2024 J. Rochioli Sauvignon Blanc Old Vine

A brilliant straw/silver color, the 2024 Sauvignon Blanc Old Vine has crystalline mineral depth, with focus and crunchy freshness in its notes of white grapefruit pith. More Loire than Bordeaux, it’s long on the palate, with concentration and sapidity that comes straight from the vines. As it opens, its prettier florals start to shine, and it still has the white pepper that’s a calling card here, along with a note of beeswax. Drink 2025-2040. Tom Rochioli is leading his historic family winery and vineyards along with his wife Theresa and their children, Rachael (General Manager) and Ryan (Assistant Winemaker). The focus is on estate-grown expressions of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and old vine Sauvignon Blanc. Tom’s grandparents immigrated from Italy in 1911 and came to the Russian River Valley in 1938, moving to the 125-acre Fenton Acres property where the winery is today. In the 1970s and 1980s, Tom’s father Joe began selling their grapes to winemakers Davis Bynum and Williams Selyem, who produced some of the best wines in the region. It wasn’t until 1983 that Rochioli decided to produce their own wines and changed the name of the property from Fenton Acres to Rochioli Vineyards.