tasting / savor / Oregon Chardonnay DAVID WILLIAMS’S VERDICT
I came to this tasting as an enthusiastic novice when it comes to Oregon Chardonnay. Whenever I’ve tasted it in the past, it has been while tasting something else: as one variety among many other Oregon wines at trade tastings hosted by the state’s winemakers in London, or as part of a lineup of Chardonnays from around the world in comparative tastings of the variety. This means my impressions have hitherto been rather piecemeal. I’ve almost always been impressed with the quality of what I’ve tasted. But I would not have been able to articulate Oregon Chardonnay’s defining characteristics, beyond a reference to its difference to the classic California model (a reference that, post-In Pursuit of Balance and so on, is in any case grossly oversimplified and outdated). I wouldn’t say the tasting has given me
any more confidence in my ability to define Oregon Chardonnay. Stylistically speaking, I thought the lineup was pretty heterogenous,
TOP WINES
Morgen Long Willamette Valley Chardonnay 2019 94
Domaine Serene Chardonnay Evenstad Reserve 2019 94
Antica Terra Aequorin Chardonnay 2019 93
Bethel Heights Vineyard Casteel Estate Chardonnay 2018 93
Domaine Drouhin Arthur Chardonnay Dundee Hills Willamette Valley 2020 93
Goodfellow Richard’s Cuvée Whistling Ridge Chardonnay Ribbon Ridge Willamette Valley 2019 93
Lingua Franca Sisters Chardonnay 2019 93
Walter Scott X Novo Vineyard Chardonnay 2019 93 00 Wines VGW Chardonnay 2018 92
Abbott Claim Chardonnay Eola-Amity Hills Willamette Valley 2019 92
Brick House Cascadia Chardonnay 2017 92
Cristom Eola-Amity Hills Willamette Valley Chardonnay 2019 92
Evening Land Seven Springs Estate Summum Chardonnay 2019 92
Flaneur Wines La Belle Promenade Chardonnay 2019 92 Flaneur Wines Bon Vivant Chardonnay 2019 92
Grochau Cellars Chardonnay Brick House Vineyard Ribbon Ridge 2017 92
Ponzi Vineyards Single Vineyard Avellana Laurelwood District Chardonnay 2019 92
Walter Scott Freedom Hill Vineyard Chardonnay 2019 92
with winemaking decisions (in the vineyard as well as the winery) being the most important factor in shaping the character of the wines. If I had to pick out a single thread, common to all of my higher-scoring wines and no matter how they differed in other ways, I’d say that they all show an easy, natural balance: I found myself consistently praising the fine acidity, but only very occasionally did I feel I was tasting wines that were purely acid-driven, and my fruit references are mainly of the orchard (apples and pears) rather than the citrus grove. I also felt that quality was much less variable
than style; this was a run of succulent, well- made wines, as is reflected in my scores, with 28 wines scoring 90 or more, and most of the rest reaching the high 80s. And while nothing here had me revising my personal Chardonnay pantheon, the best were undoubtedly stylish wines that more than hold their own in the global Chardonnay context and that I would be more than happy to drink.
