2014 Private Stash Pinot Noir 1.5L
ABOUT PRIVATE STASH PINOT NOIR
ROCO’s premier Pinot Noir, Private Stash is a numbered series of small production Pinot Noir sourced from a 2-acre plot on the Soles’ private 21-acre vineyard. This complex Pinot offers layer upon layer of intense, silky, full-bodied flavor that is elegantly balanced. Derived from Rollin’s special clonal propagation, 3A, otherwise called “the ROCO selection” these vines produce smaller than normal clusters of tightly packed berries. We hold that this wine will stand shoulder to shoulder with the finest Pinot Noirs from around the globe. The 2014 Stash is No. 12 in the production series that began in 2003.
2014 VINTAGE NOTES
We had great weather during bloom in early June leading to many large clusters on the vines. The potential to over crop was the real viticulture challenge of 2014. We learned from past vintages that dropping a significant number of clusters per vine near Veraison (berry color change) is required for truly focused, delicious wines. The summer brought us near a record number of 90-degree days. It’s often said that the vintage is made in the last couple weeks of harvest. Cold crisp night temperatures days before harvest brought amazing fruit flavors and acidity. Picking took place on September 15th.
WINEMAKING PROCESS
ROCO Pinot Noir is handpicked and then chilled overnight to 38°F in our large cold room. The chilled bunches are gently de-stalked and the whole berries fall into small 1.6 ton open fermenters. The berries soak for ten days before beginning ferment with our proprietary, house-cultured indigenous wine yeast. Soaking allows gentle extraction of color and flavor from the berry skin, and not the bitter-tasting seeds. The fermentations are hand punched twice a day to mix skins and fermenting juices. Ferments are allowed to reach about 28°C. A post-fermentation soak occurs until the wine is just right for removing from the skins and seeds. At that time the ferment is gently pressed in our modern tank press. The young wine is sent to barrel for Malo-lactic fermentation to soften the acidity and to add further complexity, then racked once to a mix of new and three-year-old, tight-grained, French oak barrels. The wines are aged in barrel for 18 or more months before bottling.
WINEMAKER’S TASTING NOTES
“Everything you want from Stash and more. Beautiful multilayered nose filled with anise, black currants and dried cherry. Gobs of intense dark fruit and mulberry flavors go up against an unmistakable savory/gravelly quality through the palate. This wine is absolutely hedonistic from start to finish. Beauty in a glass.” - Rollin Soles, Winemaker
95 James Suckling | 94 International Wine Report | 93 Wine Spectator | 91 Wine Enthusiast
CLUB PRICING
- Collector: $173
- Premier: $184
- Signature: $196
Club discounts applied at checkout.
