Winemaker Notes
Plum jam and cherry pie give way to a refined but powerful tannin structure. Just try to catch the fleeting hints of aged grape stems in the mid palate then again during the superb finish! This wine has one thinking about beautifully aged Nebbiolo.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of plums, cherries, lemons and lavender. Hints of cedar, too. Light to medium body, firm and tights tannins and a vibrant finish. Delicious now.
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Wine Spectator
A distinctive style, well-built and framed by refined tannins, this offers blueberry, cherry, sassafras tea and spice notes, with an appealingly minerally, earthy accent. Best after 2018.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Pinot Noir The Stalker is made using whole Pinot Noir berries mixed with grape stalks, as opposed to whole cluster fermentation. Pale to medium garnet in color, it opens with notes of herbs, dusty earth, crushed rock and potpourri over a core of red cherry, raspberry jam and cranberry. Light to medium-bodied, it’s red fruited in the mouth with a good spicy layer and earthy notes, with firm, slightly fuzzy tannins and juicy acidity to carry the long spicy finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
Not a mere whole-cluster wine, the Stalker is made by drying the stalks separately and adding them to whole berries. It's slightly chalky as a result, with a green edge to the tannins and green tea flavors. Black cherry, espresso and cacao components also factor in. Give it another couple of years and drink after 2020.
Home of some of the planet’s most amazingly elegant and expressive Pinot noir, the Willamette Valley is a pastoral, mixed landscape of green, bucolic rolling hills, dramatic forestlands and small, independent, friendly wine growers. As a leader in environmental stewardship, the valley has some of the nation’s most protective land use policies, with two-thirds of its vineyards farmed sustainably and over half, organically. While the valley claims a cool, continental climate, and is heavily influenced by the cold, moist winds of the Pacific Ocean, its warm and dry summers allow for the steady, even ripening of Pinot noir.
The potential of Willamette Valley Pinot noir continues to attract the investment of serious growers and winemakers both locally and from abroad, as naturally the finished wines bring accolades from professionals and enthusiasts. With a range of styles from delicate dried cherry, raspberry and hibiscus to stronger notes of truffle, mocha, plum and spice, a fine Willamette Valley Pinot noir is a perfect expression of both character and grace.