Press
What You Need To Know About West Coast Sparkling Wine
The New Wine Review, Virginie Boone
“Argyle is the original and possibly best-known producer of Oregon sparkling wine, founded by winemaker Rollin Soles in 1987, who built the first wine production facility to specifically make world-class sparkling wine in these parts. Having accomplished that, Soles is now the founder and winemaker for ROCO Winery in Newberg…” Read more…
Rachising Up Pinot Noir: Stems add more dimension to Willamette Valley’s most produced wine
Oregon Wine Press, Neal D. Hulkower
“Rollin Soles, co-founder and winemaker of ROCO Winery, developed a method of capturing the goodness from the stems without the risk of greenness that may occur when not completely ripe. He explains: “I came up with the original plan during the 2011 vintage… My motivation was to extract the good things I like about ‘whole-cluster’ fermented Pinot Noir…” Read more…
Traditional sparklings from untraditional regions: Part 3
The Drinks Business, L.M. Archer
“Many in the trade credit legendary sparkling winemaker Rollin Soles for jumpstarting Oregon’s burgeoning bubbles scene. In 1987, Soles founded Argyle Winery in Dundee specifically to produce world-class sparkling wines in the Willamette Valley.” Read more…
12 Best Oregon Wineries to Put on Your Must-Visit List
Reader’s Digest, Jill Schildhouse
“Founder and winemaker Rollin Soles has been crafting award-winning wines for more than 35 years—he’s Oregon’s original producer of sparkling wine. Visitors to ROCO Winery will get a front-row view of his masterful transformation of beautiful fruit to exquisite wine…“Read more…
Top-rated American sparkling wines for New Year’s Eve
Decanter, Clive Pursehouse
“When Rollins Soles got the ball rolling on sparkling wine at Argyle three decades ago, who knows if he could have foreseen the growth and quality of the wine style’s production in the Willamette Valley…” Read more…
16 Sparkling Wines for Every Kind of Holiday Party
Food & Wine, Ray Isle
“This [2019 RMS Brut] is one of the Willamette Valley’s best examples, with vivid apple-pear flavors and notes of ginger and toast…” Read more…
The Next Big Sparkling Wine Destination Isn’t Where You’d Expect
Travel + Leisure, Valerie Stivers-Isakova, Hank Zona
“Start in [Newberg] on the Willamette River, home to ROCO Winery and its cofounder, Rollin Soles — the first person to champion age-worthy sparkling wines in Oregon.” Read more…
Smart Buys
Wine Spectator, Tim Fish
ROCO Pinot Noir Willamette Valley Gravel Road 2018 • $25
“Tightly focused, this offers polish and structure, with layered raspberry and cherry flavors, laced with stony mineral and green tea notes and finishing with refined tannins.” …Read more…
Interview with a Very Cool Oregon Winemaker
The John Erickson Channel Podcast
“Oregon Wine Month wraps up with open tours at dozens of wineries in the Willamette Valley. We interview one of the pioneers of Oregon viticulture, winemaker Rollin Soles of ROCO winery in the Dundee Hills.”…Read more…
Five Impressive Oregon-Made Sparkling Wines
Cool Hunting
“Oregon is known for its award-winning Pinot Noir, but its success with sparkling wine might very well change the conversation. The numbers speak volumes (as sparkling wine sales from the state grew more than 50%”…Read more…
Hats Off, Glass Full
Oregon Wine Press
“We celebrate the promise of Oregon wine every May. It buds in vineyard rows, fills barrel rooms and pours into eager glasses at restaurants and tasting rooms throughout the state.”…Read more…
Interview with Rollin Soles
Washington Wine Blog
“One of the iconic names in Oregon wine, Rollin Soles is one of North America’s most heralded winemakers, particularly for his revolutionary sparkling wines. “…Read more…
8 Oregon Sparkling Wines that Rival Champagne
Food & Wine
“The Willamette Valley’s distinctive climate and geology have made it renowned for Pinot Noir, and its Chardonnays can be equally impressive—two varieties that also happen to be the classic ingredients of great sparkling wine.”…Read more…
Bubbly’s Big Day
Roots Magazine
“A style icon, when everyone else was perfecting pinot in the 1980s, Rollin Soles was mastering the sophisticated craft of méthode champenoise”…Read more…
