Cristina VB

10

Great representation of FLX Cab Franc, some dried florals, spice and a little fruit. Paired with spaghetti bolognese and Caesar salad. — 3 months ago

Leslie

9.7

Wow, opens with dark stewed cherries, cocoa and hints of violet....yes violet on the nose and palate. Beautifully smooth tannins and mouth coating richness. Very long finish. — 4 years ago

with David

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

I am not the biggest fan of a lot of CA Chardonnays but, I have come to fully embrace Arnot-Roberts, this vintage & terrior.

This is not a wine you want well chilled...better just under room temperature. When well chilled, it loses too much of its beauty & sheer elegance. Shows more CA Chardonnay structure/backbone with big green apple. When it is cold it does pair better with the Lattebusche Piave Vecchio...a drier, harder cheese. When it warms, the best choice is the Jasper Hill Farms soft, full cream. white, Harbison.

After it has warmed & had about a half-hour of air, the nose is rounded, lush & ruby. Sweet & sour lemon, green & golden apple, overripe pineapple, guava, green melon, kiwi with skin, lime candy, caramel, gentle, white spice, just a glimmer of, herbaceousness, chalk, grey volcanics, melted, brown butter with yellow flowers/lilies, jasmine, spring flowers with mixed greens.

The body is rich, lush and full, a touch gluey with good viscosity. Sweet & sour lemon, green & golden apple, overripe pineapple, guava, green melon, kiwi with skin, tangerine, lime candy, honeysuckle, caramel, cream, gentle, white spice, just a glimmer of, herbaceousness, chalk, grey volcanics, limestone, melted, brown butter with yellow flowers/lilies, jasmine, spring flowers with mixed greens. The acidity is phat, round and really well done. The rich, well balanced, elegant, long finish is delicious, settling into persistent, delicate white spice.

Just misses 94.

Photos of; Arnot-Roberts vineyard, staff at harvest and Duncan Arnot Meyers (left) and Nathan Roberts in their vineyard in Forestville, where they have Trousseau planted. — 5 years ago

Jakub Kalinowski

9.2

Elegant, understated, fresh. black currant & cassis, a hint of anise, nicely integrated wood. Enticing.
On the palate this is rich, creamy yet restrained & savoury. Perfectly balanced, juicy, plush tannins, filled with ripe black fruit. Beautiful mouthfeel & nice depth.
This is truly a nice one. — a year ago

Shay A

9.3

This was tasted briefly at pop and pour and was then consumed from the decanter over the next few hours. Whereas the FAY was quite open, plush and had a sweeter fruited profile, this was a bit more brooding and layered. The fruit here is more red and black, with graphite, dark chocolate and mocha aromatics. Really nice depth on the mid palate with quite a strong tannic finish. Black cherries to the core with a streak of savory herbs and red clay down the middle…nice representation of Stag’s Leap district. I can see this improving with another 5-7yrs. — 4 years ago

Karrie Dies

9.5

A pretty and complex wine. Has red fruit, stem characters and peppery notes. SC mountains has amazing and underrated wines. I love the amount of acidity and layers. Nathan makes great wines. — 5 years ago

Ron from VA

9.3

Wowza…a full 10 years from harvest and this VIRGINIA chard is sooo beautiful and on point!! Complexity of baked tree fruit with vanilla bean crème brûlée….remarkable structure still hold up this sweet gentle oak mountain top cabin of a blue ridge Chardonnay. Spectacular! We’ll dome Nathan and terroir! Only the 2nd chard vintage from this site, too. PTL — 2 years ago

Charles Hudson

9.5

One of the most impressive Cab Francs I’ve had in a really long time. — 5 years ago

Ian Hamel

9.4

2020/5/24 with grilled ribeye, eringi with fennel, tarragon and chives, whitebait aglio olio and radicchio salad. This had a wonderful balance of taut structure and fruit intensity, while still remaining light and translucent. That, with the red fruit and spice nose, gave it an almost Burgundian feel - it was also quite distinct from the other Fay bottles. — 5 years ago

Jay Kline

9.2

Last night, a buddy of mine who’s a Disabled Veteran and Registered Architect, announced that he was assuming control of a SDVOSB Architecture firm. He had spent the better part of a year of trying to reach a purchase agreement. So it was an evening of celebration. He’s been a Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars fan for some time and he planned to pull the cork on a few bottles. We had a couple of rando bottles too but all were California Cabernet Sauvignon. I brought this bottle. It was part of my most recent delivery from Seavey and I was curious to try it out. Well...it was clearly infanticide. This was reductive at first and most of that blew off after about fifteen minutes. This was just so wound up. Delicious, fresh and almost crunchy fruit with a lot of structure. This was very bright compared to the Heart of Fay that preceded and just fell a touch short due to it being somewhat reticent. That being said, cellar time will be very kind to these and I would imagine this will show better down the road or with a lot of air, which this didn’t get. — 6 years ago