Rose & Arrow is the brainchild of Mark Tarlov, the man who started Evening Lands, and Louis-Michel Comte Liger-Belair, who in turn invited legendary terroir consultant Pedro Parra to join the project. The aim here is simple; to make the best Oregon wines by uncovering the region’s Grand Cru terroirs. Together with on-the-ground winemaker Felipe Ramirez, the team have spent the past 6 years decoding the land of the Willamette Valley, looking at plots within plots, and then focussing in on specific seams of rocks within these plots.

The endeavour started back in 2012 and since then scores of wines have been made and blind tasted, their notes overlaid onto the data from Pedro Parra’s ingenious vineyard mapping techniques. Using electro-magnetic mining technology and old fashioned soil pits (over 200 dug to date), the team were able to pin point the exact types of geology that produced the most thrilling and eloquent Pinot Noir from the valley’s various soils.

Armed with a new understanding of what might be possible, land was acquired. Today they own or farm over 60 hectares of land dotted across 5 of the 7 AVAs. The majority of the harvest goes into a separate project called Chapter 24. The very finest plots, just over 2 hectares, less than 4% of the harvest, are what produce the 100-350 case cuvees that make up the Rose & Arrow range. These plots, generally east facing on volcanic soils from the mid slopes, are those that provide the aromas, textures and flavours that the project is looking to unearth.

In winemaking terms, the techniques are almost identical to those practiced in Louis-Michel’s Vosne domaine, and yet the aim has never been to produce Burgundy from Oregon, but moreover to allow Burgundian thinking to shape the way one might produce the very finest wines from the Basalt soils of the Willamette valley. All fruit is destemmed, extractions are more like infusions, with regular gentle pump overs in open top fermenters, the oxygen rich environment allowing for complex aromatics and very measured alcoholic degrees. Elevage is carried out over 12-15 months, with no racking. The same coopers are used as in Vosne, specific barrels selected and flown over from France each year, with new oak usage kept to around 50%. The results are both staggering and individual. Here are wines that combining the unmistakable elegance and finesse of Comte Liger-Belair winemaking with deeply volcanic mineral cores and finely tailored, effortless finishes.

The wines are organised around three tiers. The ‘Village’ wines represent small vineyards holdings that share similar rock compositions. Up one level you find the ‘Articulates’, where specific rocky sections within vineyards, those that display especially individual characteristics, are separated out and bottled up. Finally, at the top of the tree sit the ‘Prime Expressions’; three wines that hail from very specific pleats and folds of rock that provide complex, very complete expressions of Pinot Noir from specific geologies.