Grapelive Daily Pick
By KerryWinslow
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2007 Rochioli Pinot Noir “Special Cuvee” Russian River Valley (California).
One of the most famous Pinot Noir houses in California, Rochioli continues to make some of the finest examples from this wonderful grape. I must admit lots of bias here, straight up, I love these wines and am on the fabled “Rochioli Mailing List” and hope to be on it for the rest of my life! It took seven long years to get a spot on the customer list at Rochioli and many, many long drives to their tasting room on Westside Road, near the lovely small town of Healdsburg, on the Russian River in North Sonoma County, to get my two bottle limit when new releases came available. This year I was able to get six bottles of the “Special Cuvee” a small extra lot of Pinot from select barrels, which could be from left over from the regular estate and or the single block wines, it doesn’t matter, even if these were the odds and ends I would never think twice about taking whatever I could get my hands on, and I feel lucky even more now after tasting the 2007 edition. This vintage is perfumed, bright and well put together, with full flavors and great balance, in other words it is just damn good! This pure Pinot Noir is elegant and lush with lots of fruit that includes layers of black cherry, plum, raspberry and spicy boysenberry. More than that it shows wild flowers, tea spice, cola, a briar note, and subtle smoky sweet oak shadings. This is a very fine Pinot Noir that is still tight and fresh, but still has smooth textures and it does open up with air, so drink now and for the next few years. Okay, it is going to be very hard to find and by now the winery and tasting is sold out, but it still is worth a look, and I would suggest you sign up to get on their mailing list, with this economy you just might to be able to get bumped up more quickly than I did. *Because it is hard to find I took 2 rating points of my tasting notes… ($38-65 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive