Roessler Single Vineyard Pinot Noir Random 6-Pack
$69.99 $384.00 82% off List Price
2009 Roessler Pinot Noir, Griffin’s Lair, Sonoma Coast
2009 Roessler Pinot Noir Savoy, Anderson Valley
2009 Roessler Pinot Noir, Clos Pepe, Sta. Rita Hills
2009 Roessler Pinot Noir, Sanford & Benedict, Sta. Rita Hills
2009 Roessler Pinot Noir, Gap’s Crown, Sonoma Coast
2009 Roessler Pinot Noir, Hein Family Vineyard, Anderson Valley
2009 Roessler Pinot Noir, Shea Vineyard, Willamette Valley
[winenotes]
Labrat report on The Shea Vineyard
More of a CA style pinot. Medium bodied, dark color, fruit forward, cherry and alcohol on the nose. Some brown sugar and spice comes through as well. This wine tastes HOT with lots of candied dark fruit and good acid. Not really getting anything else. It’s definitely tasty just not super interesting. This is not a young wine but some air did help this calm down a bit so either decant or lay it down longer.
I thought this would be more expensive but it’s worth a try for the price assuming the other ones are similar. Although I had the only non-CA bottle to me it tasted like it could have been CA so who knows.
This is quite a nice deal, I was expecting the per bottle price at least double this.
I had the Savoy vineyard bottle on 7/6/2016
Received this bottle mid last week and opened it Saturday night. The first thing I noted was the cork was stained 1/2 down. This is not usually a great start. However this bottle did not appear to be spoiled in any way when I examined it for science.
Since it’s a 2009 and a Cali Pinot I didn’t quite know where it would be in in its life cycle. My initial guess is maybe just past that point where the fruit starts to fade a little and oak and other ancillary flavors tend to become more prominent. But knowing its pedigree led me to believe it has a bit of time left.
So here it goes, on the PNP it’s a medium dark red and is clear. No sediment in this wine. The nose is moderate and is not the fresh fruit nose of youth, it’s showing age (let’s call it mid life). It has mild cherry, a bit of raspberry and some oak. There is also a slight bit of alcohol. The nose was a bit of a let down. Maybe because I’ve had some of their other wines which I thought were fantastic. That said it was most reminiscent of another of their wines which I liked quite a bit at a lower price point. The blue Jay blend.
Now onto drinking it, it’s dry, medium bodied, good not great acidity, minimal soft tannins. It’s not a huge wine on the tongue and i really got similar flavors to the nose, the same oak and red fruit profile. The finish is medium in length and slightly tart but smooth. The wine actually finished quite juicy, which is always a sign to me that the acidity is there.
I found the wine to be in an odd place, while my over all impression is positive, it still felt a bit muddled. Like I couldn’t quite drill down into what it had to offer. I’m not sure if this is due to it being shipped recently, or the possibly compromised cork or it’s just how it is in this moment in time. I generally like to let pinots rest a couple of weeks after shipping so I broke my own rule there.
When I tasted through the full line up of the single vineyard pinots about 5 years ago the Brosseau vineyard was my favorite if that helps. All that said I really like Roessler and love their pinots. Sad that it’s now owned by another company now and $50 single vineyards jumped to $75.
Based on price and the overall quality I’m in for a set.
How are these beauties holding up? 2009 was a long time ago if the wine was made ready-to-drink upon release in 2011. At the price I’m tempted to give it a shot. Who knows? I know that I remember Roessler Pinots got a lot of love from everybody on Wine.woot back in the day.
It is a hard name to pronounce.
Wow, that’s a lot of Roessler for not a lot of money! Very tempting indeed, even given the notes that suggest these might be in an awkward phase or near the end of their drinking window. I wonder if the winemaker will be stopping by? Or did Hall acquire the rights to sell these as well?
Deciding whether to go for one set or two!
And maybe will try to get the office to go in on some for happy hours…
Labrat report on the 2009 Roessler Pinot Noir, Sanford & Benedict Vineyard, Sta. Rita Hills
Praise Jesus hallelujah, I received my first golden ticket and I felt like Charlie when he got the golden ticket to tour Willy Wonka’s secret chocolate factory! WOOT WOOT!!!
The timing of this woot offer couldn’t have come at a better because I was stranded in Denver due to the great server crash of Southwest Airlines. Anyhoo, my interest in wine and the entire wine process was brought on from wine.woot and the unique forum that allows the consumer to interact directly with winemakers and to be introduced to wines that most of us are unable to purchase at our local liquor store.
