ROCO Gravel Road Pinot Noir 2021
-
Panel
Tasting -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Enthusiast
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
At this early stage the aromatics show a generous number of dark fruits like cherry, black plum and pomegranate concentrate, with a buried treasure chest of spices circling your senses. Then, it’s the palate that belies the true depth of this rich Pinot Noir. A delightful gallimaufry of Luxor cherries, red cranberry compote, strawberry leather, black currant, mission fig, and prickly pear jam is layered into spiced Sichuan peppercorn, petrichor, and Christmas spice. This wine has a most generous middle "sweetness," and depth that pipes into a long, rich, sanded tannin finish.
Professional Ratings
-
Tasting Panel
Named for the ubiquitous gravel roads along the Willamette Valley hillsides, this Pinot Noir aged 18 months in French oak is brimming with spice on both the nose and palate. Mulberry, pomegranate, and wild strawberry align with notes of mocha and coffee, creating a satisfying and poignant impression for such a youthful red. Dried roses, tilled soil, leather, and liqueur-dipped cherry take the midpalate on an upswing that develops into textured depth on the finish.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
Spicy and ripe, the 2021 Pinot Noir Gravel Road is expressive on opening and forward with aromas of cherry lozenge, forest floor, and roses. Open and approachable, it’s generous with pure red-berried fruit up front and medium body, then turns more savory with notes of beet root and fresh earth on the finish.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Indulgent aromas of Marasca cherries and chai tea spices lift off into the air, followed by bursts of talc and the vanilla lignin note I love about old books. The wine’s bright red cherry flavors dominate the accompanying traces of cedar and rosemary. Expect modest acidity and silky tannins, with a fairly long finish.
Other Vintages
2018-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Suckling
James
-
Suckling
James -
Wong
Wilfred -
Spectator
Wine
-
Wong
Wilfred -
Spectator
Wine
ROCO represents the finest in Oregon winemaking with storied bottles and humbling accolades. It’s a 30-year history of devotion to craft. In 1987, Rollin Soles purchased a breathtaking hillside property down a gravel road in the Chehalem Mountain Range. The property’s perfect combination of elevation, soil type, natural springs, and geological aspect were the seed of a dream that would eventually become ROCO Winery.
ROCO (Named for ROllin and COrby Soles) For nearly fifteen years, the Soles’ property remained a mostly wild landscape used for a variety of farming endeavors. Rollin was making wine at Argyle, his previous venture, and Corby was busy serving in a number of executive positions in the Oregon wine industry. But as the years wore on, the property’s southwestern exposure and diverse soils begged for the Soles to realize their dream: a vineyard of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay sloping toward the creek below, the Chehalem Valley beyond, and Oregon’s Coast Range in the distance.
In 2001, Rollin and Corby planted Wits’ End Vineyard and began bringing the idea of ROCO to fruition. Two years later, they produced their first vintage of Private Stash Pinot Noir—showcasing the very best of Rollin’s small-lot winemaking skills in a bottle that was eventually served in the White House. Building on their success, in 2009, the Soles built ROCO its own winery and added a tasting room in 2012. In 2013, Rollin expanded Wits’ End Vineyard and transitioned to full-time focus on ROCO to keep pace with its growing prestige and demand. Today, Wits’ End Vineyard remains the heart and soul of ROCO wines. ROCO Private Stash and Wits’ End Vineyard Pinot Noirs derive exclusively from these vines—and serve as Rollin and Corby’s testament to the beauty of place, their devotion to family and friends, and their commitment to Oregon winemaking at its finest.
Home of some of the planet’s most amazingly elegant and expressive Pinot noir, the Willamette Valley is a pastoral, mixed landscape of green, bucolic rolling hills, dramatic forestlands and small, independent, friendly wine growers. As a leader in environmental stewardship, the valley has some of the nation’s most protective land use policies, with two-thirds of its vineyards farmed sustainably and over half, organically. While the valley claims a cool, continental climate, and is heavily influenced by the cold, moist winds of the Pacific Ocean, its warm and dry summers allow for the steady, even ripening of Pinot noir.
The potential of Willamette Valley Pinot noir continues to attract the investment of serious growers and winemakers both locally and from abroad, as naturally the finished wines bring accolades from professionals and enthusiasts. With a range of styles from delicate dried cherry, raspberry and hibiscus to stronger notes of truffle, mocha, plum and spice, a fine Willamette Valley Pinot noir is a perfect expression of both character and grace.