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Roots Wine Company, Pinot Noir, “Crosshairs Cuvée”

Oregon, United States 2014 (750mL)
$25.00
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Roots Wine Company, Pinot Noir, “Crosshairs Cuvée”

I’ll cut to the chase here: First, this wine is a damn fine bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir. Second, It tastes like it should cost $15-20 more than it does—I’m still a little shocked. Finally, I cannot stress enough the singular excellence of the 2014 vintage in the Willamette Valley. It is truly a high-water mark in my experience with this region. Like 2010 in Burgundy or 1996 in Barolo, this bottle is proof of how a “perfect 10” growing season can transform a solid, well-priced wine into a not-to-be-missed opportunity.
While the word “opportunity” gets thrown around a lot, I’m honestly struggling to find a more appropriate term. This bottle is a rare chance to experience exemplary, classically-styled Oregon Pinot Noir for a fraction of its normal cost. I like to think that great wine comes from great vineyards and people. Provided that some fruit remains on the vine come Fall, quality terroir and experienced cellar talent will always find a way to produce delicious wine. Over the years, a surprising amount of my most sentimentally favorite wines have been “off” vintages. For instance, Olga Raffault’s Chinon “Les Picasses” from 2001 (a less-than-spectacular vintage) was one of my favorite bottles we offered all last year!
Still, there is another side to this coin. Namely, that especially great vintages sometimes take already good wines and catapult them into the exalted memorable/classic territory. That’s the story with this gorgeous Oregon Pinot Noir. I’ve had previous vintages of this wine and they were delightful—textbook regional typicity, genuine soul, and a generous deal at $25. I’m not the only one who feels this way, either. If you do a restaurant crawl in San Francisco this weekend, you’ll see thirsty millennials sipping Roots Pinot Noir all over the city. Historically, SF favors Sonoma or Central Coast Pinot versus that of Oregon, but I think the quality and price of Roots has rightfully overwhelmed that prejudice. And in 2014, this wine isn’t just “delightful”—it’s great. Normally I’d expect to pay $40-ish for an equivalent Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley. This bottle, as we are so fond of saying, over-delivers.

When you meet Roots owner/winemaker Chris Berg it’s clear he’s completely at ease in his own skin. His towering farmhand frame and unpretentious demeanor are a holdover from years spent coming of age in Wisconsin, Idaho, and Kansas. Chris is an obviously sharp and capable guy, but he’s far from a slick left-coaster—he’s got a big smile, a shaggy beard, and a boundless curiosity and enthusiasm for wine/food/music/art. Chris is as happy pouring his wines for neophytes as he is learned veterans, and I don’t think he loses sleep over how he and his wines are perceived. Of course, Chris’ contagious warmth and authenticity is palpable in everything he bottles, so there’s nothing to worry about in the first place. As long as the juice stays this delicious, Roots Wine Co. is going to be around for a long time.

We tracked down Chris in Oregon to discuss what makes this wine so great. He says: 

“We only made 370 cases. The 2014 vintage was pitch perfect. All the fruit we brought in was gorgeous. What a nice, even growing season with just the right amount of heat to create silky skin tannins. Usually one vineyard is the ugly duckling, but everything in 2014 was golden. There was so much perfect fruit, I actually ran out of barrels and had to buy more new ones from Rousseau and Seguin Moreau!” 

The 2014 Roots Wine Co. “Crosshairs Cuvée” Pinot Noir comes from four hillside vineyards that encircle Chris’ homestead in the Yamhill-Carlton subdistrict of Willamette Valley (just 45 minutes southwest of Portland). Despite 2014’s almost constant dry warmth, Chris kept ripeness in check and delivers what I consider an ideal 13.1% ABV for this wine. The nose is intensely aromatic, exhibiting fresh dark cherry, strawberry, and myriad wild berry fruits with forest flowers, fresh herbs, grape stems, soft clay, and an accent of gentle wood spice from 18 months spent in mostly neutral French oak. Please decant for 20-30 minutes and serve at 60 degrees in large Burgundy stems. This wine is beginning to peak now and will shine for the next 3-5 years. I advise preparing this Cantonese roast duck recipe alongside a few bottles of this wine for a memorable dinner with friends.
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Country
United States
Region
Oregon
Sub-Region
United StatesWillamette Valley
Soil
Volcanic and Sedimentary
Farming
Sustainable
Blend
Pinot Noir
Alcohol
13.1
OAK
Neutral French
TEMP.
60-65
Glassware
Burgundy Stems
Drinking
Now-2020
Decanting
20-30 Minutes
Pairing
Cantonese Roast Duck

United States

Washington

Columbia Valley

Like many Washington wines, the “Columbia Valley” indication only tells part of the story: Columbia Valley covers a huge swath of Central
Washington, within which are a wide array of smaller AVAs (appellations).

Oregon

Willamette Valley

Oregon’s Willamette Valley has become an elite winegrowing zone in record time. Pioneering vintner David Lett, of The Eyrie Vineyard, planted the first Pinot Noir in the region in 1965, soon to be followed by a cadre of forward-thinking growers who (correctly) saw their wines as America’s answer to French
Burgundies. Today, the Willamette
Valley is indeed compared favorably to Burgundy, Pinot Noir’s spiritual home. And while Pinot Noir accounts for 64% of Oregon’s vineyard plantings, there are cool-climate whites that must not be missed.

California

Santa Barbara

Among the unique features of Santa Barbara County appellations like Ballard Canyon (a sub-zone of the Santa Ynez Valley AVA), is that it has a cool, Pacific-influenced climate juxtaposed with the intense luminosity of a southerly
latitude (the 34th parallel). Ballard Canyon has a more north-south orientation compared to most Santa Barbara AVAs, with soils of sandy
clay/loam and limestone.

California

Paso Robles

Situated at an elevation of 1,600 feet, it is rooted in soils of sandy loam and falls within the Highlands District of the Paso Robles AVA.

New York

North Fork

Wine growers and producers on Long Island’s North Fork have traditionally compared their terroir to that of Bordeaux and have focused on French varieties such as Cabernet Franc and Merlot.

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