Gravel Road Holiday House 6-Pack

ABOUT GRAVEL ROAD CHARDONNAY

Gravel Road Chardonnay is a blend of our three favorite Chardonnay vineyards in the Willamette Valley: Gran Moraine, Marsh Estate, and Knudsen Vineyards. The first two vineyards grow in low to mid elevation, in sandstone-shale derived soils that provide a lovely creamy texture. While Knudsen Vineyards is located at a high elevation in volcanic derived soil that adds a racy minerality to this unique Chardonnay.

ABOUT GRAVEL ROAD PINOT NOIR

The hills in the Willamette Valley are punctuated by gravel roads, which lead to the regions finest vineyards. ROCO's Gravel Road Pinot Noir is a blend of several of the distinctive vineyards including the Soles' own Wits' End Vineyard in the Chehalem Mountains AVA. An outstanding value, the Gravel Road Pinot Noir flavor profile surpasses many other wineries flagship Pinot Noirs. The old world style offers bold flavor with balance and grace to pair well with nearly any food. 

2023 VINTAGE NOTES

After a cold, snowy, and wet winter, we experienced a cold and wet early spring. It was starting to look like another late bloom, however around May 10th, the rain stopped, and the sun came out. This warm and dry weather signaled the vines to start budding, and it led to the shortest period of bud break to bloom that we have ever seen in the Willamette Valley. 

The other remarkable aspect of this growing  season was the extended period of dry weather. We experienced a full 97 days of no precipitation! Dry soils challenge the vines to supply needed nutrition into the fruit at critical periods like veraison. Nutrition is critical for wine grapes to ripen with flavor and aromas, not just sugar. Successful growers farmed to preserve soil moisture and used drip irrigation at crucial moments in the vines’ development. We like to keep a vine’s leaves green and facing the beautiful Willamette Valley Summer sunshine!

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. So savor these 2022 vintages as they embody a truly exceptional quality.

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 9 or more months before bottling.

CLUB PRICING

• Collector: $116
• Premier: $124
• Signature: $131

Club savings applied at checkout.