100-pt Pinot Noir PERFECTION, from the Master of La Romanée

WHY BUY: Rose & Arrow just notched the first-ever 100-point score from James Suckling for an Oregon Pinot Noir. It’s made under the direction of Louis-Michel Liger-Belair, the master of La Romanée, the most exalted vineyard in all of Burgundy. The rest of the minuscule-production lineup from this insider’s insider producer is superlative, too: a 99-pointer, two 98-pointers, and a 97-pointer. 

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: James Suckling pronounced judgment upon every one of these wines, and came away captivated. His 100-point review of the 2023 Touchstone is an anointing: “an abundant, powerful, structured and full-bodied wine,” he wrote, “silky, long and built to age forever.” The 2021 Touchstone was just a hair behind it, at 99 points; Suckling declared it “intense and saturated, yet agile,” with more nuance emerging “with each sip.” The two 98-pointers earned his admiration and esteem, too. Of the 2023 Highland Close, he wrote, it shows “mouthwatering salinity, silky tannins and broad texture,” while the 2021 Stonecreek reveals a “muscular structure of fine-grained tannins and bracing acidity.”

OUR TASTING NOTES: These wines are the epitome of push-pull. They’re deep and dark in the glass … and then they flow along as if they weigh nothing. They present themselves as wines of intensity and concentration and depth … and leave you with an impression of finesse, elegance, and grace. The reds deliver that classic Burgundian profile of damson plum and wild raspberry, with rose hip and black tea close behind, and of course that lingering note of transportive smoke. The textures are satiny and rich, but what carries you forward is the marvelous energy and dynamism. And the wines keep changing as they sit; open one of the Touchstones and pour a glass, and ten minutes later you’ll be seeing something different in the glass: new colorations, new nuances. And the Chardonnays are by no means an afterthought. They’re fully in the Meursault vein, abundant with lemon zest and toasted hazelnut, and with the sort of flinty briskness that separates the good from the great. 

THE STORY: Rose & Arrow launched in 2012, when the late film producer Mark Tarlov decided to see what the Willamette Valley could produce, if only someone were to fully explore the unique properties of the terroir. He knew just the explorer he wanted: Louis-Michel Liger-Belair, of Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair in Vosne-Romané. Liger-Belair set the winemaking vision, and Chilean soil scientist Pedro Parra found the ground. Assisted by electroconductivity mapping, Parra dug more than 200 soil pits. His goal: thin ribbons of fractured volcanic basalt, where vine roots have to fight through rock. Out of the more than 150 acres he surveyed, only a few were tapped to grow the vines that would produce their top cuvées. That selectivity is key, and the generations of expertise that Liger-Belair brings. The first vintage was 2016, and now, ten years later, they have the score to show for their efforts. We feel confident in saying that more is on the way, and that this is absolutely the time to get in before the wider public knows about these wines.

WHAT TO PAIR THEM WITH: The Pinot Noirs are optimal matches for any preparation of duck: be it seared breast, or confit, or even a whole roast bird. Grilled salmon and wild mushroom risotto work beautifully, too. Bring out the Chardonnays with Dungeness crab, or a roast chicken with thyme, or a halibut in brown butter sauce.

FUN FACT: The name comes from a paradox, which is fitting for wines of such push-pull: the rose, delicate, expressive; the arrow, driven, focused.

OUR GUARANTEE: As always, we only buy and source directly from the producer to ensure pristine provenance. Quantities are limited, so secure your bottles today!