Roco Winery The Stalker Pinot Noir 2019
- ws91
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Category | Red Wine |
Varietal | |
Origin | United States, Oregon, Willamette Valley |
Brand | Roco Winery |
Alcohol/vol | 14% |
In 1987, veteran Oregon winemaker Rollin Soles purchased a promising hillside property down a gravel road in the Chehalem Mountain Range. The property’s perfect combination of elevation, soil type, natural springs, and geological aspect were the seed of a dream that would eventually become ROCO Winery.
For nearly fifteen years, the Soles’ property remained a mostly wild landscape used for a variety of farming endeavors. Rollin was making wine at Argyle, his previous venture, and his wife Corby was busy serving in a number of executive positions in the Oregon wine industry. But as the years wore on, the property’s southwestern exposure and diverse soils begged for the Soles to realize their dream: a vineyard of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay sloping toward the creek below, the Chehalem Valley beyond, and Oregon’s Coast Range in the distance.
In 2001, Rollin and Corby planted Wits’ End Vineyard and began bringing the idea of ROCO to fruition. Two years later, they produced their first vintage of Private Stash Pinot Noir—showcasing the very best of Rollin’s small-lot winemaking skills in a bottle that was eventually served in the White House. Building on their success, in 2009, the Soles built ROCO its own winery and added a tasting room in 2012. In 2013, Rollin expanded Wits’ End Vineyard and transitioned to full-time focus on ROCO to keep pace with its growing prestige and demand.
Born and raised in Texas, Rollin has been making exemplary Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in Oregon for the last three decades, and was the founding winemaker at ARGYLE winery, leading its winemaking program for twenty-five years with exceptional sparkling wines, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Those close to him know him as a painstaking practitioner of the winemaking craft, with an exceptional eye for detail in harvesting, crushing, and fermentation. Rollin’s wines have been named among the Top 100 Wines of the World by Wine Spectator thirteen times, a distinction matched by no other Oregon winemaker. His very first ROCO vintage was poured in the White House. And in 2013, he was named one of the “20 Most Admired Winemakers in North America” by Vineyard & Winery Management magazine.
We love that the Stalker label has a whimsical drawing of the man himself, Rollin Soles, complete with his Texas handle mustache. In order to make this wine, Rollin uses an unique fermentation style he developed in a quest to develop deeper, richer flavors in a Pinot Noir without adding heavy, over-the-top green tannins. The name refers to Rollin’s time in Australia, where they call the grape stems ‘stalks’. On the label Rollin is being “stalked” by the Thunderbird on Roco's logo: it was conceptualized by his wife and co-owner, Corby Stonebraker-Soles and was carved into a linoleum block for printing.
Hand picked Pinot Noir grapes are chilled overnight to 40F. The next day, whole berries are de-stemmed into small 1.6 tons fermenters for a 10-Day cold soak. During this cold soak, 100% of the stems that were removed are collected and separately aged for 7 days under inert gas. Removing the stems is a paramount step, since traditional whole cluster fermentation does not ensure fully ripe stems. Then the aged stalks/stems are hand punched into the cold grape berry fermenters, kicking off the fermentation. They are punched down twice a day until end of fermentation. The grapes are then gently pressed and the juice is transferred to French oak barrels and matured for 18 months before bottling.
“The aromatics showcase leaf tobacco with black cherry fruits, deep night time red rose petal scents and brown sugar. The palate is rich on perfectly bracing acidity, fruit expression is like a fruity Montepulciano red wine, blackberry compote fills the middle while showing masculine tannin grip through the long finish.” - Rollin Soles
Wine Spectator
- ws91
Savory and well-focused, with structured raspberry, forest floor and black tea accents that build toward a slight tannic bite. Drink now through 2030. 1,370 cases made.
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