2022 Gravel Road Pinot Noir
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.
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 9 or more months before bottling.
TASTING NOTES
This wine opens with aromas of all spice and dried cherries, blackberry, Turkish fig, and a hint of maple syrup. On the palate, layers of dark fruit and dried cherry continue to mingle with savory spice notes of white pepper, Sichuan peppercorn, and cassia bark before culminating in a velvety finish.