Andrew JeffordAJ | Anthony Rose AR | David Williams DW
scent, with most of the aromatic interest coming from yeasty, fermentative notes, so it lacks a little finesse and precision in that sense. A bit funky. The palate is rather funky and raw, too—perhaps a deliberate style decision, but not exactly what I hope for. Very acid, too, without much compensation and balance. There is length and concentration, and some may like the style. | 85 AR | Lemony in color, this comes with a whiff of oak that lacks a little in freshness. While it’s pleasant enough in its stone-fruit flavors and juicy enough texture, there’s a lack of definition to this dry white that doesn’t take it beyond the second to a third dimension of enjoyment. | 88 DW | Spicy, exotic, just a little cidery on the nose. A touch wild, but likably so until the alcohol rather takes over. A little unkempt. | 87
Cameron Clos Electrique Dundee 2019 [Willamette Valley] (12.6% ABV)
| 87
AJ | Quite full gold for this tasting, though only a pale gold within the wine spectrum as a whole. Custard and even caramel here: decidedly richer than most of its peers. Melon, as well as lemon fruits. Giving and full on the palate, but a little tangy, lacking cream and finesse. Nonetheless, the slightly riper style is welcome and there is lots of exuberance and drive. | 87 AR | Pale gold in color, this is as yet a tad blunt in aroma, the subtle sweetness apparently coming from a touch of oak, as well as the appley fruit. The baked appley fruit is nicely textured and juicy, with good underlying acidity, even if it doesn’t quite reach a third dimension of complexity. | 88 DW | Lemon posset topped with crumbled butter biscuits; quite tight and taut but not ungiving. Racy, seemingly early-picked. It is maybe just lacking a little mid-palate ballast… | 87
Antica Terra Aurata Chardonnay 2019 Willamette Valley (13.7% ABV)
| 86
AJ | Mid-gold, but in the present pale company it almost looks deep. Slightly caramelly fruits; attractive but in a more superficial way than for most of its peers. Heavy and tangy on the palate, and not a wine I would relish drinking, alas. | 82 AR | Mid-gold in color. Overtly oaky in aroma, with the sort of buttery-cheesy oak and pineappley acidity that gives it an old-fashioned Burgundy feel. And the same is rather true of the flavors, which transport you back to a Meursault of the 1970s. To be loved by those who adore those traditional farm- buttered popcorn-oak and malolactic-dominated characters but abhorred by those who don’t. | 89 DW | Very developed nose: frangipane and cream, with baked apple. The palate is a touch disjointed and hollow, that richness of flavor feeling a little shallow without some corresponding flesh on the mid-palate. There’s alcohol, too, on the finish. There’s character and individuality here, but I find it a little hard to love. | 87
The Eyrie Vineyards The Eyrie Chardonnay 2019 [Dundee Hills Willamette Valley](13% ABV)
| 86
AJ | Pale mid-gold, with silver glints. A rather more obvious aroma than for most of this wine’s peers:
honeyed orchard fruits, but some slight heaviness. Ditto on the palate. Needs a little more focus, freshness, and precision to show its vineyards at their best. | 86 AR | Mid-gold in color, showing some evolution. On the nose, a whiff of baked apple and not a lot of aromatic freshness. To taste, it displays that appley flavor and enough juiciness of texture to make it a decent enough one-glass white, but it lacks definition and freshness—and that scrumpy-apple finish doesn’t do it any favors. | 86 DW | Intriguingly aromatic nose, with a late- summer floral dimension. Chestnut and cream and honey, too. On the palate, richness and creaminess but just a little foursquare, with a slight clumsiness of expression. | 87
Gran Moraine Winery Gran’ Moraine Chardonnay 2019 (12.7% ABV)
| 86
AJ | Pale green-gold, with silver glints. Very raw; hyacinth aromas, rather stripped back and bare and ungiving. Ditto on the palate—another Chardonnay that seems to be transitioning to Sauvignon Blanc. Clean and correct but a sort of stylistic parsimony I can’t quite warm to. | 85 AR | A pale lemon in color, this starts to show its true colors after an initially quiet time in the glass, with a nice hint of smoky complexity behind the peachy aromatics, and subtle peachy flavors supported by a taut, balancing freshness and light touch of oak-nuttiness, finishing satisfyingly clean and dry. | 90 DW | Youthful. Tight, almost crunchy, with green apple and some soft floral scents. A little gawky and short. | 84