Why It’s Time To Try Oregon Pinot Noir Now
Forbes
“If you haven’t tried Oregon wine, now is the time to get started. Most wineries in this northwestern state are still small family-run operations but the numbers show a bigger story. “…Read more…
Exploring Willamette Valley Wine Country
Bend Magazine
“We ventured to ROCO Winery, outside of Newberg at the base of the Chehalem Mountains. Owner Rollin Soles came from Texas to make wine in Oregon in the 1980s. “…Read more…
Watching wine happen during Oregon’s annual grape harvest
Washington Post
“I didn’t realize it at the time, but for one frantic, exhilarating, exhausting September minute, I impersonated an Oregon winemaker. “…Read more…
The Willamette Valley’s New Take on Sparkling Wine
Wine Enthusiast
“Oregon’s Willamette Valley winemakers rarely turn their famous Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes into sparkling wine. But a few esteemed pioneers and one mobile bottler are changing course with bottles that are approaching Champagne-quality levels.”…Read more…
Rollin Soles: The Face of Oregon Wine
Portland Monthly
“ROCO winemaker/owner Rollin Soles has always made wine. After a Masters in Enology/Viticulture he made wine in Switzerland, California, Washington, Australia and finally Oregon where he founded Argyle Winery.”…Read more…
Pine Wine: Oregon and its wine regions
Arizona Daily Sun
“Roco 2014 Pinot Noir “Gravel Road, Willamette Valley” ($25): Shines on the palate with rich fruit, fine balance, dusky tannins, very engaging complexity and more, making it a fine value for its price”…Read more…
The Texas Winemaker Who Helped Put Willamette Valley On The Map
Texas Monthly
“Rollin Soles spent his college days hanging out with Robert Earl Keen and Lyle Lovett. Here’s how he became one of Oregon’s most prominent winemakers.”…Read more…
Oregon’s Expanding Palette of Wines
Vinous
“Fueled by steadily increasing production of first-class Rieslings and Chardonnays, Oregon’s wineries are proving that they can do much more than just make great Pinot Noir.”…Read more…
Bubbles Along The Willamette: Oregon’s Sparkling Wine Renaissance
Forbes
“Sparkling wine in Oregon isn’t new. It was pioneered more than three decades ago by Rollin Soles, then the head winemaker and cofounder of Argyle Winery…”…Read more…
What to Drink Now: Last Minute Gifts for the Wine Love
Dallas Magazine
“If you are like me and scrambling for a few last minute gifts for this fast approaching holiday, consider one of these wines..”…Read more…
American Chardonnay for While You Cook (and With Dinner)
Wine Enthusiast
“Set the table with a beloved wine grape. We showcase American Chardonnay with 20 bottles from five states, spanning California to Virginia..”…Read more…
14 Best White and Red Wines To Gift
Forbes
“A bottle of wine can be the perfect gift for any occasion. It’s also a dependable last-minute purchase – but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t think carefully about your selection.”…Read more…
These five wines will see you through the holidays
Washington Post
“Here are five delicious wines that will complement your Thanksgiving feast — or any dinner party for that matter…”…Read more…
¡SALUD! 26th Annual Oregon Pinot Noir Auction Raises $830,000 for Vineyard Worker Healthcare
Wine Business
“Winemaker, Rollin Soles of ROCO Winery was honored as this year’s Legacy Winemaker.”…Read more…
ROCO Winery: Serious Fun
Advinetures
“His devotion to his craft has made him one of the top winemakers in the world…and the more fun he has as a winemaker, the more we’ll continue to benefit as wine drinkers.”…Read more…
Summer’s extreme weather has little ill affect on wine harvest
The Newberg Graphic
“With months of no precipitation and several weeks of high temperatures over the summer, it would be understandable if folks in the wine industry were more than a little worried about the quality and quantity of this year’s grape crop.”…Read more…
Oregon’s Willamette Valley: Home to great Pinot Noir at any price
Bullz-Eye.com
“Oregon’s Willamette Valley is highly regarded for Pinot Noir. It’s an area well-suited for growing one of the most sought-after and difficult-to-master grapes on earth.”…Read more…
Is Affordable Pinot Noir Becoming a Unicorn Wine?
