The Willamette Valley is celebrating sparkling wine this year.
The wine area is strongly featured in Wine Enthusiast’s recently released list of the 100 finest wines of 2024, securing four ranks, including the top slot. Additionally, all of these bottles are sparkling wine for the first time, which is a noteworthy distinction in an area that is famed for its pinot noir. (Recently, the magazine’s list of the greatest affordable purchases of 2024 had a bottle of red from a winery near Eugene.)
However, Oregon wine country is unbeatable, even if cost isn’t a major consideration. The 2013 sparkling wine from Newberg’s ROCO Winery, RMS Brut 10-Year Delayed Disgorgement, which retails for $110, was the most expensive item on this list. The Willamette Valley has won the championship for the first time.
The bottle is a combination of pinot noir and chardonnay, and wine writer Michael Alberty, who also writes about wine for The Oregonian/OregonLive, called it one of his favorite sparkling wines of the year.
In his evaluation, he noted that the wine had grown rich scents of melted Gruy re cheese, juicy Oregon white truffles, and yellow apples. The rich tongue of this full-bodied wine is dominated by flavors of toasted hazelnut and poached pear.
Rollin Soles, who founded Archie Winery in 1987 and ROCO Winery with his wife Corby in 2003, was a pioneer in Oregon’s sparkling wine trend. The winery is renowned for its collection of sparkling M thode Champenoise wines.
Three more wineries in the Willamette Valley that also sell sparkling wines have joined ROCO.
Corollary’s 2019 X-Omni Blanc des Blancs Sparkling Chardonnay came in at number 36, Domaine Serene’s 2015 Vintage Brut Sparkling was at number 40, and Cho’s 2018 Blanc de Noirs Sparkling Pinot Noir was at number 32. The Irvine & Roberts 2018 Blanc de Blancs Chardonnay, a sparkling wine from Oregon that is not from the Willamette Valley, also made the list at number 71.
“Over the past five to seven years, people have been talking about how the future of sparkling wine in the Willamette Valley is so bright,” Alberty stated in a press statement issued by the Willamette Valley Wineries Association. I no longer believe it to be the future. It’s probably now.
Veronica Nocera writes on culture and life. She can be contacted at 503-221-8111, [email protected].
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