Winemaker Notes
Elegant and beautifully balanced, this Pinot Noir has aromas of ripe cherry, vanilla and a hint of savory herbs, while on the palate it is juicy and refined with a hint of dusty cherry. The wine has a big rich mouth-feel, silky tannins and a long finish. This wine expresses classic Rochioli character.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Pinot Noir Estate bursts from the glass with scents of cranberry, blackberry, juniper, Fernet and forest floor. The medium-bodied palate is open and inviting. Waves of spicy fruit are delivered in a silky texture and energized by vibrant acidity, and it has a very long, nuanced finish.
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Wine Spectator
A polished, silky, pretty and streamlined version, redolent of blood orange, warmed peach, bitter cherry and damson plum fruit. Offers light accents of savory and rose petal for perfume, with a lingering sandalwood edge on the tail end.
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Vinous
The 2023 Pinot Noir Estate is an elegant, restrained wine. Crushed flowers, cedar, sweet pipe tobacco, mint and blood orange are all beautifully lifted. Silky, bright and beautifully balanced, the 2023 is pure and total class. Most of this fruit is from the Little Hill and Sweetwater parcels.
While the Russian River Valley is a large appellation with multiple climate zones and soil types, it is best known for cool-climate varieties, with Pinot Noir as the most celebrated. The grapes benefit from a reliable late afternoon flow of Pacific Ocean fog through the Petaluma Gap and along the Russian River Valley that ensures slow and steady ripening and the preservation of grape acidity. Today many of California’s most highly regarded Pinot Noir vineyards are in the Russian River Valley, along with its sub-appellation, Green Valley.
Historically Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs had bright red fruit and delicate earthy, mineral notes. But changes in viticultural and winemaking practices have led to stylistic changes in some of the region’s wines. Adjustments to canopy management, among other techniques, have resulted in riper fruit and bolder wines as well. These show flavors of black cherry, blackberry, cola, spice and darker, loamy earth tones, accenting traditional Pinot Noir notes of strawberry, raspberry and light cherry.