Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesA solid and linear pinot with crushed-stone and dark-berry character. A nice combination of strawberry and raspberry follows through to a medium body with linear tannins and fresh citrus at the end. Drinkable now, but another year or two will help.
Opens with bright aromas of raspberry, rose petal and orange peel, leading to well-structured flavors that build tension toward medium-grain tannins. Drink now.
The 2018 Pinot Noir Stermer Vineyard was aged for 15 months in 44% new French oak and is perfumed with cedar, fresh pine, and raspberry liqueur. The palate is refreshing, with grenadine, orange peel, and baking spice.
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.
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.
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.”