Love in a Glass: Stoller Family Estate Pinot Noir Rose

The phone rang. I looked at the caller-ID and my little heart started racing as if it was a call from a former love. It was the call I had been waiting for. It was from Stoller Family Estate in the Willamette Valley. They were letting me know my Spring Wine Club shipment was getting ready to be packed and while they were at it, was there anything else they could send me - - perhaps more of their Stoller Pinot Noir Rose? 

Yes-yes-yes! Fill me up with bottles and bottles of Stoller Rose - 2014! Now I can finally finish up the last two bottles of the 2013 that I have been hiding in the wine cooler. Hiding from who? From me! There's also a few bottles of 2013 Provence rose, as well. I guess I feared there was going to be a 2014 rose shortage. It is also about storing some fond memories. 

I think it is very possible to fall in love with the experiences you have had with a wine, as much as it is to fall in love with the wine, itself. If your two loves go together, then as a lover of wine, you are blessed.  

One of the world's greatest wine collectors is Park B. Smith, a textile entrepreneur in his late 70's,  who lives in an New England town of Northwestern Connecticut. About eight years ago Mr. Smith left a quote with Eric Asimov, wine writer for the New York Times, and it has resonated with me, ever since. 

“Something happens to people who love wine. You really discover a camaraderie. It’s not like coin collecting or something cynical. It’s like sharing love in a glass.” 

Besides my love of a crisp cool dry rose, especially those from Provence, there has always been something about this Oregon Pinot Noir rose from Stoller that has captivated me. On a hot day, I will often crave the palate of this peach colored

wine that expresses notes of strawberries, raspberries, watermelon and the crisp fruity acidity of ruby red grapefruit. 

It has also been about the experiences I have had at their winery, the camaraderie I had with friends who had joined me at the estate; from the stroll through the Stoller Estate Vineyards talking about the soil, the canopy of the vines, and even my personal future; to another visit at Stoller enjoying a picnic sack lunch out on the beautiful winery grounds with other wine writing peers. In those visits we were sharing camaraderie and most certainly we were sharing "love in a glass."  

My last visit to Stoller was three years ago, and the winery gave me one of their signature etched Riedel Oregon Pinot Noir glasses. It was a token that meant a lot, as whenever I look at the glass, whether it is in the cupboard or I am using it, the glass brings back so many wonderful memories of events and people. In fact when I left Oregon after my last visit,  I even held the glass in my lap all the way back home on the airplane. Check the luggage, but let me hold my glass - my memories, my love in a glass.