I have two single-vineyard Pinot Noir wines from Stag’s Hollow Winery in Okanagan Falls. Both are delicious but are quite different in colour, aroma, and flavour. I have wines from their Stag’s Hollow Vineyard and their Shuttleworth Creek Vineyard. Both wines are unfined, unfiltered and vegan friendly. Before telling you about these wines, I would like to point out the winery’s screwcap. I do like it when a winery puts an identifying character on their screwcaps so that it is easy to spot their bottle when you have many bottles in your cellar. This wine shows a stag leaping on the top of the cap and then smaller versions circling the neck of the bottle. Now, let me tell you about these wines.
My Wine Tasting Notes
Stag’s Hollow Winery Stag’s Hollow Vineyard Pinot Noir 2020 (BC $30)
This wine is made with their oldest plantings, 25 years of age, of Dijon clones 667 and 115. These two clones were co-fermented then racked into 300 l French oak barrels, 16% new and the rest second and third fill, and aged for 12 months before blending the barrels, stabilizing then bottling.
Appearance: Medium-plus translucent mix of garnet and ruby colours.
Nose: Medium intensity nose, very floral, plus aromas of red liquorice, and touches of vanilla, red cherries, oak, and plum. A lighter nose overall with all aromas reduced the same amount.
Palate: Dry, medium-plus body, round with a very soft mouthfeel. Medium acidity keeps the fruit flavours bright. Medium intensity tannins that firm up from mid-palate to the finish. Ripe plums, raspberries, candied red cherries, and floral on the palate plus black cherries later. Light pepperiness on the mid-palate to the finish. Flavours stay the same with decanting plus you also get a touch of vanilla flavour.
Finish: Medium-plus length finishing with drying tannins, medium pepperiness, floral and darker fruit flavours. Stronger tannins on the finish with more red fruits and candied red fruit flavours.
This wine shows off after a very short decant time. No need for a long decant.
Rating: 
A medium-plus translucent mix of garnet and ruby in the glass. Dry, round, and very soft mouth feel. Medium-plus body. Ripe plums, raspberries, candied red cherries and floral flavours to start then add some pepperiness and black cherries mid-palate to the finish. Medium-plus length finishing with drying tannins, floral and darker fruits and medium pepperiness.
Stag’s Hollow Winery Shuttleworth Creek Vineyard Pinot Noir 2020 (BC $30)
The Shuttleworth Creek vineyard has Dijon clones 115, 667, 777, 828 as well as Pommard. The clones were all fermented separately and had 12 months of barrel ageing just like the Stag’s Hollow Vineyard wine until a final blending was selected.
Appearance: A medium translucent garnet colour.
Nose: Medium intensity nose showing smoky raspberries, red cherries, red fruit and a touch of nutmeg. The smoky raspberry aroma gets stronger with decanting.
Palate: Dry, medium-plus body, semi-round with a thicker mouthfeel. Raspberries, red plums and a red cherry flavours, plus a touch of nutmeg and light oak. The wine gets quite toasty with about 15-20 minutes of exposure to air in the glass. It has light tannins, but enough to provide structure for this wine. The wine feels smoother and rounder with decanting, plus a bit more toast and smokiness.
Finish: Medium-plus length finishing with red fruit flavours, light pepperiness and tannins. Toast with some time in the glass. The toastiness is a bit stronger with decanting, plus there is now a touch of vanilla.
A short decant, about 15 – 20 minutes, is all this wine needs to give you its full range of aromas and flavours.
Rating: A medium translucent garnet colour. Medium intensity aromas of smoky raspberries, red cherries and red fruits, with a touch of toast and nutmeg. Dry, medium-plus body and a thicker mouthfeel. Raspberries, red plums and cherries, along with toasty oak and nutmeg. Medium-plus length with toast and red fruit flavours plus light pepperiness and light intensity tannins.
Where Can I Buy These Wines?
The 2020 vintage of both of these wines is not yet posted on the Stag’s Hollow website but should show up soon on their Wines page. These two wines are also listed on the Everything Wine website but are currently out of stock. Keep your eyes open for these two tasty wines.