CONFESSION: Pinot Noir is not typically my varietal of choice. I thoroughly enjoy Petite Sirah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Bordeaux style wines. My cellar is loaded with wines from Ty Caton, Peter Wellington and Kent Rasmussen.
This bottle of Roessler Pinot Noir made it’s way to Nashville, Tennessee from Petaluma, California on 28/Jun/2016 and rested until the bottle was opened on 02/Jul/2016.
There were four of us that participated in this tasting: one other couple and my wife and me and only two of us truly enjoys wine. My wife would rather sip on a fountain Coke and the other wife a fountain Diet Coke. We opened the bottle around 5:00 pm and did some tasting at bottle opening, four-five hours later and again 48 hours.
APPEARANCE: clear, translucent, without sediment, looks very light and delicate as expected with Pinot Noir
NOSE: Cherry cola, peppery, spicy, light & fruity, sweet, dessert-like, summer-like
TASTE: summery, light & refreshing, cherries, watered-down, easy to drink, flavor doesn’t match the nose, anti-climactic. Needless to say, we polished the bottle off at the 48-hour mark and the wine didn’t change from the initial tasting.
OVERALL: My wife was the only one who liked this wine, perhaps because it reminded her of a Coke. The rest of us were underwhelmed. I am going to pass on this offer but I rarely purchase this varietal anyway.
As always, I was excited to get an e-mail ensuring my presence to receive the wine to be debated. Even more so two days later to see the bottle of 2009 Roessler Griffin’s Lair Pinot Noir. I recall that it was well regarded on wine.woot, though I had never tasted any.
Spoiler Alert: We thoroughly enjoyed this wine and are looking forward to getting more, and some of its label mates.
I let it rest in the cellar for four days before we opened it. Decanted for an hour before dinner. Upon pouring into the decanter, I noted the deep color of this wine, not the lighter color I am more accustomed to in a Pinot Noir. I took a nice sniff of the funnel, and got strong fruit, cherry on the nose.
Color: The wine shows a deep color in the glass. If you tilt the glass against a white surface, it is a translucent red.
Aroma: Neither of us are getting much on the nose from this wine. Thinking it may be the large Pinot glasses, I tried a smaller glass. Still the scents are so light that we don’t get much. I’ll come back to this.
Taste: This wine is lush and full. The black cherry comes through wonderfully. It is velvety smooth in the mouth. We paired with grilled lamb, and it had just the right acidity to pair well with the meat. The tannins were very smooth. Only after the meal and finishing the last glass on its own did I note any tannic taste. Also on its own, my wife noted a spicy note that she placed as cloves.
Finish: The wine had a nice finish that lingered a little while.
Aroma redux: I finally started to pick up more on the nose on the last few sips. Did the wine need warm from cellar temp to room temp to show them? I noted the nice cherry from the funnel and a slight smokiness. Still very delicate, but pleasing.
I am still puzzled by the almost lack of aromas on such a full bodied lush wine.
Overall: Very pleased with this wine. A different style of Pinot Noir from the OR PN that we usually have. While OR PN pairs well with salmon, I would not have tried it with lamb. This was a great example of a CA Pinot and one that I look forward to adding to my cellar.
Which particular vineyard did you have?
Griffin’s Lair, and added info to original post. Have a photo, but I can’t get it to upload to imgur.
Having grown up watching willy wonka and the chocolate factory, I can’t tell you how excited I was to receive the golden ticket (my first!!) and this special rattage … er, debatage?
This came last month before the July 4 holidays, and was apparently originally scheduled weeks ago, but was delayed for a couple weeks appearing on the site.
Regardless, after confirming that I’d be around to take delivery, the next day I received a special bottle of this 2009 Roessler Somoma Coast Gap’s Crown Pinot Noir. Because I was traveling over the holidays, I had to let this sit for just one day following delivery to get my tasting in before the girlfriend and I left town.
If I could sum up my opinion of this wine, it would be this: you will be rewarded for letting it breathe. Invest in an aerator. Patience is your friend. Do not drink this wine before its time.
I am a Pinot fan but don’t consider myself to have a palate for dissecting every nuance of a wine. Still, I know what I like and recently that has centered around organic/sustainable Willamette Valley pinot’s, so getting a Pinot like this was a nice surprise. Seeing a bunch of other appellations (including potentially a WV) offered improves my impression of this offer.
Initial pour - deep, deep red, purple hues. Scent - a nice hearty bouquet of flavor - not overpowering, but pretty pronounced. Packs a punch.
