ROCCA-COLINETTA
COOMBSVILLE
Marked by a long-standing stone chimney, the only remnant of a building that burned down on the property long ago, the Rocca-Collinetta Vineyard is perched on rolling hills in the southern Vaca Mountain range in Napa’s Coombsville AVA. Rocca Vineyard features layers of extremely well drained decomposed rock and ashy deposits. I began making wine from Rocca-Collinetta Vineyard in 2005 after serving Mary Rocca at La Toque… I asked her for Cabernet and she assumed that I was referring to buying finished bottles of her wine. When I explained that I was actually interested in her fruit, she was a bit confused at first… a waiter requesting to buy 10’s of thousands of dollars worth of her fruit… I don’t blame her. She agreed to give me a chance and see how the relationship went after the first year… Rocca-Collinetta Vineyard has been part of our portfolio ever since. The fruit from Rocca comes from two blocks which split Clones 337 and 4, and cascade down each hillside of the vineyard yielding on average just over 1 ton per acre. The wine is extremely dark, brooding, and concentrated -consistently shows a mix of red and black fruits with tamarind spice, liquid smoke, and roasted meat notes.
Deep garnet-purple colored, it has a nose of blueberry preserves, crème de cassis, Chinese five spice and potpourri with hints of camphor and iron ore. The medium to full-bodied palate is firm, elegant and fresh with fantastic finesse and depth.
50-75 cases produced annually.
94 points – Wine Advocate