R Stuart Love Oregon Chardonnay 2019 [Willamette Valley] (11.5% ABV; screwcap)
| 86
AJ | Steel-white; very pale by comparison with its peers. Fresh, dry, restrained, spotlessly clean. A little aromatic enchantment would be welcome, but none in sight for the time being. Seems just too cleaned up, and after a while in the glass there are some aromas that remind me of carbolic and cleaning fluids—as well as some green apple. Very dry and rather austere wine, which I would struggle to enjoy. | 83 AR | Pale lemon in color. At first sniff, this is quite heavily wooded, with sweet caramel and candied notes. But it’s rather different when you taste, showing less evident oak and a curious fruit character underpinned by quite firm acidity leading to a dry and—sorry to have to say it—rather joyless finish. | 86 DW | Super-pale and silvery color. Silvery acidity, too. Chablis-like; stony and mineral, some salt and plenty of nerve and verve, but a little blunt on the finish. | 88
Penner-Ash Wine Cellars Chardonnay+B19 2019 [Willamette Valley] (13.9% ABV)
| 86
AJ | Pale silver-gold in color, with silver glints. Straightforward aromas of grain, malt, and leaf as well as cream; little fruit apparent at present. Fresh, full, forceful, lacking a little intricacy, detail, or focus, but satisfying. | 87
AR | Mid-golden hue, with greeny glints of color, this is diffuse in aroma, and that lack of definition follows through in the glass, where the flavors tend to the slightly hollow and rather salty, making this wine rather hard to love, in all honesty. | 84 DW | Creamy and leesy intensity and a certain sweetness of fruit. Intense and arresting at first, but rather foursquare and crude as the wine progresses in mouth. Alcohol and acidity form the prevailing impression on the finish. | 86
Willamette Valley Vineyards Chardonnay 2020 [Willamette Valley] (13.3% ABV)
| 86
AJ | Bright silver-gold; pale and glinting. This seems a little tired aromatically, and rather sinewy, lacking purity, freshness, and verve. Aromatically disappointing. Ditto on the palate: There are fruits, but they lack freshness and focus. Some unintended oxidation along the way? Still drinkable, I should stress, and not in any way a faulty wine. | 84 AR | Pale gold in color, this is quite marked with grapefruit and farm-butter oaky aromas. The same characters follow through on the palate, which is nicely ripe and textured, albeit a tad dominated at this stage by buttery oak. But the acidity is good, and perhaps given a few months, that oak will settle in nicely. | 90 DW | Rich, round, quite full; a hint of toffee apple. A little forced and unfocused. The finish fades. | 85
Bethel Heights Justice Vineyard Estate Chardonnay Eola-Amity Hills Willamette Valley 2018 (13.1% ABV)
| 85
AJ | Bright pale silver-gold, with silver glints. Slightly strange, crushed-grain scents; a touch of sweaty reduction. Odd and misconceived. A difficult wine to like or drink, because the flavors are no cleaner or more enticing than the aromas. | 80 AR | Mid-gold, fresh and distinctive in character, a touch floral in aroma. This starts out with an appealing stone-fruit juiciness before turning quite savory in the mouth, thanks to an apparently above-average level of saline dryness in the acidity—some might say minerality (!)—which itself brings a certain freshness to the enterprise. I think the salty austerity here is not everyone’s cup of tea. But having said that, I like it. | 91 DW | Quite exotic nose: tropical, almost Sauvignon- like or, rather, Fumé Blanc-like, since there’s clearly quite a lot of oak here. Disjointed; the acidity is a little raw, the alcohol quite prevalent, and the finish a touch sickly. | 84
Martin Woods Koosah Vineyard Chardonnay Eola-Amity Hills Willamette Valley 2019 (13.3% ABV)
| 84
AJ | Pale silver-gold with silver glints. Slightly odd aromas: carbolic and compost. Not as pristine as the best of its peers. These strange aromatic notes dominate the palate, too, alas. | 83 AR | Pale lemon in color, this is rather unappealing in its aromas, substituting sourness for freshness or any kind of fruit character that might make it an enjoyable drink. | 84 DW | Clear, bright, intense, and livewire. Not very giving for now. Cool-climate and acid-driven: lemon and green apple; a little lacking in charm. | 86
THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 79 | 2023 | 217
OREGON CHARDONNAY
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