Stoller Vineyards Tour

by Mich Nelson

Part 3 of a three-winery field trip organized by the WSA for the Spring 2008 WSET Advanced Certification course.

After visiting Cristom and Cameron earlier in the day, the WSET Advance Certificate students headed to Stoller Vineyards. Stoller Vineyards is a 373-acre parcel located on the southern slopes of the Dundee Hills AVA in Yamhill County, Oregon. A turkey farm from the 1940s through the 1980s, the first 10 acres of Chardonnay and 10 acres of Pinot Noir were planted in 1995. The vineyard now has 176 acres under vine, the majority of which is planted to Pinot Noir.

Stoller Vineyards produces varietal Pinot Noir and Chardonnay made exclusively from the estate vineyard.

I currently work as Tasting Room Supervisor for Stoller and was excited to offer classmates a tour of the winery building, which is the first Gold LEED Certified winery in the United States. The winery integrates gravity-flow winemaking techniques, energy-efficient heating and cooling, and waste-water reclamation to reduce negative environmental impact. The array of 224 solar panels on the roof of the building offsets about 50% of the winery’s electrical needs.

The class then met with Stoller winemaker Melissa Burr in the cellar for some barrel tasting. Melissa led the class through a comparison of different yeast strains being used on the same lot of fruit, using the same barrels, to get a sense of how yeasts affect the flavor and texture of the wine. Next, the class also sampled wine from the same Pinot Noir clones from vines of differing ages, to see how age adds complexity to the fruit. Finally, Melissa showed the class how new oak barrels and neutral oak barrels impart varying degrees of influence on wine.

Finally, I led the class through a tasting of Stoller’s currently released wines, which are crafted in two distinct styles:

The JV (or Junior Vines) wines are made using fruit from younger vines on the property and are made in an accessible style. The class sampled a 2007 Rose, 2007 stainless-steel fermented Chardonnay and 2006 Pinot Noir made in this style.

The SV (for Stoller Vineyards) flagship wines are made using fruit from the oldest vines on the property, and showcase the fruit, earth, and complexity of the Stoller vineyards. The class tasted the 2006 SV Chardonnay, which is made by barrel fermenting and aging the wine for 10½ months prior to bottling, and the 2005 SV Pinot Noir, which is crafted to cellar well and is released after about 18 months of bottle aging.

Visit Stoller Vineyards online.