Lemelson Stermer Vineyard Pinot Noir 2015
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Planted across from the winery in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA, Stermer Vineyard has been farmed organically since being planted in 1997. With Willakenzie marine sedimentary soils composed of a thin layer of silty-clay loam atop sandstone, the wines from this site are often full-bodied with prominent cherry, spice and earth notes. The nose of the 2015 Stermer shows lavender, strawberries, and black cherry, accented by deeper anise, peppercorn and cinnamon notes. The palate is medium bodied, textured and round. The finish is long and marked by sweet fruit and cocoa flavors.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Dusty spices, cocoa powder and graham cracker accents open into a lush palate packed with baking spices. Roughly half new French oak was used, and given the extra years of bottle age, this is perched right at the apex of its prime drinking window. Lemon peel, chocolate, cinnamon and a touch of peppercorn all annotate the pretty raspberry and cherry fruit.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale ruby-purple in color, the 2015 Pinot Noir Stermer Vineyard has notes of warm cranberries, rose petals and dusty earth with a raspberry tart undercurrent. Medium to full-bodied, it has a lovely backbone of freshness textured by chewy tannins, finishing with good expression and length.
Rating: 91+
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Wine Spectator
Expressive and floral raspberry and orange peel aromas open to tightly layered cherry and spiced tea flavors that take on momentum toward big but refined tannins. Best from 2020 through 2024.
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James Suckling
This shows a wealth of raspberry cheesecake on the nose from the outset in addition to glazed strawberries, cherries and walnut shell. The palate brims with spicy red berries and is full and rich with a fruit-forward finish.
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Lemelson Vineyards began as a dream - a dream to create a winery that celebrates innovation in technology, sustainability through nature, and tradition in winemaking.
Eric Lemelson started Lemelson Vineyards with the intention of building something that would not only serve their consumers, but also the longevity of the pristine state that he calls home. Utilizing organic farming methods and gravity flow production, they craft estate grown Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, and Riesling from some of the finest vineyards in the Willamette Valley.
Their commitment to the process extends to all facets of the winery life and ensures that all living components be they land, vine, or human - are well cared for. It’s their belief that the glass you’re enjoying at home starts before vines were ever planted. The process from planting to drinking must be nurtured at all steps.
When you drink Lemelson wine, you are not only drinking an elegant expressive Oregon Pinot, you’re taking part in their journey to protect the earth for generations to come and they thank you for that.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Yamhill-Carlton, characterized by pastoral, rolling hills composed of shallow, quick-draining, ancient marine soil, is ideal for Pinot noir and other cool-climate-loving varieties. It is in the rain shadow of the Coast Range to its west, whose highest point climbs to an altitude of 3,500 feet. Yamhill-Carlton is actually surrounded by mountains on three sides: Chehalem Mountains to the north, the Dundee Hills to the east and the western Coast Range to its west, which, when it lets Pacific air through, serves to cool the region.
Vineyards grow on the ridges surrounding the two small communities of Yamhill and Carlton and cover about 1,200 acres of this 60,000 acre region, which roughly makes a horse-shoe shape on a map.