2022 Chehalem Crossing Vineyard Pinot Noir
ABOUT CHEHALEM CROSSING
Owned by the Frank family, the Chehalem Crossing vineyard is located on Chehalem Mountains on a south-facing gentle slope at 800 feet in elevation. This vineyard location is in the newly created Laurelwood AVA with Loess soil deposited in the northern Willamette Valley nearly 2 million years ago. The Pinot Noir we harvested from this site is predominantly Pommard and Clone 115. It has a silky texture with generous fruit expression.
2022 VINTAGE NOTES
The 2022 vintage was a challenging yet extraordinary season in the Willamette Valley. Despite early setbacks with Spring frost affecting the primary buds, our vineyards' diverse locations and elevations, along with strategic positioning across the region, allowed us to overcome these hurdles.
The unique interplay of warm days in September and October paved the way for a late but exceptional harvest, resulting in wines that showcase intense aromas, ripe fruit characteristics, and high natural acidity.
Finding Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with both quick-ripening and late-season character is a rare occurrence. The 2022 vintages offer this distinctive combination, making them particularly noteworthy.
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 then sent to barrel for malolactic fermentation to soften the acidity and to add further complexity, then racked once to new, one, two and three-year-old, tight-grained, French oak barrels. The wines are aged in barrel for 18 or more months before bottling.
TASTING NOTES
This wine opens with captivating aromas of dark plum alongside hints of pomegranate, anise, rose, and hints of bay laurel and tea. The palate is plush and inviting, filled with more juicy dark plum flavors supported by silky, velvety tannins. Black currant and echoes of pomegranate linger on the elegant finish.