Wine of the Week: Arnot-Roberts Trousseau
This craveable California red is delightfully light and juicy, with notes of strawberry, violets and orange peel.
Here’s a grape you should know: Trousseau! It’s a red grape that tends to produce light, silky wines with cheekily high alcohol content. In the Jura’s craggy alpine landscapes, it’s known as Trousseau, but over in coastal Portugal it’s called Bastardo and in Spain, Verdejo Negro. All are deep cherry in color, with a soft silky finish and a bit of depth. Pale, yet deeply intense and tannic.
Over in California, Arnot-Roberts — a project by friends Duncan Arnot Meyers and Nathan Lee Roberts — is making an all-American take on Trousseau. What started out as a basement bottling kind of vibe has transformed into one of the region’s most interesting winemakers.
Their Trousseau is farmed from three vineyards in the North Coast AVA. Light and juicy, with notes of strawberry, violets, orange peel, and earth. Soft, dark, and wildly different. $39
Kate Dingwall is a WSET-trained sommelier and seasoned spirits writer. Her work has appeared in Wine Enthusiast, Eater, Forbes.com, and others, and she pours wine at one of Canada’s top restaurants.
Read This Next
