Rockroom Pinots a hit with Wine Spectator
Today brought word that a pair of Pinots from Rockroom Wines were received very well by James Laube of the Wine Spectator. The 2006 Hein and 2007 Bohemian bottlings were given 90 and 89 point ratings respectively. Way more interesting than the scores (as usual) were the glowing tasting notes reprinted below. Kudos to Scott and the Rockroom gang.
Tasting Highlights: California Pinot Noir
10 exciting new California Pinot Noirs, with a focus on screw-capped new brands
James Laube
Posted: Monday, March 02, 2009
Hanzell is back in a groove with its best Pinot Noir in years: The 2006 features ripe, supple, complex fruit and more polish and finesse than this varietal typically offered in its youth. This historic Sonoma icon made relentlessly long-aged wines for years, but stumbled with a few vintages where the wines were tainted by the contaminant TCA. Those problems are behind the winery and the 2006 is a great candidate for cellaring. The $90 price is its only drawback.
This week’s mix of new Pinot labels—Rockroom, Pali, August West and Alma Rosa—is tied together not only by many twist-off closures, but their relative newness and focus on single-vineyard bottlings, mostly from Sonoma. Alma Rosa is new, sort of. It is the reincarnation of Sanford winery founder Richard Sanford, one of Santa Barbara’s pioneers.
ROCKROOM Pinot Noir Anderson Valley Hein Vineyard 2006 Score: 90 | $44
Flinty minerality joins snappy wild berry and black cherry fruit that’s fresh and zesty. Medium-bodied, complex and focused, gaining depth on the pebble-laced finish. Drink now through 2013. 50 cases made. —J.L.
ROCKROOM Pinot Noir Russian River Valley Bohemian Vineyard 2007 Score: 89 | $44
Complex and distinctive, if a tad earthy, with touches of herb in the dark fruit mix. Full-bodied and persistent, with lots of spice and sage. Drink now through 2012. 100 cases made. —J.L.
Tags: crushpad, lames laube, rockroom, scores, scott collier, wine spectator
This entry was posted by noah on Monday, March 2nd, 2009 at 2:29 pm and is filed under Awards, Crushpad in the News, Our Customers, Starting a Wine Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
March 5th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Somehow I bet Scott doesn’t mind the ALL CAPS on the brand name when it comes to someone giving an award. If only I could figure out how to achieve this kind of leniency.
Congrats to Scott and the gang!
April 23rd, 2009 at 6:01 pm
[...] Pinot clients have been winning accolades right and left. We’ve had Armanino, 5 Points, and Rockroom all recently score 90+ points for their Pinots in Wine Spectator. Plus, we’ve had great [...]
October 18th, 2009 at 8:30 am
There is definitely much to know about this