and probably why the host also had it open). It was a sticky hot and humid DC day on the first weekend in autumn. My expectations were a light wine, with a bit of structure that we could easily drink. I’ve had the AR Trousseau before and remember enjoying it. I couldn’t drink past the second sip on the three different pours I took throughout the afternoon.
Tom’s tasting note is more like what I expected. These two bottles didn’t show any of the fruit, the only sign that fruit may have been in there was some tartness up front.
Thanks for the reply - and my comments were not aimed at you based on your original post, but based on other folks’ reactions to the wine in later posts.
I’m curious as to whether you’ve reached out to the winery or not to see what they have to say - or, if you purchased at retail, what the store has to say.
Larry, I thought their '14 Trousseau was one of the better US versions I have had, so maybe the '15 was met with certain expectations. That said, while I expect vintage variation, this seemed to be something more, whether stylistic or something else. I thought the change from the prior year was fairly dramatic. I did not hate the wine, but it was significantly different in style and character from prior years. Candidly, it reminded me of a SQN rose – not a bad thing – but not necessarily what I was looking for in that bottling. The critique I would have of your analogy is that if I go to a concert expecting one band and end up getting another, I’m probably going to be disappointed to some degree. I may still enjoy the show, but I think its fair to have some expectations of what that show might look like.
That being said, I’m a fan the winery and bought some '16 AR Trousseau from Envoyer so obviously I’m still a buyer of their wines. I’m hoping the '16 is more in the line of the '14, but we’ll see.
ooops, sorry for misunderstanding! and not yet. A friend suggested the same thing … I did buy it from the winery, but it was my first time buying directly from them. i’ll send them a note this week.
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