Winemaker Notes
This wine has medium ruby color; opening with pleasing floral aromas on the nose, it moves to layers of ripe plum, blackberry, black cherry, and toasted spice on the palate. Offering depth and complexity, this wine has a velvety texture and a rich mouthfeel, backed up by moderate tannins and good acid balance.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2017 Alfaro Family Vineyards & Winery Rosella's Vineyard Pinot Noir offers excellent fruit and complexity. TASTING NOTES: This wine is alluring and tantalizing. Its multi-dimensional aroma and flavors of ripe fruit and forest floor should pair well with slowly-braised meats accented with wild mushrooms. (Tasted: August 19, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Perhaps the most highly regarded appellation within Monterey County, Santa Lucia Highlands AVA benefits from a combination of warm morning sunshine and brisk afternoon breezes, allowing grapes to ripen slowly and fully. The result is concentrated, flavorful wines that retain their natural acidity. Wineries here do not shy away from innovation, and place a high priority on sustainable viticultural practices.
The climatic conditions here are perfectly suited to the production of ripe, rich Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. These Burgundian varieties dominate an overwhelming percentage of plantings, though growers have also found success with Syrah, Riesling and Pinot Gris.