Vendange Sélection Pinot Noir

A keeper: Made from Pommard and Colmar 538 clones of pinot noir, the 'VS' shows dark cherry, earthy and meaty notes with a tannic backbone to hold the rich fruit flavors for a long time.

Huge structure, depth, and length of palate. Full-flavored dark fruits, cassis, earthy, pepper and spice on the finish. Blend of Pommard and Alsatian clone Colmar 538. 100 cs. This wine will last for years.

This young wine displays very rich flavors, nutmeg, cinnamon, dark cherry, with a long and satisfying finish. It's a keeper from a great vintage!

The crop was thinned to ~ 2 tons/ac at Stag Hollow Vineyards . At harvest, the grapes expressed broad and diverse flavors.

Crafted in Stag Hollow's traditional Vendange Selection (harvest select) style: long grape-skin contact - 19 to 22 days, with is a key component in providing a long, complex and spicy finish. Aged for 16 months in 30% new oak from three forest in France and Oregon Oak barrels.

This is a block-buster wine! Released Fall 2004.

Now a young wine with a long life ahead. Dark cherry, cassis, tannin, vanilla and spice on the finish. This wine will keep!

This is a classic vintage for Oregon. Long cool with a dry fall and a small spike of heat in the summer. This allowed slow even development of the fruit.

Stag Hollow thinned the crop to 2 tons/acre for maximum ripeness.

Once again Stag Hollow delivers a substantial and complex pinot noir, no singular "fruit bombs" here.

Contrasted with our powerful '98, 2000, though still a big wine, is more elegant, has more balance of spice from the grapes skins and concentrated fruit.

Like the '99, note the structure, depth, concentration, and length of palate of this very young wine.

Nose and taste: black cherry, vanilla, toast, winter spices-long delicious finish!


Yields cropped to ~ 2 tons/acre

Only available at auctions - sold out, a library wine.

As pinot noir grapes approached physiological maturity in 1999, the grape skins displayed exceptional spice character (the development of spice attributes in the skins is our primary factor used to make decisions of when to harvest pinot noir grapes). Below are the highlights:

• Made from two pinot noir clones, Pommard (strength) and Colmar 538 (fruitfulness) harvested October 14-16.
• 23.5o to 24.2 o Brix, placed in 5 separate fermentation lots.
• 1-3 day 'pre-soak' on the skins.
• Fermentation was initiated with blends of yeast strains that differed in each of the 5 lots.
• 16-day slow, cool fermentation.
• Must pressed into Allier, Troncais, Vosges, and Oregon oak 1-3 year-old barrels.
• 4 to 8 month malolactic fermentation.
• Gently racked into 1/3 each new, 1-, and 2-year-old barrels.
• Bottled 16 months after harvest; and bottle-aged 8 months prior to release in October 2001.
• Unfined and unfiltered.
• Drinking great now and will age at least 9-10 years.

Winemaker's notes: Big structure, depth and length of palate. Nose and taste spotlight plum and black cherry. Initial flavors are youthful and mouth-filling, then soften warmly and finish with a long and 'diverse' mixture of spiciness, surrounded by hints of toast and vanilla.

89 pts Wine Spectator (5/15/02)

Wine Spectator Rating: 92

Only available at auctions - sold out, a library wine.

The grape clusters selected to produce Vendange Selection are the ones harvested first (first flowers to pollinate). These clusters tend to produce our fullest and darkest pinot of a vintage. Since our inaugural vintage in 1994, this is the first time nearly all of the clusters were harvested on the first harvest sweep through the vineyard. Typically we have three or more cluster selection harvests (revisiting the same vines) over a 10-14 day period. With the small yields in 1998 (~1 ton/acre), cluster maturation occurred at a nearly uniform rate. Sugar levels for the harvest lots hovered at the upper level of 23 Brix. In this vintage, the pinot berries displayed an exceptional spicy character in the skins.

This wine was fermented in small lots slowly for 16 days with 5-10 percent whole berries. The wine rested in neutral barrels for the first 6 months, then was aged 11 months in 40% new, 25% 1-year-old and 35% 2-year-old Allier, Troncais, Vosges, and Oregon oak barrels. The wine is unfined and unfiltered. Stag Hollow pinot noirs are made to develop slowly; the 1998 Vendange Selection (bottled February 2000) is estimated to be drinking optimally at around 2004-5 and should age well for a decade or more.

Winemaker's Notes: The Vendange Selection not surprisingly, has big structure, depth and length of palate. Nose and taste are centered on black cherry, encircled with lingering nutmeg, winter spices, cinnamon, vanilla, and ginger.

185 cases produced.