Winemaker Notes
Rochioli Little Hill Pinot Noir offers rich concentrated aromas of black cherry with a touch of earth that is unique to this vineyard. Its full flavors and firm structure make this wine a great one for your cellar.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium ruby-purple colored, the 2016 Pinot Noir Little Hill Block gives an incredibly fragrant perfume of red roses, lilacs and wild thyme over a core of red and black cherries, tilled soil and cinnamon with a waft of garrigue. Medium to full-bodied with a rock-solid grainy textured, it has a lively backbone cutting through the seriously intense kirsch flavors, finishing long and earthy.
Rating: 95+
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Wine Spectator
Tannins present a sturdy backbone for the concentrated earth and dark berry flavors. Unyielding now, but the plum and black cherry flavors shine through. Drink now through 2024.
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.