2003 ROCO Pinot Noir (Private Stash)
The 2003 ROCO Pinot Noir is the first in a series of Pinot Noirs made exclusively from the very best, barrel select of the Soles' seven-acre Wits' End Vineyard. Only 99 cases (4 barrels) of the 2003 ROCO (Private Stash) were produced. This wine is available only through rocowines.com (and might be found in a couple Portland restaurants).
The Soles' prefer not to tell the consumer how the wine tastes, but instead ask the consumer to discover the full essence of the wine on his or her own. THAT, they believe, is the true mystery and delight of the wine. Thus, you won't find any tasting notes on the ROCO label. Still, many people request descriptors of the wine for a variety of reasons and can find tasting notes on the ROCO Website.
2003 ROCO Tasting Notes
He says, "The 2003 ROCO Pinot Noir is very different from any wine I've made in Oregon. Upon first inhale the wines' youthful aroma hints of ripe mountain huckleberries and black cherries laced with a forest floor earthiness. The nose also suggests spices reminiscent of jasmine, cinnamon and cocoa nibs."
Rollin's updated tasting notes, March 2007:
"After three years in the bottle, this wine is developing beautifully. It has deep, dark, ripe, blue plum flavors with earthy fresh vanilla and a touch of black cherry compote. It is a voluptuous wine with silky textures and structured, balanced tannins. There's a very nice cobblestone earthiness to it and a feral juicy blackberry center. I let the wine set in the glass for a half hour or so, and tasted it again. The nose had taken on an essence of dark chocolate nibs with increased black cherry fruit and velvety berry flavors that continued to increase. This indicates to me that the wine has a long way to go yet. I can't wait to taste this in a couple more years."
She says, "The taste is lush, seductive, and extraordinarily creamy without the hard tannins common to wines of this vintage. ROCO coats the tongue with blackberry and rich dark chocolate flavors. The finish lasts and lasts suggesting a mouth watering ripe plum with just a splash of vanilla."
| $75.00 per bottle. 15% discount for 12+ bottles. |
Yummy stuff, lush and velvety, with juicy wild plum and blackberry fruit framed deftly with sweet, spicy oak, the finish lingering beautifully. - H.S.
The Winemaker's 2003 Vintage Notes
"Adverse spring weather in 2003 produced a large number of grape clusters that contained a variety of berry size. Berries ripen small berry to large berry. So, if the clusters have many sizes of berries this results in lots of flavor variety in the wine.The '03 summer was the warmest and sunniest summer since 1992. Caution had to be taken to prevent sunburn of exposed berries. This is not usually a problem in the Willamette Valley. September record heat and moisture-sucking desert winds from the east, threatened to raisin the berries. When grape berries raisin they lose their connection to the vine, thus ending the march toward the desired fruit flavor ripening.
At Wits' End, we were able to replace the much-needed moisture by irrigating from our generous spring. Thus raisining was denied! Clusters and leaves were nourished enough to delay harvest until ripe flavor, brown seeds, and cooler fall weather developed. Cheers!"