Pop and pour - “a little rough”. Hard to figure out what’s going on here (as someone else said earlier of another bottle). Dark fruity notes, definitely needs to open up. Kind of like a powerful pack of dark fruity thugs are ready to take you out in the back of an alley. Tasted a tad warm and spicy - this is not an easy going simple sipping Pinot. In my effort to describe my thoughts about it, I jotted that it almost thought it tasted like a medley of berries with a hint of jalapeño adding a kick to it. It opens up a bit in the glass and the cherry notes really come through as it sits there.
Running through the Vinturi aerator- it really opens up! The punch almost goes away and it drinks really smooth and nice with the cherry and mixed berry notes I would expect. The harsh notes accede to the easier, softer tones of the wine. Aerating the wine is definitely the way to go with this wine if you want to drink it immediately. I think it would pair well with interesting meats or savory fish, like game, light lemon poultry, or a flavorful (but maybe not seasoned) steak. I’d steer clear of pairing it with spicy foods, as it is likely the favors won’t match (I had it with yellow chicken curry, because that was next up to cook at my house, and I wouldn’t recommend the pairing). Stick to a Wellington or Scott Harvey Zinfandel for your foods with a kick.
After resting for an hour and a half - it really smooths out, and is what I expected out of this Pinot in the first place. The harsh tones really went away, and the wine really went down smooth. I’d probably recommend aerating it, though, rather than waiting for the wine to settle out after sitting out, as I feel like the aerator brought out the smoothness of the wine while preserving enough of the initial kick to make it more interesting than your everyday Pinot Noir.
When I prepared this review, I was trying to guess where the price point for the wine would be. I noted that I think it would be a solid buy worth considering in the $20 range, especially if you like Sonoma Pinot Noirs. I don’t think this would be an everyday drinker, but it would be worth picking up a bottle or two to try. Seeing the price point for an offer, if you are looking for pinots and prefer “california pinos” at this price point I would do it without question.
Many thanks to WD and his staff for selecting me after the thousands of dollars I have spent on this site through the years. 
Eight of us had the pleasure of tasting the Hein Family Vineyard variety a couple of Saturdays ago on a blustery evening looking out over Lake Winnipesaukee. Our group was a mixed lot when it came to experience with a range of different wines and although two tasters said they did not care for it, the majority consensus was that it was a very nice wine with a good deal of complexity and structure, but perhaps not worth the price that showed up when we did a google search on it. At the price Wine Woot is offering it for, I’m certainly in for six! Some of the more descriptive comments included:
- A little hot on the first sip, but this soon went away.
- Woody and dry, the taste is growing on me.
- A lot of fruit, somewhat bitter fruit, maybe prunes.
- A little intense and spicy, but definitely that classic California Pinot Noir taste.
- A bright wine with a clean finish.
Obviously no professionally trained tasters among us, but a very appreciative group of Grape Debaters ready and willing to serve again if and when asked!
Holy rattage batman!
Really! Anything left to sell?
If Hall had acquired the rights to sell these, they wouldn’t be offered here. Hall acquired the rights to these vineyards, while Roessler retained the rights to a few others, but, just as Peter Wellington continues to hold the rights to sell his existing inventory, Roessler retained these wines, which were made before the sale to Hall.
I’ve had most, if not all, of these 2009’s, since I joined the wine club after the 2010 tour, where they joined us for lunch in Sonoma (late lunch, around 4:00, as I recall), after which a bunch of us strolled over to their tasting room. I particularly like the Griffin’s Lair, and the Gap’s Crown, but these are all solid wines, a decent deal at club prices back in the day, but an absolutely sensational deal at this price. And we know this kind of deal won’t happen again. I’m pretty sure this has to be a sell-off of the remaining inventory, and as cortot20 noted above, Hall immediately jacked the prices up around 50% after the sale.
No CT shipping. Are we in the dark ages!?
Silly price here, but the notes are all a bit disappointing. Great reviews by all and great work by WD getting so many bottles out, though.
Maybe these weren’t stored super well…?
Is it bad that I would be most excited just to get a golden ticket and not even notice (at least for a while) if it was missing the wine?
I really enjoyed the Griffin’s Lair. Still puzzled about so little on the nose. Bad day for my nose and my wife’s nose?
Like someone above, I was expecting closer to $20/bottle, so just under $12 would be a great price for the one that I tasted.
Wish that shipped to CT. But I am somewhat overstocked, so I should be on a SIWBM. Thus, I am holding short of wootlegging.
I don’t know if Roessler ever shipped to CT. I think that was why I never bought any in the past. And now that they are winding down, not likely worth the cost to get a CT license. Still, I am also disappointed.