Hundred Suns Old Eight Cut Chardonnay 2020 [Willamette Valley] (12.9% ABV)
| 88
AJ | Bright pale gold. Delicate, subtle, quiet, and softly creamy aromas; subdued but supportive fruits. Finely crafted aromas. Intense, bright, rather acidic palate, driving and lemony, with a tart, almost abrupt finish, leaving you with a citrus-zest aftertaste. Almost seems like a Chardonnay that would rather be a Sauvignon Blanc or an Aligoté. But if you can reconcile yourself to this style, it would work well with fish or seafood. Well made, but a little austere and biting for me. | 88 AR | Pale gold, clean, fresh, rather closed at this stage; a pleasing Chardonnay, with nicely soft- textured fruit, made juicy with a lightness of touch and refreshing citrusy acidity. | 88 DW | Clean and vibrant, orchard-fruited: russet apple and tangy, clean acidity. Crisp and refreshing finish, decent length, with just a shade of honey. Relatively simple, but honest, luminously bright, attractive. | 89
Vincent Tardive Chardonnay 2019 [Willamette Valley] (12.3% ABV)
| 88
AJ | Pale gold with silver glints. Delicate and restrained; a little dry and papery. Some cream and oat-flake, but little fruit evident on the nose as yet. Cleanly enticing, for all that. Taut, dry, and bright on the palate. Correct and clean, but not much resonance, complexity, or finesse. | 87 AR | Pale lemon in color, this is pleasantly fresh if a tad shy in aroma. It improves when you taste, showing some appealing fruit peachiness framed by some subtle, nutty oak and supported by juicy acidity. | 88 DW | Lean and tight, with lime-pithy citrus on the nose; quite contained and constrained, but racy and a sense of something waiting to unfurl. Concentration and energy. | 90
Arteberry Maresh Dundee Hills Willamette Valley Chardonnay 2019 (13% ABV)
| 87
Stylistically simpler than the top cohort, but perhaps a good buy at the right price. Much to enjoy here. | 88 AR | Greeny gold in color. This is quite appley in aroma, and those apples follow through in the flavors of this Chardonnay, which is perfectly drinkable without really scaling the heights of greater enjoyment, thanks to a lack of definition and a slightly phenolic finish that brings an unwanted bitterness to the enterprise. | 86 DW | Appetizingly tangy and high-pitched, but stopping just short of sour or tart. This is racy and elegant, with a very defined, steely-citrusy streak, but there are the beginnings of some other, more savory-tertiary flavors just emerging. Long, precise finish. | 92
Left Coast Estate Truffle Hill Chardonnay 2020 [Willamette Valley] (13.3% ABV; screwcap)
AJ | Bright pale gold. Plump, fat, and full, with 216 | THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 79 | 2023 | 89
the emphasis on cream, lees, and developed yellow summer fruits, though discreetly so. This is quiet aromatically. Just no fresher early-season orchard fruits apparent in the aromatic profile. Juicy, fresh, pure, and exuberant on the palate, though relatively straightforward. The flavors are attractive. Still later- season fruits, but cleanly drawn and given attractive milky lees fullness to balance out the always-brisk acidity. A subtler aromatic profile would have won a slightly higher score, but this is a good and hugely enjoyable wine to drink. | 91 AR | This youthful pale golden Chardonnay could perhaps be a little fresher in aroma than it now seems, being a tad mute at the moment. And the fruit, to taste—while pleasantly juicy, with no hard edges—seems to lack a little acidity and, hence, being rather flat, the necessary freshness and potential to age. | 87 DW | Ripe and full; mouth-filling rich fruit, with ripe plum and nectarine, cream and some more savory tones. Real presence and depth and concentration, but not lacking in agility. Good length. | 90
AJ | Bright pale silver; barely gold as yet. Sweet, soft, warm, enticing. Not hugely detailed but, in general, reassuring and classical. Dry, vivid, fresh, and long, but as on the aromatic profile this is slightly unfocused and imprecise compared to the best of its peers, thus lacking allusive force. Good, well-made wine, for all that. | 88 AR | This is mid-gold in color, with aromas that are initially diffuse, a lack of definition that follows through in the glass, even if the acidity is more marked than expected—not quite eyewatering but crisp at least, in a dry white whose phenolic edge combines with that acidity to bring a slight bitterness to the finish. | 86 DW | Restrained and cool; the acidity is a touch raw and clipped. There’s a greenness here that is not entirely unappealing, but the wine doesn’t quite hang together, doesn’t quite offset the austerity with some measure of generosity. | 86
Brick House Cascadia Chardonnay 2019 [Ribbon Ridge Willamette Valley](12% ABV)
| 87 AJ | Pale steel-gold, with spun-steel glints. A dry
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