Bill Stoller never strayed far from the land that is now Stoller Family Estate in Dayton, Oregon. He was born on the property and grew up mere miles outside out town, received his undergrad from Pacific University (25 miles away) and his MBA from Portland State University (32 miles away), founded a few staffing and human resource companies (one only 20 miles away) and in 1993, Stoller came back to the family property, acquired it from his cousin and planted vines two years later on the moderately elevated, southern-facing slopes of rocky Jory soil. Today, the winery and vineyard are leaders in Oregon wine sustainability—having been the first vineyard in the world to receive LEED Gold certification and are also LIVE-certified.
Another local from the Willamette Valley, winemaker Melissa Burr carefully crafts the wines that Stoller built. Like the stainless steel-fermented 2014 Dundee Hills Chardonnay, a resonant bouquet of cantaloupe, guava, red apple and baking spices. Touching on tropical with banana but stepping out into ripe tree fruit (red apple, pear) from there, the palate is full and vigorous with acid, citrus rind and slate mineral. Sip while looking out at the vineyard from the open floor-to-ceiling glass garage doors in the 4,000-square-foot Stoller tasting room or with alongside pan-seared butter scallops at home.
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