92+ The first vintage of pinot noir from the Drouhin family’s new Roserock project is quite lovely in 2014. The wine offers up a deep and youthful nose that still shows a bit of whole cluster influence in its complex mix of red and black cherries, vinesmoke, lovely dark soil tones, a dollop of fresh thyme and a discreet framing of cedary wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, nascently complex and nicely sappy at the core, with fine transparency, tangy acids, fine-grained tannins and impeccable balance on the long, focused and very promising finish. This wine shows superb backend energy and will be dynamite with a bit of bottle age. A very auspicious beginning!

The 2014 Roserock Pinot Noir has a pale to medium ruby-purple color and nose of garrigue, bay leaves and underbrush over a core of Bing cherries and cranberries. Medium-bodied, with a taut frame of chewy tannins and a racy backbone, it has a lovely earthy/herbal lift in the mouth, continuing long into the finish. - Lisa Perrotti Brown

This Willamette Valley Pinot exhibits a medium hued garnet color. An expressive bouquet reveals pomegranate coupled with notes of rose petal, sandalwood, and book leather. The entry is fresh and lively delivering bright red fruits with leather and damp earth in the background. This offers a lot of complexity and verve with mouthwatering acidity, but is balanced by the earthy and savory notes. Another year of bottle age will harmonize the components, but expect this to become a very food friendly Pinot.

This is the first release from Drouhin’s new Roserock property in the southern Eola–Amity Hills, and its structure and tension makes it a fairly dramatic departure from the Dundee Hills. The flavors are elegant and vinous, with scents of raspberry and tree bark, its tense frame of minerality registering as textbook Eola–Amity Hills. It feels youthful; a wine to cellar and serve with roast goat. (2,065 cases)