who has tasted the 2012’s and has any opinion on the various bottlings?
Here is the release letter…
We are pleased to announce the release of our single vineyard Pinot Noir wines. The 2012 vintage looks like another classic as we were blessed with a long cool growing season with little damaging weather and perfectly ripened fruit. Although considered a large crop, this vintage has produced an elegant, classic style of Pinot Noir with its Russian River character distinctly in place. We took great care in precise crop thinning and canopy management which allowed even ripening and very high quality fruit.
WHAT’S NEW
At the time of this writing, we have experienced great spring weather that was similar to last year, although California is experiencing a record drought. Here in our area, we received late rains that saturated the soil, so the vines are growing normally. We are also located in an area that is plentiful in ground water, so hopefully we will not see any extreme effects from this drought. The crop looks to be slightly above normal with a chance of an early harvest. With the cooperation of Mother Nature, we hope to receive another abundant crop of high quality fruit.
The new planting of the Big Hill is growing nicely. We picked a significant amount last year and as hoped, it is promising. It is a very dark and structured wine with huge potential as it matures. As we mentioned before, this could be the “grand cru” of the property. We hope to add it to our list of single vineyard wines. Only time will tell.
The new planting of West Block is destined for greatness and hopefully we will be able to blend small amounts into the single vineyard bottling. Right now, it is a significant portion of our Estate Pinot Noir. Also, the new planting of East Block should give us a substantial amount of fruit this year. The evaluations will continue.
There are 4 rows of Syrah planted on the west face of the Big Hill and we were able to make our first Syrah in 2012. This field was blended with our small block in front of our old barn. If you are a fan of Syrah, you will not be disappointed! It will be released this fall along with our Valdiguié .
We are working on our new website and it should be up in the next few months. This, along with Facebook and Twitter should get us into the 21st century. We hope you visit them and get an inside look at Rochioli. You may also order many of our Estate wines from the website.
And lastly, we would like to thank all of our loyal customers that have supported us throughout the years. Those of you that continue to enjoy all of our wines are assured that you will get the increasingly scarce single vineyard releases of Pinot Noir.
Rochioli Winery