ROAR "Rosella's Vineyard" Pinot Noir 2022
(Santa Lucia Highlands, California) - [JD 96] [TWI 95] [WS 94] [WE 94] [VM 93]

About the Winery:
Gary and Rosella Franscioni started ROAR Wines with the knowledge that Pinot Noir had a shining future in the Santa Lucia Highlands, and a dream that their farming know-how would translate amazing grapes into amazing wines. Rosella’s Vineyard was planted on their home ranch in 1996, followed by Garys’ Vineyard in 1997 in partnership with the Pisoni family. The first vintage of ROAR was released in 2001, made from these two vineyards. From the beginning, Gary and Rosella’s mission was to make wines that they themselves would love to drink. Their approach was met with critical recognition almost immediately. Two more beautiful vineyards were planted about a decade later: Sierra Mar and Soberanes. Today, Gary and his sons continue to improve and innovate in the vineyards and winery to produce the best quality their land can create.

About the Vineyard:
Rosella’s Vineyard is the first property we planted to vine and is the northernmost of our vineyards. Planted in 1996, it wraps around the family home and is named for Rosella, Gary’s wife. Its rows of vines ascend from River Road up the hillside toward the mountain ridge, often laced with fog. Plush lemon trees flank its western edge. The sandy loam soil allows good drainage, encouraging deep vine roots that add complexity in the wines. Here we grow Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Syrah. Our wines from Rosella’s Vineyard are known for their expressive aromatics and smooth suppleness on the palate.

Winemaker Notes:
“Rosella's is amongst a handful of California's greatest Pinot Noir vineyards, providing grapes of great complexity and wines with a unique combination of power and grace. Any winemaker would be ecstatic of working with fruit from this remarkable site.” – Adam Lee 

Technical Notes:
Year Planted:  1996
Acreage:  Pinot Noir: 38, Chardonnay: 9, Syrah: 2
Elevation:  400 feet
Clones:  113, 667, 777, 23, Pisoni, Pommard
Soils:  Arroyo Seco sandy loam
Row Direction:  10° West of North
Row Spacing:  5' x 8'

Ratings & Reviews

96 Points – Jeb Dunnuck:
“The 2022 Pinot Noir Rosella's Vineyard offers more mulberry and wild strawberry fruit as well as a beautiful core of sappy flowers, violets, and underbrush. I love its overall purity and precision, and it's medium-bodied, has ripe, polished tannins, integrated acidity, and a great finish. It's up with the creme de la creme of the appellation, and it's going to have at least 10-12 years of prime drinking. It benefits from air if drinking any time soon.” (Aug 2024)
 
95 Points - The Wine Independent:
"Pale to medium ruby-purple in color, the 2022 Rosella's Vineyard Pinot Noir sashays out with flamboyant notes of Morello cherries, cranberry sauce, and lilacs followed by hints of cardamom, cinnamon toast, and underbrush. The medium to full-bodied palate is elegantly styled with silt-like tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and perfumed." - LPB (Feb 2024)

94 Points – Wine Spectator:
“This delicious red delivers racy, focused and alluring blood orange and raspberry coulis notes, with gently singed anise and cedar accents, plus an underlying savory edge, all draped in a perfume of smoldering red tea. Drink now through 2033. 610 cases made.” – James Molesworth (Sep 2024)

94 Points – Wine Enthusiast:
“A vivid array of ripe red fruit aromas, from black to sour cherry and pomegranate, are complemented by lively pinches of white pepper and eucalyptus leaf on the nose of this bottling. The palate is more directly lush, showing baked black cherry and creamy cola, chai and root beer spice flavors.” – Matt Kettmann (Sep 2024)
 
93 Points – Vinous Media:
“The 2022 Pinot Noir Rosella's Vineyard is lighter in the context of the ROAR lineup. More floral and savory in style, the Rosella’s is supremely elegant, eschewing bold fruit in favor of soft textures and beguiling aromatics—white flower, tangerine peel, lavender and exotic spice. Dusty tannins grip the long finish. This is really nicely done.” – Billy Norris (Aug 2024)

93 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:

The 2022 Pinot Noir Rosella's Vineyard is the most lifted and aromatic of the Roar Pinot Noirs. It offers a beautiful, defined nose of red fruits, citrus peels, fresh herbs and luxurious touches of new French oak. On the palate, it exudes a silky, lavish texture that refrains from going over the top, concluding with a vibrant finish that recalls the toasty oak imprint of the nose. After further integration in bottle, this should be a joy to drink over the next 5-7 years.