Pale ruby-purple colored, the 2015 Pinot Noir Stoller Vineyards has spicy notes on the nose of cloves, cinnamon, anise and fenugreek with a good core of black raspberries, black cherries and a suggestion of loam. The medium-bodied plate is crisp and fresh, with chewy tannins framing the spicy black fruits. Finishes long.

The 2014 Pinot Noir Stoller Vineyards, matured for 11 months in barrel, has a pure dark cherry and pomegranate-scented bouquet. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp tannin, bright cassis and blackberry fruit with a focused, harmonious finish that conveys good weight and length. This is very fine and it should offer several years of pleasure.

The 2013 Pinot Noir Stoller Vineyards was picked between September 19 and 23. It has a conservative, tertiary bouquet with woodland scents infusing the red berry fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with tart red cherries, cassis and citrus fruit, although it does cut away rapidly towards the finish. Enjoy this over the next couple of years.

The 2012 Pinot Noir Stoller Vineyards was picked October 9-11 at around 24 Brix and aged in 50% new French oak plus 44% one-year-old oak. The aromatics are quite interesting, a little subdued at first, but returning after a couple of minutes. Its floral nature is fully expressed with rose petals intermixed with cola and mandarin scents. The palate is medium-bodied with supple ripe tannin. The new oak layers a dark chocolate veneer across the fruit and slightly detracts from the finesse and varietal expression on the finish, but its silky texture is seductive. Drink this over the next four or five years.

Chehalem 2011 Pinot Noir Stoller Vineyard from the Dundee Hills received one-third new barrels, significantly more than did the corresponding Corral Creek bottling, but fortunately not to the point of overtly influencing – much less drying-out – the palate. There is welcome salinity to accompany the tart-edged and pit-tinged sour cherry and plum on display here, making for a mouthwatering as well as exuberantly bright finish. The feel is – for now, at least – rather glassy, though; and less attractive or giving than in the 2010 at a similar stage. This spare and energetic Pinot – like its Corral Creek counterpart – will probably both be worth following through 2016 and best left alone for the next year or so. “I waited as long as I could to pick Pinot,” relates proprietor Harry Peterson-Nedry of 2011, when his team engaged in a flurry of harvest activity that finished-up November 2; and he is one of the many to find what was achieved not just an improbable success, but a collection of Pinots likely to go down as among the Willamette’s most exciting ever. I wish I could personally be that enthusiastic about his 2011s in particular – the 2010s at a similar stage struck me as altogether finer – but there is certainly a lot to like among them; and Peterson-Nedry’s avid explorations of multiple white wine grapes – of which I tasted 2012s as well as some later-released 2011s – again prove meritorious. (Consult my issue 202 report for an account of veteran Peterson-Nedry’s background and the character of his three estate vineyards.) Peterson-Nedry’s daughter Wynne – with whom I tasted this year, and about whom I also wrote briefly in issue 202 – is clearly in command of the details in both the estate’s vineyards and cellar. Although a proportion of whole clusters with stems is usually retained in the Ridgecrest fruit, in 2011 all of the Chehalem Pinots were entirely de-stemmed. Musts were very selectively – and then minimally – chaptalized, with the finished alcohol levels ranging between 12.5-13%. Despite their lateness of harvest, these Pinots were as usual – with the exception of the “Reserves” – bottled the following September. (Note that I’ve replaced the word “three” with the Arabic numeral 3 in the name of Chehalem’s “3 Vineyard” bottlings since that is how it appears on their new labels, which, incidentally – in my un-professional design opinion – are uniquely eye-catching little masterpieces of information density without clutter.) Tel. (503) 537-5553