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2000 Stoller Vineyards Pinot Noir

(updated 07/22/03)

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The Wine

This wine is the fourth commercially released vineyard-specific wine from Stoller Vineyards. This single vineyard designate is predominantly from its oldest planting of Dijon fruit and provides great ripeness with decent acid backbone. There is an intriguing roasted herb thread and amazing palate length to this wine.

The Vineyard

Stoller Vineyards is our newest, and therefore most viticulturally advanced, of our three estate vineyards. A south-sloping, 115 acre vineyard on a 350 acre parcel, Stoller Vineyards commands a dominating view of the southern end of the Red Hills of Dundee, giving it regular comparison to Burgundy's Corton Hill. Stoller Vineyards is planted on Jory soil, with a touch of Nekia, both red volcanic soil types.

The Vintage

Vintage 2000 was our third great vintage in-a-row, providing full ripeness and excellent weather throughout the growing season and through harvest. The average to one week early harvest, September 29-October 26, saw only 1.09 inches of rain. Fruit quantities were bountiful, permitting crop thinning to obtain ideal croploads of 2.50 tons/acre for Pinot gris, 2.55 for Chardonnay and 2.31 for Pinot noir. White wine characteristics are between 1998's round fleshiness and 1999's crisply structured ageability. Red wines benefit from less extreme extraction at Ridgecrest than the prior two vintages, thanks to normal croploads of 2.49 tons/acre and improved and excellent quality from the other vineyards. The overall quality in the Pinot noir cellar exceeds 1999 and is similar to 1998.

Stats

Harvest Data:

Harvested from 10/6-10/8/2000 @ 24.6-25.2 brix, 3.25-3.31 pH, and 6.8-7.6 g/l TA, from 2.2 tons per acre cropload

Fermentation:

Average of 10 days total fermentation with 5 days pre maceration

Cooperage/Aging:

11 months in barrel, with one racking, in 57% new French oak barrels, 74% new and 1 year prior use

Wine Selection:

Selected barrels from five fermentation lots

Bottling:

Bottled 9/17/01

Bottling Analyses:

14.9% alcohol, 4.7 g/l TA, 3.82 pH

Cases Produced:

738

Suggested Retail:

$39

Release Date:

May, 2002

Winemaker's Comments

A complex wine, going in several directions at once. It shows sweet cherry fruit inside a tight tannin structure, with hints of everything from lightly tarry, sweet wood and orange peel to a savory, Mediterranean herb crusted prime rib or tenderloin. There is also softness and dustiness in an old-world Pinot sort of way, with a bittersweet chocolate perkiness. Needs time to open. Will benefit from aging. Great promises from this still relatively young vineyard.

Quotes

Wine Spectator, June 2003, Harvey Steiman, The Oregon Report: 92 Points. Ripe and open-textured, blossoming with currant and plum fruit, shaded by grace notes of cream and pepper.

Wine Advocate, November 2002, Pierre-Antoine Rovani: 90 Points. Medium to dark ruby-colored...displays outstanding depth of fruit in both its aromas and character. Revealing aromas of blackberries and spices, this thick, expansive wine is loaded with black cherries, spices and currants whose flavors linger in the impressive finish.

Wine Spectator, September/October, 2002: 92 Points. A new bottling from Chehalem, which has been using fruit from this highly regarded vineyard in its regular bottlings. Ripe-flavored and open-textured, this one blossoms with currant and plum fruit shaded with cream and pepper grace notes. A harmonious, expressive Pinot that lingers effortlessly on the fine-grained finish.

Wine & Spirits, October-December, 2002: 89 Points. Oak shows first with the scent of smoked bacon and wood char. Then ripe fruit comes up, hinting at blackberries and red earth...

Wine Enthusiast Magazine, October, 2002: 85 Points. This wine has heavy aromas of black coffee and burnt toast. Its hearty plum and black cherry fruit is on the sweeter side, but is overshadowed by butter and oak...