2023 Chehalem Mountains Chardonnay

$45.00

Petals unfurling
In flavors of Yin and Yang
Salty resonant hum

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 11th, 2023, 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 December 2024.

Tasting Notes:

Flinty and citrus, floral and the sea – every time I smell this wine, I see something new.  There is lemon curd and perfumy gardenia, sesame and saffron, ambrosia apple, tarragon and crushed rock.  Familiar notes of waxy persimmon, chamomile and pear bring you instantly to our corner of the Chehalem Mountains. The palate is a synthesis, a yin and a yang of crystalline focus and umami expanse that finishes long in a salty resonant hum.