Great Rosé, Made by Choice
In recent years, rosé has taken its place as a serious wine with winemakers and consumers alike, a far cry from the days when it was viewed by some as an afterthought or a lesser form of red wine. In the south of France, rosé has always been a wine of choice for its wide range of styles and versatility with food, and today winemakers around the globe are choosing to make high quality rosé wines, what is sometimes referred to as intentional rosé.
For Stoller Family Estate, intentional rosé has been a cornerstone of their winery for more than a decade, and their intention starts in the vineyard. Stoller farms 400 acres, the largest contiguous vineyard in Oregon’s Dundee Hills, and many of the 108 distinct plots are planted to Pinot Noir – more than 15 different clones – that are carefully selected to be transformed into their balanced and bright style of rosé. What makes Stoller’s approach to rosé unique, however, is not only the diversity of Pinot Noir clones, but also the winery’s selection of specific vineyard sites best suited to growing grapes for rosé. This very purposeful approach to find and farm the best sites for high quality, focused rosé lays the perfect foundation for these excellent wines.
2021 was warmer than average in the Willamette Valley, resulting in beautifully ripe fruit. Rain during flowering led to reduced yields in some vineyard blocks, further concentrating flavours in the grapes. A run of warm days and cool nights prior to harvest allowed fruit to ripen at a slow and even pace, resulting in increased character and complexity. In the winery, grapes were whole-cluster pressed and fermented in stainless steel to ensure a clear expression of the fruit from this stellar vintage. The result: beautifully balanced wines with ripe fruit, vibrancy and aging potential, exactly what you’d expect when winemaking happens with the best intentions.
Stoller 2021 Pinot Noir Rosé, Willamette Valley
Retail: $29.95 / btl
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The Wine
Stoller 2021 Pinot Noir Rosé, Willamette Valley 
Aromas of pomelo, strawberry, and white nectarine leap out of the glass, almost obscuring more bashful undertones of wet stone and uncut grass. The palate is taut with initial juicy citrus flavours that give way to notes of dried flowers and a lingering hint of white tea and lime pith on the finish.
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About Stoller Family Estate
The Stoller family established the property in 1943 as a turkey farm. A vineyard followed 50 years later when Bill Stoller – already a partner in the esteemed Chehalem Winery – planted 20 acres of Chardonnay & Pinot Noir under the tutelage of Burgundian winemaker Patrice Rion. Today, it is the largest contiguous vineyard in Oregon’s Dundee Hills. Their wines are 100% estate grown, and Stoller Vineyard is a highly-regarded source of fruit for several other top Oregon wineries. The 399 acre estate includes 210 acres of vineyard at elevations from 220 – 640 feet.
The family controls every step of the winemaking process, from pruning to bottling and everything in between. Winemaker Melissa Burr, a Willamette native, joined Stoller in 2003. The result is award-winning wines that are balanced, complex, and consistently exceptional. Much has changed from the original farm, but one thing remains constant: a pioneering spirit. Stoller winery was one of the first in in the world to receive LEED Gold certification for being sustainably built and environmentally friendly. Stoller is also a certified B Corp, and ‘Salmon Safe’.
Two-thirds of the vineyard is planted to Pinot Noir (something like 19 different clones!), and most of the rest is Chardonnay. However, there are also small blocks of Riesling, Tempranillo, and other (mostly) aromatic varieties. The vineyards and winery are both certified LIVE sustainable (low input viticulture and enology). Harvest and winemaking are meticulously controlled – fruit is hand-harvested into small bins, hand-sorted, and every vineyard block is fermented separately in the gravity-flow winery.
