2016-2018 Rochioli "Big Hill" Russian River Valley Pinot Noir Vertical

“Produced using a good portion of Calera Clone fruit (40%), the 2016 Pinot Noir Big Hill Vineyard gives a medium to deep ruby-purple color and is intensely scented of black raspberries, red currants, rhubarb and strawberry pie and blackberries with touches of lavender, fertile earth, menthol and cracked pepper. Medium to full-bodied with firm, fine-grained tannins and packed with muscular, tightly-wound fruit, this Pinot is built like brick house, finishing on an epically lingering mineral note. Wow! (LPB)” (06/2018)

“The 2016 Pinot Noir Big Hill is outrageously beautiful. Soaring aromatics, bright, red/purplish fruit and impossibly fine tannins are some of the many elements that give the 2016 its raciness and finesse. Readers who have access to the 2016 won't want to miss it. The Big Hill emerges from a parcel planted with Calera clone Pinot that Tom Rochioli sourced from Steve Kistler. It is also one of the finest wines I have ever tasted from Tom Rochioli. (AG)” (01/2018)

“The 2017 Pinot Noir Big Hill is another fabulous wine in this range. Rich, sumptuous and explosive, it possesses stunning intensity in all of its dimensions, along with striking textural depth and resonance. Dark cherry, lavender, rose petal and exotic spice notes build in a Pinot that screams with personality and character. (AG)” (05/2019)

“The 2017 Pinot Noir Big Hill is pale to medium ruby in the glass with aromas of citrus peel, black tea leaves, woodsmoke, underbrush, rose petal and a core of perfumed cranberry, raspberry preserves, wild blackberry and cherry fruit. The palate is medium-bodied and intense with floral and earthy layers, finely grainy tannins and juicy acidity on the long finish. (EB)” (12/2019)

“The 2018 Pinot Noir Big Hill is an elegant wine with lovely aroma and flavor detail this year. Pale ruby-purple, it begins with tobacco leaves, woodsmoke and underbrush with layers of potpourri and bitter citrus peel and a core of sweet blackberry fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with an earthy character, firm, grainy frame and lots of spicy accents, finishing long, uplifted and fresh (EB).” (07/2020)

“One of the standouts in this range, the 2018 Pinot Noir Big Hill is wonderfully complex and nuanced. Rochioli and Calera clones inform a Pinot endowed with striking aromatic intensity and myriad layers of complexity that reveal themselves with a bit of coaxing. Bright and wonderfully delineated, the 2018 hits all the right notes. (AG)” (04/2020)