The Reliable Stable at Stoller Family Estate
Melissa Burr has been making wine at Stoller Family Estate for fifteen years. Moreover, she was born and raised Oregonian. Her wines taste like they are ready to be the centerpiece - even the host - of a great conversation. There's clearly a lot of heart, personal grit and local love that goes into her wines!
89
Stoller Family Estate 2018 Chardonnay Dundee Hills 12.5% $28
This is a fragrant, youthful and unoaked Chardonnay that has a Sauvignon Blanc-like tinge to its nose in its passion fruit and gooseberry tones. The palate is just as vivid with its zippy acidity and lime zest characters. Very moderate in body with a smooth palate feel and a crisply dry finish, this is highly quaffable while being a fine accompaniment for lighter dishes, especially seafood.
Drink: 2019-21
88
Stoller Family Estate 2017 Pinot Noir Dundee Hills 13.5% $35
There's an awesome pop of classic Pinot Noir sap on the nose and palate of this youthful, pristine clean wine. Smells of early summer, crunchy red plums, sweet rose petals and cinnamon fill the glass. The palate is a grippier one with firm, lightly drying and unusually broad tannins (for the variety). There's a lovely sappy and lingering finish on this medium-bodied red that is lifted by smoky, tobacco-esque nuances from the 15% new oak barrels used during its aging. It's a big mouthful, and it's ready to enjoy!
Drink: 2019-22
86
Stoller Family Estate 2018 Pinot Noir Rosé Willamette Valley 12.5% $28
Hot fuschia-pink in the glass, this rosé has a surprisingly robust body (especially for only 12.5% abv) with delightfully mouth-filling flavors of rhubarb and goji berries. It's as perkily tart on the palate as it might sound, and its acidity is reinforced by lightly scruffy tannins on the solidly lingering finish. It's definitely a marriage of some of the most desirable characteristics of both white and red wines: light and bright fruit served refreshingly chilled and accompanied by tugging texture. Given this wine's structure, it might drink even better in five or six months time. It's a rosé that can keep well for a few years!
Drink: 2019-21