Rollin Soles settled in Oregon from Texas. He is the co-owner of ROCO winery in Oregon and greeting him at the winery felt like greeting an old friend. He settled in Oregon after making wines in California, Switzerland, Washington and Australia. The facility in Oregon is impressive and the wines are a true expression of cool climate wine making. The winery is named for Rollin and his wife Corby Stonebraker-Soles. Their mascot is a Thunderbird, it’s taken from a local petraglyph. The area where it’s taken from has since been dammed and is now shared with anyone who walk through the doors of this winery.
These wines are not available in the LCBO yet but these wines will be available shortly through John Hanna & Sons. This is something to be excited about.
2013 RMS Sparkling – $65.00USD – **** – This moves away from citrus fruit and brings up a lot of orchard fruit. There are apples and peaches on the nose and on the palate. There is a nice bready note on the nose that is amplified by the orchard fruit. The acidity is bright and crisp with a nice clean finish. This is a traditional style sparkling wine that has spent nearly three years on lees.
2013 ROCO Chardonnay – ****+ – This wine is the definition of perfect balance. There are aromas of apples and baking spice, it’s as if you’re preparing the filling for an apple pie. There is 30% of new barrels made of vosges wood. On the palate this opens up to a little vanilla and becomes roasted pineapple. There is nice concentration in the fruit flavours, but there is still something elegant and restrained about this bottle.
2014 Marsh Estate Chardonnay – $60.00USD – ****+ – There is a nice vanilla and spice note that jumps out of the glass. But when you peel away the first layer of aromas from the barrel you end up with golden delicious apple. This wine opens up on the mid palate and almost explodes with nice concentration of apple and orange. This begins to settle down on the mid palate, but nice acidity keeps this from sitting too heavy. There is an elegance to this wine – picture an elephant in a tutu dancing a perfect ballet.
2013 Wits End Pinot Noir – ****+ – This is a little damp and mossy on the nose. This is a brooding wine and and deeply concentrated cherry, blackberry, and plum seep out of the forest floor. Complexity is the clear story with the Wits End. On the palate this opens up and fills your whole mouth with such intensity it feels as though it might (and you hope) that it will never stop tasting like this.
2013 Private Stash Pinot Noir – ****+ – In short, this is a gorgeous wine. There is some nice spice on the nose layered over plums and blackberry. The depth and complexity to this wine is unbelievable. The fruit is intense on the nose and on the palate but then there is a hint of cocoa on the finish.
2013 The Stalker Pinot Noir – ****½ – This is a purely fruit driven pinot noir. Layers of strawberry, raspberry, ripe red cherry, dark cherry climb out of the glass and open up on the palate. I could write detailed notes about how the fruit is all perfectly ripe, and everything about how this wine is pretty damned close to perfection. But I think it’s easier for me to say that this wine is Super Tasty.
2010 Marsh Estate – It was interesting to get to taste this bottle with a few years under it’s belt. There was a nice licorice note on the nose and the palate that none of the other PInot Noirs from this winery had in their youth. Cherry and Strawberry push up right on jammy without being too cooked. The finish on this wine is dangerously smooth.
