This stands out as my most memorably disappointing wine of 2018.
Pretty floral nose. A little lean. Tartness mixed with sweet cranberry juice (in the more literal sense – it actually reminded me of Ocean Spray) and Syrah freakiness. Not a fan at all. Not even a little bit. It is a total head scratcher for me that someone might like this wine (and, I have enjoyed Pax wines in the past). For my palate, I’d go so far as to call it unpleasant. This is made in a style that I obviously don’t appreciate.
I had this Thursday night. My judgment wasn’t quite as harsh as yours, but I found the wine to be relatively uninteresting in lacking in anything that would distinguish it. It certainly wasn’t evocative of St. Joseph. I don’t drink a lot of California Syrah, but for me this didn’t hold a candle to the Sonoma coast syrahs I’ve had from Arnot Roberts. I was pretty befuddled when I read the CellarTracker reviews.
^ definitely possible, but everyone who is drinking the wine now is drinking it at a very early stage and forming a view. And yes, I would open a St Joseph this early and expect to be able to form a view on what I think of the wine at that point.
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I wonder how this wine tastes over 3+ hours of air - or on Day 2 or 3? I’d be curious if anyone has followed it that long to ascertain where it may be going down the line.
Good question. When you say ‘uninspiring’, what do you mean? To me, these wines will never appeal to everyone - they are lower in alcohol and quite lean. I never expect them to ‘fill out’ like many CA syrahs do, but I have found them ‘interesting’ and a nice counter to what is out there. But just as with everything wine-related, YMMV
2012 Arnot-Roberts Syrah Griffin’s Lair- USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (10/26/2018)
Disappointing for the price. Not much on the nose, with a palate of medium tart cranberry. Wine was a little sweet as well, which I found unusual for this producer. But most disappointing was that the wine was just one note and boring. For a $50+ bottle, I expect more. Will hold my last bottle for a few more years to see if anything interesting develops, but this one is just meh. (86 pts.)
Thanks for chiming in. How did the 2016 show upon opening, without a decant? When did it really begin to ‘shine’ for you? Really curious to hear . . .
My guess is that these wines have the capability of ‘blossoming’ into something special down the line - but, of course, there is no guarantee. And a lot will have to do with what your ‘expectations’ are.
Heck, it’s tough to live up to a ‘perfect wine’ rating . . . but I dig what Pax and Duncan and Nathan are doing as a counter to what else is out there. As you said, though, these wines will never appeal to all.
this is what I’m curious about as well. I’ve never had the 2016 but I have had the 2017 twice, followed it over multiple hours and days both times, and have liked it. but I am an admitted acid freak with wines. I think it will round out some over time and become more enjoyable, because right now even on day 2 and 3 it is pretty angular and linear. Larry, to your question though I do think it is better on day 2 and 3 than as a PnP. its still a lean mean machine though because it just needs some time in the bottle.
I think its really interesting to see some contrasting opinions to mine though. I’ll admit I drank it without knowing what the style would be and was surprised by just how acidic and lean it was.
for those who DONT like this wine, do you drink a lot of northern rhone Syrah? what producers do you like if so?
This wine transformed into something beautiful on day two. Compared to day one it was less savory, less peppery with cool dark fruits, violets and subtle black olive. We enjoyed it very much. This is definitely not a jammy, overly ripe, hot climate syrah. That is what we liked about it. We opened the 2016 last night to share with friends at a dinner party. It was very similar to the 2017 when initially opened. As it was gone in 15 minutes, there will be no second day impressions from that bottle.
So, I asked my friend to bring over the leftovers from last night and he obliged. If it’s possible that it was worse, it was. He’s a long-time fan of Rhone Rangers, which is why I brought it last night along with the Beaucastel. After tasting it again, we both agreed something went wrong with my bottle or the wine itself. Sweetness and very tart cranberry unpleasantness. It wasn’t something one would want to linger over or contemplate.
I’d save the other bottle for an experiment – but, frankly, I am pretty certain there’s no way the wine we had will ever turn into something I would find palatable.
As a side note – I have no issue with acidity. This bottle had nothing to balance it out.
