2020 Stemmler Pinot Noir Bz Vineyard Anderson Valley 750 ml

Winemakers don’t really like talking on the phone. Unless you happen to catch them on a long drive to a vineyard, they’ve usually got their hands full with grapes, hoses, or dreaded paperwork.

That’s why, when we need to close a deal, we follow through on advice we got a long time ago: We show up in person. And that’s exactly how we brought home today’s ruby-hued prize.

We were among the first to hear that Stemmler—a name that carries a huge amount of weight in the world of California Pinot Noir—was soon going to be folded back up into the larger winery parent company that owns it. Typically, when that happens, the label’s last vintage quickly goes onto the market for a SONG, and we didn’t want to leave anything to chance. 

Here is single-site Northern California Pinot, grown on one of the coolest sites Stemmler works with. Crafted by winemaker Dan Fishman—who crafts wines for other estates that hit the $90 to $100 register—it’s satisfyingly full of concentration without ceding cool-climate verve.

We’ve been working with Stemmler wines for over a decade, but the legacy of this brand goes way further back than that. Robert Stemmler, who founded the namesake winery, remains a legend, a Pinot pioneer who mentored greats like Davis Bynum and Gary Farrell. 

The final blend was assembled from five different lots, each co-fermented with a few clones from the vineyard. The bottling brilliantly joins classic Pinot notes of dark cherry and forest floor with a kiss of mint and cedar that is signature Anderson Valley. 

This is a thrilling score—and a bargain that won’t be repeated.