Matt Kramer, appropriately enough an Oregon based wine writer, in his breakthrough book Making Sense of Burgundy, explained the Pinot Noir ideal better than anyone. (And way better than that Miles in Sideways.) Using the analogy of music, he posits that the trick to making great Pinot Noir - the real point to it - is to achieve "amplitude without distortion."
Just three words. But really, really hard. And really, really rare.
Just go to basically any grocery store and look at their Pinot Noirs. They will ALL either be thin or taste false. If not grotesque...or even gross.
Here's the exception.
But it's more than that. This 2022 is the culmination of a process I've seen at Stoller (and some of my favorite Burgundy domaines) over a number of years.
The first thing they did was get their Pinot Noir right. That is, they made a Pinot that was pure, authentic and perfectly, unmistakably Pinot Noir. Then they gradually worked on ratcheting up the concentration and flavor - all the while retaining the purity and authenticity that was their original sine qua non.
Of course, it helped that they had terrific, first-class vineyards, with ever maturing vines. And then it helped that they got a string of mainly exceptional vintages.
So now here we are - with the 2022...the richest and fullest Stoller Willamette Valley Pinot Noir to date. Yet still as pure and perfect as ever.
