Arnot Roberts, Cabernet Sauvignon Fellom Ranch, Santa Cruz Mountains

Interestingly, this started out much more restrained than the Mount Eden, as one would expect. More red fruit than blue or black. As it opened it started to flesh out as the Mount Eden became leaner and they kind of met in the middle. This still has more savory and spice notes and none of the graphite but it was a really good wine in a good spot now but could improve with 3-5 more years.

2013 vintage

What's not to love here?????? Seriously this is the juice I crave - plenty of the SC violet vibe mixed with the right amount of minerality....this is gorgeous and understated and if you don't like this you probably have other issues that need addressing before you start opining about wine.

2013 vintage

Tasted great after a couple of hours in a decanter. Elegance and restraint.

2013 vintage

Quite good after a hour decant. A lot of tannin but it’s all fine grained and polished. Little oak. Just pure fruit that has excellent concentration. This needs some time to develop more complexity but very well made.

2013 vintage

Nicely structured cabernet. Not jammy, not green, just right. Good plummy fruit with a nice balance of acidity, mineral and ripe, medium grain tannins. Medium length finish. Well-made Santa Cruz Mtn. cab. Should continue to evolve gracefully.

2013 vintage

Like young Serralunga Barolo if made from cabernet. The most tannic, astringent, backwards wine I've tried to drink in some time. This needs 10+ years for my preferences, but YMMV if you have grilled sauropod on your plate.

2013 vintage

2h decant. Very old world. Nose of tobacco, leather, habanero, cinnamon, ripe bramble. Not clearly Cali until the palette, when more (though modest) fruit appears. Decades of life remain.

2013 vintage

Needed some air to open up. Dark fruit, graphite, cassis, tree bark, and a hint of tart plums on the nose. Strong, drying tannins and flavors of dark berries, cedar, tart dark cherries, and more cassis on the palate. Quite long finish. High quality wine, but I feel like it needs at least 5 years to harmonize. 94+

2013 vintage

Dusty california blackberries, purple flowers, artichoke, soil tones on the nose. Dry dark salty fruit on the palate, emerging sweet berry notes, firm acids and an intense tannic bite, lovely floral back note moving into the long acid finish. Excellent with pan fried ribeye steak and buttered cauliflower.

2013 vintage

Spot on tonight! Perfectly balanced and vibrant Santa Cruz Cab. Such an underrated producer.

2013 vintage

This is exquisite right now and just entering its prime drinking window. It reminds me of old school California Cabernets of yesteryear... old Forman, old Heitz. I really enjoy what AR does with Cabernet from this site, right next to Monte Bello. Excited to see how this wine unfurls over the next 5-10 years.

2013 vintage

Drank over 3 hours. Fresh, vibrant, and rather young upon opening but the wine unfolds nicely and elegantly over the hours. First off: wait another 5 years on this wine as the components virtually promise better integration and overall improvement. But drinking now: strong blackberry, camphor, brown sugar, and tight dark fruit aromas. Strong presence of herbs on the palate... thyme, rosemary flowers, and rose. A real grip (which I think will mellow) but so complete.

2013 vintage

Anise, dark berry, cedary spice on the nose with a warm top note of mocha and a dark hint of tar. Generous dose of dark aromatic fruit on the palate, bathed in sweet tannins and girdled by golden threads of acid. Excellent with braised rabbit and roasted Brussel sprouts.

2013 vintage

Enjoying this next to the '10 made it clear that this the '13 is still too young to drink but has plenty of upside. If drinking now, bring out the best by opening it a few hours beforehand and supporting it with something fatty and flavorful like grilled ribeye. Ideally though hold until 2023 and drink through 2031. Thank you slulkin!!

2013 vintage

Drinking this next to the 2010 showed how young this wine still is. Tight upon opening but improved over several hours and nicely complemented the steaks we had grilled. Everything appears to be in place, just needs some time to really show its stuff. Looking forward to the next one in five years.

2013 vintage

This bottle was in a great place tonight! Nothing jammy about this non-Napa Cabernet. Santa Cruz based vineyard with great balance.

2013 vintage

Some mixed reviews on this but we found it to be fantastic. Took just a little air to open up but great flavor and well balanced once it did.

2013 vintage

very herbal and drying tannins. won't open the next bottle for a few years.

2013 vintage

Pure fruit notes of blueberries, blackberries and cherries, but also some cedar and herbal notes. The tannic structure is fine grained and with a good grip and there is a fantastic cool acidity. This is an elegant and well balanced Cabernet Sauvignon in a rather classical style.

2013 vintage

Ruby. Complex enticing aroma of mint, chocolate, blackberries, dry heath. On the palate a beautiful smooth deep aromatic core with a broad splash of acid, furry tannins, wonderful second burst of fruit at the back, a lovely back aroma of oak and berry. A truly exciting wine of grand proportions, looking forward to how it evolves. 50 + 18 + 18 + 9 = 95.

2013 vintage

I recommend waiting on this one to come together. There is a lot of bottle variation right now and the wine needs to settle down. We had 2: one was very good but in need of more aging after a 3-hour decant. The other was totally disjointed and weird, but improved dramatically on day 3. I'd recommend trying again in 3-5+ years or when reviews become more consistent. I think this has a lot of upside potential (or wild bottle …

2013 vintage

The 2013 Arnot-Roberts Fellom Ranch was decanted 3 hours prior to tasting and was part of a double blinded taste off between 6 other 2013 Napa Cabs that scored 95 points + from professional reviewers. Visually, the wine color was a vibrant red-purple color with medium viscosity. The nose had an herbal expression with a hint of cherry. The taste was elegant and soft. It provided a nice mouth feel for a young cab with flavors of cherry, cola, dark …

2013 vintage

2013 Napa Cabernet Double Blind Tasting at Shane's (Nw Jersey) : Decanted around 2pm, put back in the covered bottle around 5pm then drunk from 6-9pm...served double blind to all but our host for whom they were only single blind. 100% cabernet sauvignon. Opaque garnet color. Stunted nose of fermenting juice/ carbon dioxide (secondary fermentation??) others didn't see any flaw. Extremely dense. Tannic, flavors of tar and earth with a chalky mouth feel. I find it has downright offensive flavors …

2013 vintage

Ordered this on a whim off the wine list at St Anselm in Williamsburg. Ditto other reviews, very classic Old school BDX style, showing cool salinity, herbalness, some restrained black fruit and a touch of barn and meat on the back palate. Still tight and will definitely benefit from age. Plenty of room for growth.

2013 vintage

My first Arnot Roberts of any variety; this was an interesting take on a California Cab; I could sense that the alcohol was lower than what is normally encountered with this type of wine (and, indeed it was 13.7% on the label). With more time in the decanter, it became much more complex and interesting. It's made with 30% whole clusters, and one can detect that complexity on the nose, but it wasn't an overly herbal quality that I can …

2013 vintage

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Arnot Roberts, Cabernet Sauvignon Fellom Ranch, Santa Cruz Mountains

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