ROCO Rollin Michael Soles ‘RMS’ Willamette Valley Brut 2013
This is a brilliant wine. The RMS Willamette Valley Brut 2013 is ROCO’s first sparkling wine, a new release, it’s a perfectly-poised blend of 67% Pinot Noir and 33% Chardonnay that fairly blossoms in the glass; red berries, pear, and apricot vie for dominance, floating above this, spice, white flowers, freshly laundered linen. That same yin-yang […]
Falesco Tellus Merlot 2013
Four stars (or ~8.9) because Falesco’s Tellus Merlot 2013 is a great value, velvety and sumptuous, it retails for less than $15 in the US. From vineyards in Montecchio, in the heart of Umbria, the Merlot sourced for Tellus is grown in clay and calcareous soils. It’s an open-hearted wine, and softly focused with lush […]
Louis M. Martini Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
Classic Louis Martini, the 2013 Alexander Valley Cabernet is rife with steeped blackberries, plums, and black fruit in general. I’ve lingered over this glass trying to tease out which ones. A top note of cedar and dried thyme re-emerges on the back palate along with firm tannins and medium + acidity. As with all Louis […]
Timeless Refinement
It was a beautiful evening, from my vantage, I could see the hills that formed the backbone of the eastern side of the valley, densely robed in evergreen trees and hunkered against a backdrop of stars that seemed to draw closer against the indigo-black palette of an ever-darkening sky. The evening air, as it so […]