Stag's Hollow Pinot Noirs 2020
Stag's Hollow Pinot Noirs 2020
Winery Approaching The Thirty Year Mark
Stag’s Hollow was founded by Larry Gerelus and Linda Pruegger in 1992, at the beginning of the modern era of B.C. wine when there were only about 30 existing wineries.
They established the Stag’s Hollow home vineyard and built it out over the next fifteen years or so. In 2011, another 18 acres of raw land was purchased 2km North of the home vineyard. Shuttleworth Creek Vineyard is named for the creek that runs through it, and much of it was planted to a variety of pinot noir Dijon clones. The new terroir and the expanded clonal varieties gave a new wider range of options for crafting their pinot noirs.
A word about the “Hollow“in Stag’s Hollow. I interviewed Larry and Linda along with their longtime winemaker Dwight Sick at the winery several times while doing research for the book I am writing on B.C. pinot noir. Not having been to the winery before, I had presumed that Stag’s hollow was simply a fanciful winery name and that a “hollow” was a clearing at the bottom of a hill or some such geographical feature.
Not so. A hollow is another name for a kettle i.e. a large hole, like a giant kettle, formed when chunks of glacier melted under the deposited soils at the vineyard 12,000 years ago. I discovered this was no mere dip in the landscape! Vines, including pinot noir were planted in the steep sides of the kettle, giving them great sun exposure. It is just one of the remarkable geographical features in the Okanagan Falls area that gives the wines such variety.
The current winemaker Keira LeFranc was born and raised in Penticton and took over from Dwight Sick in 2018. Larry Gerelus and Linda Pruegger sold the winery to Eric Liu, the owner of Bench 1775 Winery, in 2019, but they remained as managers, leading the team until April of 2021, when they shifted into retirement.
Stag’s Hollow Winery is located in the Okanagan Falls Sub-GI. British Columbia's wine regions are currently broken up into nine Geographical Indications (GIs), similar to 'appellations' used in other countries. These GIs are determined based on analysis of similar soils, climate, annual weather, etc. The Okanagan Valley GI is further broken down into four sub-Geographical Indications (sub-GIs), including Okanagan Falls, that was created in 2018. The 800 hectares of the Okanagan Falls Sub-GI (150ha of vines) stretches roughly from Peach Cliff in the North to Vaseux Lake in the South and from approximately Highway 97 in the West to the steep granite hillsides in the East with and elevation that ranges from 400m to 500m.
The Okanagan Falls sub-GI is home to a wide variety of pinot noir styles including what I think are some of the very best pinot noir wines in the province.
Stag’s Hollow was one of a handful of wines that first piqued my interest in British Columbia pinot noir as I am a great fan of red Burgundy. The 2006 vintage from Stag’s Hollow, Tantalus, Tinhorn Creek, See Ya Later, Foxtrot and others was an excellent one. The wines were varied and engaging. There are still a few from that vintage left in my cellar.
These wines rested in the cellar for a year before they were tasted.
Stag’s Hollow Simply Noir 2020
In The Glass
Predominantly pinot noir, this is an interesting mix of preserved cherries, kirsch, chestnut, lilac, dried rose petals, both sweet and earthy at the same time, with just a touch of alcohol heat. In the glass, pinot noir plays lead but the rounded merlot and the easy gamay both harmonize capably. The texture is light and shows some complex fresh and savoury cherry fruit intensity. Simple, balanced and easy, it also includes a bit of tangy cherry cough drop. The alcohol is a little elevated but the fruit keeps up with it. After fifteen minutes or so in the glass, it softened and spread its wings nicely. The finish lingers with a last savoury fruit note and a farewell glimpse of dolcetto tang.
C+ ~ 88
In The Winery & Vineyard
The wine has always been mainly a blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay, similar to Burgundian Passetoutgrain but here there are additional small amounts of other varietals. The wide range of grapes planted at Stag’s Hollow has some reflection in this Simply Noir blend of pinot noir, merlot, gamay and dolcetto. The 2020 is approximately 65% Pinot Noir from their Shuttleworth Creek Vineyard, with the remainder consisting of 22.6% merlot 5.5% gamay and 4.2% Dolcetto, a grape added since 2017 when it was discovered to be a natural flavour match for the blend.
