Chardonnay Trout Gulch Vineyard
2020
Duncan Arnot Meyers grew up around wine. His father's best friend was Bernard Portet of Clos du Val, and much of Duncan's youth was spent in Napa Valley. He was mentored by John Kongsgaard and worked side by side with Pax Malhe, Northern California's cult syrah specialist, until June 2008. The "Roberts" in Arnot-Roberts, is Nathan Lee Roberts, second generation master cooper, whose grandmother is Margot Biever Mondavi; Nathan's mother Annie Roberts was executive chef at Robert Mondavi Winery....
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The 2021 Chardonnay Trout Gulch Vineyard is a model of precision and class. Pure and crystalline, the 2021 is superb. I would give it a few years to settle down, but all the elements are in place. Lemon peel, chalk, mint, white flowers, sage and crushed rocks abound in this striking, riveting Chardonnay. The 2021 is just pristine. This is what Trout Gulch Chardonnay is all about.
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The grapes from this extraordinary vineyard are at 240m altitude and just 6km from the Pacific Ocean, making it one of California’s coolest Chardonnay sites. From Wente clones planted in the 1980s, this wine shows tremendous tension and elegance, with taut tropical fruit, saline, oyster shell complexity, a refined palate and beautiful length.
Another highlight in this range, the 2017 Chardonnay Trout Gulch is stellar. Bright and focused, as it always is, the 2017 offers a striking interplay of tension and fruit density. Lemon peel, white flowers, mint and chalk are all beautifully delineated in this saline, finely-sculpted Chardonnay. The 2017 is going to need a few years to come into its own, but it is positively striking, even in the early going.
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Candied lemon, crushed rocks, sage, dried flowers and a host of mineral-inflected notes open up. Distinctly tense and vibrant, the 2014 offers superb intensity yet also captures the phenolic intensity that makes Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnays so unique. The Trout Gulch remains one of the most distinctive, pedigreed Chardonnays being made in the United States.
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The 2020 Chardonnay Trout Gulch Vineyard is laser focused and vibrant, as it is in its best years. Crushed rocks, mint, white pepper, lemon peel and white flowers all race out of the glass. Bright saline notes extend the finish effortlessly. The 2020 is very nicely done, and also a great example of this Santa Cruz Mountains site.
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The 2018 Chardonnay Trout Gulch is loaded with personality and class. Citrus, dried flowers, mint and sage are some of the many nuances that grace this Chardonnay from the southern reaches of the Santa Cruz Mountains. In 2018, the Trout Gulch has more overt body and less of the sizzling cut it has had in some previous editions, which means it will drink nicely with just another year or two in bottle. There is still plenty of energy, but more mid-palate depth and less austerity than in some years.
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