Forbes
“Below, you’ll find some of Oregon’s tastiest wine values along with each winemaker’s explanation for how they are able to offer both quality and value.”…Read more…
Pop Stars – RMS Sparkling Wine
Modern Luxury
“Soles has been making sparkling wine in the states for roughly 30 years, and his skill with bubbly is evident in each spirited sip. The wine is rich and flavorful, with ripe pear and citrus wrapped in a core of creaminess”…Read more…
Holiday Sparkling Bottle Pick List
Snooth
My pick for 2016 is a milestone wine, made by a legend (at least by Oregon sparkling wine standards that is). I’m talking about Rollin Soles, the man behind Argyle Winery — the first sparkling wine facility built in Oregon in 1987, back when hardly anybody would dare to make bubbles in the state…Read more…
Washington Wine Blog – ROCO Winery
Washington Wine Blog
The 2013 Roco ‘RMS’ Sparkling Wine (WWB, 94) is an absolute stunner and is the best Sparkling wine in North America that I have sampled in the past year…Read more…
Oregon Sparkler: Winemaker Rollin Soles Elicits State’s Flavorful Essence in His Bubbly Wines.
The Register-Guard
Like so much about Soles and his wines over the years, he makes it all sound and look so simple. But behind the laconic, faint Texas drawl and kind, weather-worn steel blue eyes, there is a keen and eager intellect engaged…..Read more…
Wine and Dessert, Portland Style
Wine Press NW
This is quintessential New Year’s. Both offerings are classic and superior in quality. Winemaker Rollin Soles has taken the wealth of bubbles knowledge he procured at Argyle and sealed it in this 2013 vintage sparkling…..Read more…
6 NW Sparkling Wines For Your Holiday Wish List
Tasting Pour
This wine has bubbles for days. Well, I mean I assume, since we drank it up in one evening. But if we hold it to the sparkling test of “fine and persistent bubbles” it passes with flying colors. ….Read more…
Winemaker Talk: Oregon Bubbly, Cooking and Community with ROCO’s Jarod Sleet
Wine Spectator, Julia Larson
“Now on his seventh vintage with ROCO as assistant winemaker, Sleet is looking at how he can help the Willamette Valley at large, particularly by improving inclusion and mentorship opportunities for others in the LGBTQ+ and Black communities. ‘When we make space for ourselves and we start to get together, then we’re on the way to do the work.’” Read more…
A Cork in the Road: Episode 101 – Rollin Soles, Winemaker and Founder of ROCO Winery
A Cork in the Road, Kelly Cornett
“We welcomed Rollin Soles of ROCO Winery to Vine Vault for a tasting and live show. Rollin’s story begins in Texas, but he took side trips through Switzerland, Australia, and California to ultimately end up in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. ” Listen here…
The scoop on sparkling wine — it’s not just for New Year’s Eve anymore
The Manual, Mark Stock
“Rollin Soles is a sparkling wine legend. He was the winemaker at sparkling-heavy Argyle in the Willamette Valley for years before launching his own label, ROCO…” Read more…
Willamette Valley Wines To Sip On National Rosé Day And Beyond
Forbes, Elizabeth Brownfield
“To wine lovers, it may seem foolish to devote one day to rosé. Why celebrate a wine for just 24 hours that we sip it all summer — and all year — long?” …Read more…
8 Alluring Oregon Pinot Noirs Rated 90+ Points
Wine Spectator, Tim Fish
Oregon’s Willamette Valley is on a hot streak, with consecutive outstanding vintages going back to 2012. This week’s selection of Pinot Noirs are all rated 90 points and higher on Wine Spectator’s 100-point scale, Most are 2018s, which are just starting to hit shelves, and early indicators show that the vintage is primed to continue the Willamette’s streak….Read more…
Cure Your Cravings With A Bar Tab
SIP NW, Erin James
