Winemaker Notes
Deliciously floral, with raspberries and rose petals. There is a touch of bold elegance in its supple texture. Like Versailles - serious, but pretty.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Lighter in the glass, this bottling is a somewhat more delicate style than usual for the Franscioni family, but just as delicious if not more so depending on preference. Aromas of raspberry, pomegranate and wild thyme lead into a palate that's loaded with strawberry, white pepper and bay leaf, finishing on vanilla cream.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2017 Pinot Noir Rosella's Vineyard is a pretty, elegant effort that has a sunny style in its strawberry, spice, and dried herb aromas and flavors. Picking up a kiss of orange rind and citrus with time in the glass, it’s medium-bodied and seamless on the palate, with plenty of upfront charm.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale to medium ruby and shy on the nose to begin, with time the 2017 Pinot Noir Rosella's Vineyard gives up scents of cranberries, red cherries, raspberries and strawberries with touches of chaparral, dried flowers, orange peel, cinnamon stick and dried leaves. Medium-bodied and very silky in texture, it offers excellently restrained, perfumed fruits with lovely freshness and a long, floral finish. 717 cases were made.
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Wine Spectator
Contoured, featuring lilting flavors of dried raspberry, cherry and underbrush, supported by medium-grained tannins. Beefy notes emerge midpalate, leading to a silky, well-spiced finish. Drink now through 2024. 710 cases made.
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.