Winemaking: Our first Stoller Vineyards Pinot Noir

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Our first Stoller Vineyard Pinot Noir

This month [spring, 1999] we commercially release for the first time another single-vineyard Pinot noir besides Ridgecrest. The 1997 Stoller Vineyard Pinot noir exhibits unique and consistent aspects, as required by us to achieve single-vineyard status. It represents well the complex set of ingredients discussed in the Soils article. (Read more about the Stoller Vineyards in our About Us section.)

The most exceptional thing about this wine is how precocious it is. Like a child prodigy, happenstance provides the genius of the site, but sensitive encouragement helps realize it. Bill and Cathy Stoller are the parents of one of the finest sites around. That the quality of fruit and resultant wine was good enough in its second harvest to make a "whole" wine is amazing. The attention to detail in the vineyard is largely responsible, with selection of varied densities and clones, irrigation and meticulous handwork just right. With the dominance of plant influence at this stage, imagine the wine complexity and finesse several years down the line when roots have met rock and volcanic distinctions appear!

The wine is a half-and-half blend of Pommard and Dijon clones, a marriage of the old and new selections which complement each other well, giving a complexity of deep red fruits, fat and soft texture, and spicy interest. The wine is a big, rich, fully-ripe version. The 1997 vintage was very kind to us, this fruit seeing no late-season rains. Only 230 cases made, this is a collector's wine, since it is a "first" and a benchmark for subsequent vintages. We have seen 3 vintages in the cellar and are struck by the consistently big, soft, dark projections. Vine age should give improved ageability and even greater complexity over the years.