The James Brown of Oregon bubbles brings similar soul and rhythm to his still wines at ROCO Winery, like in this Willamette Valley Pinot, comprised of Pommard, Dijon and Wädenswil clones from owner-winemaker Rollin Sole’s favorite vineyards that happen to be located ….Read more…
Milestones – ROCO 2013 ‘RMS’ Brut Sparkling Wine
Vindulge.com, Mary Cressler
A legend. At least by Oregon sparkling wine standards, that is. I’m talking about Rollin Soles; the man behind the first sparkling wine facility built in Oregon in 1987, back when hardly anybody would dare to make bubbles in the state….Read more…
The Only Wine You Need On Your Thanksgiving Table
Food52
If your menu includes truffles or wild mushroom risotto, for example, seek out pinots from Willamette Valley, Oregon. I really like the spicy, floral accents and lively acidity of ROCO’s 2014 Gravel Road Pinot Noir….Read more…
The Perfect Pinot Noir? Try Some From Oregon
Miami Herald
Pinot noirs can be the most ethereal of wines. They also can be expensive. A single bottle of 1945 French Domaine de la Romanee-Conti sold at auction in 2011 for $123,899. Top California pinot noirs regularly top $50 a bottle….Read more…
12 Oregon Pinot Noir Wines that Prove a 50-year-old Gamble Paid Off
Chicago Tribune
You could say that Oregon is a pinot noir bridge. The state’s most celebrated and successful wine style could generally be classified as somewhere between the heady, earthy pinot noirs of Burgundy — the grape’s ancestral home in France — and the fruity, jammy pinots of California….Read more…
Oregon’s Willamette Valley: Wine Country Travel Without the Headaches
The Wall Street Journal
Wine-country travel can often be better in theory than practice, with overpriced tasting rooms, heavily trafficked highways and crowded restaurants and bars. Does an oenophile’s paradise even exist anymore? While some may pine for the palazzos of Tuscany, for me it’s the Willamette Valley of Oregon…Read more…
RMS 2013 Brut, Willamette Valley
Great Northwest Wine
Texan A&M product Rollin Michael Soles, the Pacific Northwest pioneer for sparkling wine as founding winemaker at Argyle in 1987, debuts his bubble program as part of the ROCO Winery brand he launched in 2001 with his wife, Corby. It’s no coincidence…Read more…
Drink of the Week: RMS 2013 Sparkling Wine
Imbibe Magazine
Referencing Oregon sparkling wine authority Rollin Michael Soles, who spent years establishing Argyle as the foremost producer in the region, the RMS 2013 sparkling wine expertly combines flavors of pear… Read more…
ROCO Winemaker Rollin Soles Releases New Willamette Valley Sparkling Wine
WineBusiness.com
Rollin and Corby Soles, co-owners and operators of ROCO Winery in Newberg, Oregon, will release a new Willamette Valley sparkling wine: the 2013 RMS Brut. The new méthode champenoise bubbly… Read more…
Turns out, the stem end’s the beginning of something great
The Washington Post, Dave McIntyre
New technologies can reinvent wine, the way temperature control allowed vintners to produce the crisp white wines we enjoy and demand today. But Rollin Soles thinks he’s onto something no one else is doing. Read more…
5 wines with a lot of fruit-forward flavors to offer
The Washington Post, Dave McIntyre
Winemaker Rollin Soles has crafted an innovative take on whole-cluster fermentation of pinot noir: He removes the grapes from their stems, but instead of… Read more…
Great Northwest Wine guide to Oregon sparkling wine
Great Northwest Wine, Andy Perdue
Not unlike the French sparkling wine region of Champagne, Oregon’s Willamette Valley is a cool area that is turning out to be just about perfect for sparkling wine. Read more…
Know Your Winegrower: Rollin Soles
The Wine Company, Nicholas Livingston
Few have enjoyed as many irons in as many fires or championed Oregon wine as Rollin Soles. An affable Texan whose wry wit precedes him, Rollin set roots in Willamette Valley 30 years ago. Read more…
5 Star Tasting Experience
Touring and Tasting Magazine
