Stephen Ross Wine Cellars Stone Corral Pinot Noir 2017 Red Wine

Stephen Ross Stone Corral Pinot Noir 2017 Red Wine

Edna Valley, CA

We’re big fans of Stephen Ross wines, especially their Pinot Noirs! It’s a hidden gem of a winery, tucked in the San Luis Obispo region of coastal central California. When we tasted this particular Pinot Noir, we looked at each other, smiled, and nodded – oh yeah, that’s a great Pinot! – we were all thinking the same thing. Pinot Noir lovers will LOVE this one!

94 pts. Vinous:

“Vivid ruby-red. Aromas of cherry cola, black raspberry and pungent flowers, with vanilla and exotic spice nuances in the background. Appealingly sweet and penetrating on the palate, offering juicy red and blue fruit preserve, rose pastille and mocha flavors that take on a spicy aspect with air. Concentrated but lively as well, showing sharp definition on an impressively long finish framed by supple, even tannins. 40% new French oak.”

FROM THE WINERY

TASTING NOTES

This wine is impeccably balanced, with pretty aromatics and very fine tannins. It is densely colored, quite dark, ruby hue. Nice perfume, juicy dark fruit & spice, bittersweet chocolate, crushed green things, soft on the mouth with silky textures and fine tannins, finishing with acid tartness at the back of the palate. Notes of ripe cherry, caperberry, redwood forest floor, wet granite minerality.

VINEYARD

Stone Corral Vineyard is our Estate vineyard, which we planted in 2001. The vineyard is planted exclusively to several Pinot Noir clones and rootstocks covering a rolling southeast facing hillside in the Edna Valley AVA. In 2016 we chose five of our best barrels for our Stone Corral Vineyard Pinot Noir.

The Edna Valley is located in the South Central Coast of California a few miles southeast of the town of San Luis Obispo. The valley spans in a Northwest to Southeast orientation and is open to the Pacific Ocean to the West; it lies in Southern California at 35 degrees latitude and therefore receives lots of intense sunlight from a “directly overhead” sun. The climate is strongly influenced by regular summer-time afternoon cool breezes from the ocean.

VINTAGE

The 2017 vintage was marked by an abundant amount of rainfall during the 2016/2017 winter at 35 inches. The growing season was relatively cool. There were several days of warmish weather in May and June, but only into the 80s. We had a small rain event in early August, which measured a tenth of an inch. After the Pinot Noir was harvested, there was a heat wave lasting three days, September 1 – 3, peaking on September 2 at 114 degrees.

Vineyard: Stone Corral Vineyard, Edna Valley 50% Block 4. Dijon Clone 777 50% Block 5, Dijon Clone 667
Harvest: Harvested and sorted by hand at night Aug. 25/29, 2017.
Fermentation: 15% whole clusters, 85% de-stemmed into 4.5-ton open top refrigerated fermentation tanks.
Aging: Aged 18 months – 40% new Tonn. Damy, 60% once and twice used French oak barrels
Non-fined and non-filtered
Alcohol: 13.7%
pH: 3.60
T.A.: 5.78g/L
119 Cases | Bottled on March 20, 2019