Each lot was hand-harvested, sorted, destemmed and lightly crushed into open top one ton fermenters. The lots were cold-soaked for 3 days before being inoculated with selected yeasts. Once fermentation was completed, all lots were pressed into French oak barrels. The wine went through malolactic fermentation and was then assembled, lightly filtered and bottled in June 2021. 440 cases produced. 14.0%
Stag’s Hollow Stag’s Hollow Vineyard Pinot Noir 2020
In The Glass
A little reluctant on the aroma with some flat cherry/strawberry and a developing note of berry fruit and bramble. I have tasted this wine a number of times in the past (though not for a while) and always found it to have good concentration with lots of promise but found the tannins, though not harsh, ultimately muffled the fruit, keeping it from emerging even if cellared for 3-5 years. I wondered if increasing vine age (about 30 years) and/or a different winemaker would produce a difference.
The answer was definitely yes. At first it seemed the same as previous wines, tight, dark cherry fruit, good fruit intensity but uneager to show much. What was different was the length, focus and clarity of the finish which really stretched out, diminishing very slowly. This unpacked further and opened out, a savoury, lengthy, dark red fruit intensity showing marionberry and baked cherries. This emanating, clear, long wave of flavour is not flashy but is difficult to accomplish in pinot noir. Very well done and promises much for the future. Overall, a spare yet exceptional wine. B- to B ~ 91
In The Winery & Vineyard
Three clones of Pinot Noir grow in the winery’s Stag’s Hollow Vineyard, the winery’s original vineyard. This wine is a co-ferment of clones 115 and 667. It was aged 12 months in French oak barrels (16% new). 195 cases produced.
Stag’s Hollow Shuttleworth Creek Vineyard Pinot Noir 2020
In The Glass
Aromas of cherries, kirsch and some breezy sweet baking spices, silky and breezy, immediately beckon from the glass along with some complexity involving strawberry and marionberry. A noticeably soft and silky texture with cherry and strawberry, lively flourishes of fruit and sweet spice notes as on the nose. Goes straight to a pirouetting mid-palate that further slides into a second darker, supple, fruit layer built on rich cherry and wild strawberry. Smooth and exceptionally elegant with a beautiful accompanying acidity that keeps the flavours fresh. The Dijon clones definitely class it up, make it more forward and showy with red fruit flourishes. Elegant, flirty, balanced - a real showoff.
B- to B ~ 91
In The Winery & Vineyard
This is a blend of six Dijon clones (777, 115, 828, 114, 667 and Pommard), all fermented and aged separately for 12 months before the final wine was assembled.
Sustainably farmed grapes were 100% destemmed, without crushing, leaving as much whole berry fruit as possible. After a 4-day cold soak, the must was warmed and inoculated with selected yeasts. Hand punch-downs started at 3 times daily and tapered off to once a day as tannins progressed. Free run juice was drained off and the skins were pressed off as soon as the primary ferment was completed. All lots were racked into 300L French oak barrels (17% new, remainder 2nd & 3rd fill), where each lot rested, untouched, for 12 months, before being blended, stabilized and bottled. 175 cases produced.
Stag’s Hollow Renaissance Pinot Noir 2020
In the Glass
This wine is a mix of grapes from their Stag’s and Shuttleworth vineyards and tastes like a grander version of Stag’s vineyard, more supple more accessible, more complex and more intense but retaining the focused fruit element. A delightful mix of cherry, mulberry, marionberry, tobacco, cloves, nutmeg and gingerbread. Balanced, rich, intense and silky, there’s a spare, intense dark fruit wafer of flavour here. It’s big in body but not alcohol driven, has real flavour clarity and makes me think Cote de Nuit. Power and elegance combined that really shows itself in the second half. B to B+ ~ 93
In The Winery & Vineyard
The clonal mix here is 39% 667, 31% Pommard, and 30% 115. Hand-picked and hand-sorted estate grown lots of pinot noir were fermented in small 1 ton, open-topped fermenters. The 30% whole berry ferments were punched down 3 times daily by hand and then pressed directly into 100% French oak barrels (15% new 300L hogsheads). Each clone was fermented, pressed and barrelled down separately. After malolactic fermentation it was aged for an additional 13 months on fine lees before being racked and blended. 100 cases produced.
Winemaker’s Notes:
“The pinot noir planted to our Shuttleworth Creek property is gradually becoming some of the most intriguing and beautiful fruit we’re producing. Of the 7 Dijon clones we have planted to this vineyard, it is the Pommard clone that continues to captivate me, and whose haunting aromatics are showcased in this blend. Almost 2/3 of this iteration, though, comes from the concentrated 667 and 115 clones from our 25+ year old estate vines, used to give this wine its signature weight and structure. We’ve created an impressively elegant Pinot Noir that is excitingly indicative of the quality of fruit coming out of both estate vineyards.”
Samples for review.