{"id":815,"date":"2017-11-29T22:02:10","date_gmt":"2017-11-29T22:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=815"},"modified":"2017-11-29T22:27:29","modified_gmt":"2017-11-29T22:27:29","slug":"rochioli-vineyards-and-winery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=815","title":{"rendered":"Rochioli Vineyards and Winery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rochioli (http:\/\/www.rochioliwinery.com\/<\/a>) sits on Westside Road in the Russian River section of Sonoma County.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s not immediately apparent from the road, being set back behind a parking lot and some gardens that block the sight of the winery itself.\u00a0 Moreover, it\u2019s just beyond a turn in the road, so it\u2019s very easy to drive right by.\u00a0 So keep your eyes peeled as you drive along; this is a winery where you definitely want to stop, for a number of reasons.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible to have an enjoyable tasting experience in some places, even if the wine isn\u2019t very good.\u00a0 Fortunately, that\u2019s not a problem at Rochioli (pronounced ROE-key-OH-lee).\u00a0 The wines, particularly the Pinot Noirs and the Chardonnays, are top tier and have a reputation to back that up.\u00a0 In fact, one of the pleasures of a visit to Rochioli is to thumb through the heavy scrapbook they keep by the side of the bar where you can read all the letters from the White House expressing the thanks from past Presidents who have served and drunk their wines at state dinners.\u00a0 If you\u2019re not a Head of State yourself (and who is?) it\u2019s fun to pretend for a few minutes while you sip the wines.<\/p>\n

The winery building is an unassuming redwood structure, pretty enough in its way but certainly not palatial.\u00a0 In the past, the interior wasn\u2019t much to talk about either, but in recent years they have spruced it up with a nice zinc-topped bar and a pentagonal window overlooking the vineyards (of which more later).\u00a0 The look of the tasting room is still not the reason to visit, but it\u2019s quite pleasant in a clean, spare way.<\/p>\n

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There are really two attractions: the wines, of course, and the view.\u00a0 Rochioli has made its reputation on estate-grown varietals and that estate is just outside the window.\u00a0 It is amazing to taste the same grapes grown in rock-throwing distance from one another and detect the differences.\u00a0 Since it\u2019s the same wine maker from the same estate, the difference has to be attributable to the terroir<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0 To be sure, it takes the skillful hand of the wine maker to draw out the essence of the terroir.<\/p>\n

You are welcome to buy a bottle or two of these wines, if they have them available<\/em>.\u00a0 And there\u2019s the rub.\u00a0 Rochioli\u2019s wines are for the most part allocated.\u00a0 You need to be on the The List (yes, they capitalize both words) to have access to them and then you are committed to buying some every year or you fall off The List.\u00a0 We\u2019re told it takes at least five years to get there and they ask that you not call to check where you are on The List.\u00a0 They\u2019ll tell you when the time comes.\u00a0 We are currently two years into our five.<\/p>\n

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As noted, the other great attraction at Rochioli is the view across their vineyards.\u00a0 The winery is on a slight rise and there are umbrella shaded tables at the rear.\u00a0 We have written before<\/a> about wine tasting with a view and mentioned Rochioli; we\u2019re happy to cite it again. This is a great please to have a wonderful lunch.\u00a0 The nearest places to pick up gourmet edibles (you wouldn\u2019t want PB&J sandwiches, would you?) are the Dry Creek General Store<\/a> and the Oakville Grocery<\/a> in Healdsburg.\u00a0 Buy a bottle of one of Rochioli\u2019s wines to go with your lunch (of course you have to if you want to use their picnic area), borrow the wine glasses from the tasting room) and have a couple of glasses of wine with your lunch.\u00a0 Be careful, of course, not to have too much.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t know if this is how they\u2019re dining at the White House, but it will feel like lunch time in Heaven when you follow our advice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rochioli (http:\/\/www.rochioliwinery.com\/) sits on Westside Road in the Russian River section of Sonoma County.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s not immediately apparent from the road, being set back behind a parking lot and some gardens that block the sight of the winery itself.\u00a0 Moreover, it\u2019s just beyond a turn in the road, so it\u2019s very easy to drive right … Continue reading Rochioli Vineyards and Winery<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=815"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":826,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815\/revisions\/826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}