2011 J. Rochioli Pinot Noir Sweetwater Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (17) Avg Score: 92.7 points

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  2/3/2024 - Vinsboro Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Bing cherry color. Modest fade at rim. Effusive aromas of boysenberry, blackberry, black raspberry and raspberry. Flavors replicate the nose - berry compote/coulis, backed by cherry cola, root beer and sarsaparilla. Medium weight and slight tannic grip. WOW. Best of Sonoma, especially from the early 2010s. Hard to imagine this getting any better, but it will hold for another 3-5.
  
  Sourced directly from the winery.

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  6/22/2022 - buckeye76 Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Last tasted over seven years ago, and we gave similar scores as previous. Cherries and raspberries in the nose with leather and floral notes. Flavor like the nose with hints of mocha. Complex wine, well balanced, with a medium to long very smooth finish.

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  4/11/2022 - NoahCap wrote:

  I think Pinot Noir like this isn't trendy anymore among the "cool kids". We're all supposed to like Burgundy these days. This is unabashedly New World Pinot, and, honestly, I think it's great. It's well made and is straight up delicious. I love the Burgundy style as much as the next person, but there will always be room for this type of wine in my book.
  
  Quite young looking in the glass- just a touch deeper in color than your typical Burgundy. The aromas are concentrated, powerful, perfumey. It's not overpowering, but it is the sort of wine that you can smell in the next room as soon as the cork is popped. Fruits are red and ripe, a bit candied, ripe cherries along with grenadine syrup, classic cherry cola aromas. Not much earthiness. In the mouth, tannins are very smooth, acidity is medium, tastes fresh and not at all tired. Fruits are exuberant and super lively. Again, there is that classic cherry cola flavor of the Russian River Valley.
  
  I first became a wine nerd on a trip years ago to the Russian River Valley- tasting my way through many of the wineries in Sebastopol, Guereneville, Healdsburg. I visited the area three times in three years, and haven't been back since. These trips have many wonderful memories for me, and the aromas/flavors of these wines can be so transportive; they will always be special to me. For whatever reason, the Sonoma Coast Chardonnays tend to recall those times more than the Pinots, but this one really does hit the spot. One whiff of the glass and I'm back in a tasting room on the Sonoma coast, watching the fog roll through the vines. Not everyone is a fan of this style of wine, I get that, and even fewer will have the sense-memories that this evokes, but for me, it's perfect. Is this a useful tasting note? Probably just for me.

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  12/8/2021 - peterk Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Drinking beautifully - lovely balance of acidity with lots of ripe fruit. I'd not wait longer, though

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  2/19/2021 - JRockEsq Likes this wine: 89 Points

  Method: blind; 62.5 degrees; Grassl Liberte glass
  
  Look: medium- garnet; fast legs
  
  Nose: forest floor, black cherry, floral, anise, root beer
  
  Palate: cola (a ton of cola), baking spike, cherry/black cherry, plum sauce, dried herbs; medium finish of black pepper, dried herbs, menthol; dry; light+ body; low chalky tannin, high- aicdity
  
  Overall thoughts: Good flavor concentration, good balance, good tannin, a bit simple, all in a light package. Very good.

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