2020 Chehalem Mountains Chardonnay

$38.00

Hyacinth waxlips
Hinting at hokey pokey
Linen in spring breeze

Our Chehalem Mountains Chardonnay comes from the eponymous Chehalem Mountain Vineyard located on a lovely little hillock between the southern knuckle of the Chehalem Mountains proper and its nested AVA Ribbon Ridge. Here soil is marine sedimentary on a south-facing slope at 450 feet. Clonal selection is old Wente and 76, both tried and true expressions of Oregon Chardonnay. The site’s provenance is its adjacency to the spot where Dick Erath planted the first Chardonnay in the region in 1974.

The grapes were hand harvested on September 30 th , 2020, gently whole bunch pressed, settled and racked to barrels for fermentation and aging. The wine was encouraged through malolactic fermentation and kept on lees until bottling in January 2022.

Tasting Notes: The 2020 Chehalem Mountains Chardonnay opens with notes of citrus and stones, flint and mint, gardenia, fresh alpine herbs and a hint of hokey pokey. The palate has a caressing quality like linen on skin and a fresh line of acidity tensioning it together. There are notes of brioche and beeswax, nutty macadamia and marcona almonds, fennel waffle cone, orange blossom and nod to mountain granite with snow melting in spring.