Stoller Family Estate, Dundee Hills (Oregon) Pinot Noir 2015

  In the US, there are no rules that define reserve wines, so it is encouraging when a winery explains their definition of reserve.  At Stoller, reserve wines come the best barrels of wines made from the oldest vines of Pinot Noir clones, planted between 1995 and 2001.  The 2015 vintage was consistently warm until a late August cold front slowed the ripening process that allowed more time for flavors to develop.  It was aged in 30 percent new oak and 70 percent neutral oak and bottled in December 2016.  With four years and three and a half months in the bottle it is still quite youthful with black cherry, raspberry fruit while developing notes of sandalwood and mocha.  It is smooth and round in the mouth with fruit, acidity, and fine grained tannins melding into a seamless whole.  It is drinking beautifully now, but there’s still plenty of life for a few more years, if carefully stored.