2017 Stoller Pinot Noir Reserve
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Tasting notes
Tasted from an 18-cl mini bottle. LIVE certified, Salmon Safe certified, B Corp certified and LEED Gold certified. A blend of their older Pinot Noir vines, with Pommard being the dominant clone. Spontaneous fermentation in stainless-steel tanks and an oak fermenter. 12 months in French oak barrels (35% new, 65% neutral) and then, after blending, in stainless steel tanks for another six months to gain extended time on lees and marry before bottling. Bottled September 2018. TA 5.5 g/l, pH 3.64. Smells like powdered violet petals – a gentle, lilting nose, smells like an aria, a spontaneous around-the-campfire folksong, acapella. Sour cherries, mocha, morels cooked in butter, raisins steeped in honeybush tea, a rusty nail wrapped in rose petals tucked into fresh damsons. Pomegranate sweetness and freshness. The texture of this wine is so exquisite, I can only liken it to brushing your fingers on a sleeping child’s cheek (does anything feel more exquisite than that?). I actually got goosebumps tasting (/ feeling ) this wine. This wine tastes like a Rupi Kaur poem . (TC)
Critic scores
Average Score
Tamlyn Currin, jancisrobinson.com
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
Brilliant magenta. Highly perfumed aromas of ripe red/blue fruits, succulent herbs, potpourri and baking spices are lifted by a smoky mineral nuance. Gently sweet and energetic on the palate, the Reserve offers juicy raspberry, boysenberry, floral pastille flavors and suggestions of spicecake and cola. The 2017 Reserve shows fine clarity and solid thrust on a long, floral-driven finish that's framed by silky, harmonious tannins.
The 2017 Reserve Pinot Noir is shy on the nose, offering earthy nuances over a core of red and black berries with citrus peel and floral sparks emerging with some air. It's medium-bodied, concentrated and silky, with a long, fresh finish. Give it another year or two in bottle. 8,000 cases were made.
Dried-flower aromas abound with ripe plums and black cherries, all leading to a palate that has a slew of fleshy, mellow dark cherries and plums, ahead of a spicy, slick finish. Drink now.