Arns Napa Valley Melanson Vineyard Pritchard Hill Syrah 2010

Arns Napa Valley Melanson Vineyard Pritchard Hill Syrah 2010

Saturday quiet relaxing evening at home, we brought home carry-out barbecue beef brisket and opened this Arns Syrah for what turned out to be the perfect meal. Linda prepared baked sweet potatoes and baked beans for an ideal set of side dishes. I cannot imagine a more ideal food and wine pairing. Absolutely delicious!

We were already fans of Arns Napa Cabernet when we arranged a visit and private tasting with producer John Arns at the estate on lower Howell Mountain during our 2013 Napa Wine Experience. John's wife Sandi Belcher is the winemaker. It was during that visit that we discovered their single vineyard designated Syrah made with fruit sourced from the Melanson Vineyard on Pritchard Hill which I write about in an earlier blogpost.

This wine is so good, I almost don't want to let out the news for fear I'll create more demand and have to compete for it in the marketplace. Supplies are limited as for this vintage of this Syrah, only 80 cases were produced. Arns is available directly from the winery, in select stores in Napa Valley, and at Bassin's MacArthur Wines in Washington DC, (as I explain in separate Arns blogposts) which is where I first discovered it. I pick some up every trip to DC.

As I write this, before I hit 'publish', I just ordered more of this from the winery to ensure I can obtain the latest release and to fill out our vertical collection with the latest release of the Cab.

We just picked up the entire lot that we acquired on Winebid and waited until Saturday evening and this special dinner to open our first bottle. Wow!

This is serious juice. The 2010 vintage was aged in one year old French oak for three years. The concentrated extracted fruit is apparent as soon as you  pour the dark inky purple juice into the glass. Full bodied, thick, concentrated black and blue fruits are accented by a pronounced layer of sweet spicy oak laced caramel that turns to black licorice on the rear pallet with smooth sinewy tannins on the lingering finish.

As noted above, this was a perfect accompaniment to the barbecue beef brisket and baked sweet potato with baked beans making for a wonderfully delicious meal.

RM 93 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1809227

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2017/11/arns-melanson-napa-syrah-08.html

http://arnswinery.com/