Set in the rolling countryside, everything about ROCO speaks to perfection. The wines are crafted by Oregon winemaking pioneer, Rollin Soles, who has been admired by wine critics for decades. Read more…
Defining Elegance in Pinot Noir
WineSpectator.com
Oregon winemaker Rollin Soles describes the meaning of “elegance” in terms of Pinot Noir. Interview with Gloria Maroti Frazee, Director of Video Education, Wine Spectator. Watch the Video…
Big on Pinot in the Willamette Valley
WineSpectator.com
Rollin Soles explains why the Willamette Valley such a great place for the variety. Interview with Gloria Maroti Frazee, Director of Video Education, Wine Spectator. Watch the Video…
Native Texan Turns Willamette Valley Winemaker
myStatesman.com, Mauri Elbel
Rollin Soles, owner of ROCO Winery, saunters onto the patio of his tasting room where my husband and I are sipping glasses of his 2012 Willamette Valley pinot noir in the afternoon sunlight. Read more…
2013 The Stalker Pinot Noir
WineRabble.com, Michelle Francisco
Rollin Soles has played a significant role in shaping the wine culture of the Willamette Valley. He’s been making wine for over 30 years in Oregon, with a 25 year stint as Argyle Wine’s winemaker. Read more…
2013 Willamette Valley Chardonnay
WineRabble.com, Michelle Francisco
Ok, we’re going to wax poetic about this wine for a moment…this is a excellent Chardonnay with a strong acidic backbone, yet a kiss of oak that creates an amazing textural mouthfeel. Read more…
Near Perfect Harvest
Great Northwest Wine, Andy Perdue
Pinot Noir is coming in faster than it ever has in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, thanks to a warm vintage with near-perfect conditions. Read more…
‘RMS’ Willamette Valley Brut 2013
Christine-Havens.com
This is a brilliant wine. The RMS Willamette Valley Brut 2013 is ROCO’s first sparkling wine, a new release, it’s a perfectly-poised blend of 67% Pinot Noir and 33% Chardonnay that fairly blossoms in the glass; red berries… Read more…
COWBOY PHILOSOPHER
Wine Spectator Magazine, Tim Fish
The first thing you notice about winemaker Rollin Soles is his mustache. The way it unfurls on either side of his upper lip makes it look like something from an old Western movie. But it suits him. Consider it a signal: A big personality is coming your way. Read more…
20 Most Admired Winemakers in North America
VWM Magazine
Despite his Snidely Whiplash ’stache, Rollin Soles is a gregarious guy with a Texas drawl, folksy joke-telling skills and a good heart that would have him rescuing women from railroad tracks rather than tying them to them. Read more…
Not Sure What Wines to Buy For Thanksgiving? Here Are Our Picks for the Holiday
Martha Stewart
ROCO Winery RMS Brut is a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from Oregon’s Willamette Valley that may just fool your guests who usually only drink Champagne! What is more in the spirit of the holiday than to drink an American-made craft wine?….Read more…
Seattle Times Ranks ROCO’s RMS as One of the Top 50 Wines of 2016
Seattle Times
Winemaker Rollin Soles made bubbly at Argyle in Dundee, Ore., for the better part of 30 years. This is his first sparkler for his own label, and it’s an instant classic. ….Read more…
These Oregon Winemakers Are Making Chardonnay Cool Again
Wall Street Journal
Oregon is a single-grape state for many wine drinkers, as tied to Pinot Noir as Wisconsin is to a wheel of cheese. And yet sometime in the very near future, Oregon may become famous for a second grape. Some of the state’s best winemakers are ….Read more…
Wine Runs Through the Vines of These 7 Families
Touring & Tasting
ROCO Winery is named after Rollin and Corby Soles for a very good reason—it represents the combined energy of a tireless married couple who dreamed for decades of starting their own wine label in the Chehalem Mountain range of Oregon’s fertile Willamette Valley. ….Read more…
