Tag: willamette valley

Oregon Chardonnay Offering Very Strong Value

Today’s Story: Walter Scott Wines

Walter Scott Wines was established in 2008 by husband and wife Ken Pahlow and Erica Landon in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Ken comes from a background in wine, which began in 1994 in production, sales, and harvests at St. Innocent Winery. He later moved to Patricia Green Cellars in 2009, coinciding with the first vintage of Walter Scott La Combe Verte Pinot Noir in exchange for harvest labor. Erica, on the other hand, has a background in the restaurant industry and wine education. Her impressive resume includes sommelier and GM for the Ponzi Family’s Dundee Bistro, wine director at one of Portland’s best restaurants Ten 01, and wine director for Bruce Carey Restaurants. Erica has also taught classes for Wine & Spirits Archive, WSET, and the International Sommelier Guild. Lastly I would be remiss if I forgot to mention the youngest member of the Walter Scott team, Lucille who is the daughter of Ken and Erica. She “joined the team” in 2014, the same year Ken and Erica quit their main jobs to focus 100% on Walter Scott.

Walter Scott sources their fruit from a number of growers in the Willamette Valley AVA, with many in the Eola-Amity Hills area around their “home base.” All of the growers are friends of Ken and Erica, who in their words are people they like to sit around a table with while enjoying a glass of wine. All of these vineyard partners practice dry farming without the use of herbicides, pesticides, or fungicides, while some are also organic or biodynamic. This meshes well with Walter Scott’s goal of producing single vineyard and blended bottlings from old vines that offer clonal diversity from expressive terroir.

In the cellar, Ken practices a more “dynamic” winemaking style in that he never follows a recipe and adapts vintage to vintage. The end goal is to purely let the wines speak for themselves and showcase each unique vineyard site with freshness and purity. Ken only ferments with native or ambient yeasts, minimizes punch-downs or extractive techniques, and remains committed in his attention to detail vintage to vintage in order to seek constant improvement. All of the wines age in French oak barrels, with each barrel a small part of the larger whole.

I previously wrote about the Walter Scott 2018 X Novo Vineyard Chardonnay. To learn more about Walter Scott Wines, view pictures of the team and vineyards, or purchase some bottles of your own, check out their website here.

Today’s Wine: 2020 Bois-Moi Chardonnay

100% Chardonnay; 13% ABV

The 2020 Bois-Moi Chardonnay is pale gold in color. Given some time to open up in the glass, the wine blossoms with aromas of medium (+) intensity and a nose of lemon zest, white peach, crisp pear, nectarine, flint, oyster shell, saline mineral, and mild oaky spice. Meanwhile the flavors are of medium intensity, with the palate showcasing notes of Meyer lemon, nectarine, underripe pear, green apple, limestone, sage, and raw almond. This dry white is medium-bodied with medium (+) acidity, medium alcohol, and a medium length finish. Quality is good, and this is much rounder and more plush than the typical Walter Scott Chardonnay bottlings I’ve had in the past. I do wish the intensity on the palate was more pronounced and the finish a bit longer, but this is still quite enjoyable.

Price: $28. This is a really solid price-point for this wine and I’ve gone ahead and purchased more already. While it’s not the most intense or complex and seems ready for earlier drinking, I think that could be due to the vintage conditions and this offers a great fix of Walter Scott while you wait on the 2021s.

If this wine seems like something you might enjoy, I encourage you to purchase directly from the winery here since it’s still available at the time of this writing. Otherwise, you may find this link helpful in locating it.

A Fun Domestic Take on Grüner Veltliner

Today’s Story: Illahe Vineyards

Illahe Vineyards is a family owned and operated wine estate located in Dallas, Oregon within the Willamette Valley winegrowing region. The vineyards on the property trace back to 1983 when Lowell and Pauline Ford planted an acre of Müller-Thurgau, though they have since evolved into a concentration on Pinot Noir with 22 initial acres in 2001. Their son Brad joined the family business in 2004, and runs the property today as grower and winemaker alongside his wife Bethany who heads up sales. The Illahe holdings today consist of 80 acres, though only 60 acres are planted with about 50 of those planted to Pinot Noir. The remaining 10 acres of vineyards are planted to Pinot Gris, Grüner Veltliner, Tempranillo, Viognier, and very small quantities of Lagrein, Schioppettino, and Teroldego.

From a viticultural perspective, Illahe is mainly focused on the preservation of the land. They use cover crops throughout the vineyards to maintain the soils and provide an excellent environment for biodiversity, while refraining to irrigate more mature vines. Pruning and harvest are both accomplished exclusively by hand, and they only use Sulfur spray to combat mildew and botrytis. Taking tradition from some vineyards in Burgundy and throughout France, Illahe also uses two horses, Doc and Bea, to mow and bring all harvested fruit to the winery.

When it comes to winemaking itself, the name of the game is traditional and minimally invasive vinification. After being hand harvested and delivered to the winery by horse in small buckets, the fruit is hand sorted and either destemmed or left whole cluster depending on cuvée and variety. Following a two to six day cold soak, fermentation begins using only native yeasts and Brad uses up to 40 fermentation vessels ranging from oak to clay to stainless steel. The finished wines are meant to be a pure representation of place and variety, which one might gather from the overarching love for tradition in every facet of Illahe.

Today’s Wine: 2020 Estate Grüner Veltliner

100% Grüner Veltliner; 13% ABV

The 2020 Estate Grüner Veltliner is pale straw yellow in color and completely transparent in the glass. The aromas are of medium intensity and the nose rather delicate, offering up notes of green apple, cucumber, lime zest, white florals, wet stone, and white pepper. Flavor intensity is also medium, while the palate showcases notes of green apple, ripe pear, kiwi, lime, crushed gravel, grass, and white pepper. This dry white is medium-bodied with medium (+) acidity, medium alcohol, and a medium (+) length finish. Pretty good quality here, and fun to try a domestic Grüner.

Price: $22. Given the very good quality level here, I think this is a very fair price for the wine. While the intensity could be better, overall this is a very easy-going wine for a hot day and it’s a great representation of Grüner with some classic notes.

If this wine seems like something you might enjoy, you may find this link helpful in locating it.

Young Oregon Chardonnay and Pinot Project With Incredible Potential

Today’s Story: 00 Wines

00 Wines is a relative newcomer to the Willamette Valley, Oregon wine scene, established in 2015 and run by Chris and Kathryn Hermann. The name for this venture, “Double-Zero,” is based on numerology since 0 is the number of potential. Chris and Kathryn view 00 Wines as a push-forward for the potential of the noble varieties of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with each variety contributing one “zero” to the name. Chris is a wine industry veteran, though not in the way you might expect, as he worked for nearly 40 years as a legal advisor to many wine brands focusing on land use and water rights under environmental law. Kathryn, on the other hand, comes from a background in marketing, product management, and software development in the startup space and she guides the creative side of 00 Wines.

00 sources their Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from some of the Willamette Valley’s greatest vineyard sites, including Chehalem Mountain, The Eyrie, Eola Springs, Shea, Hyland, and Seven Springs. Though they make exceptional wines from both varieties, 00 is most widely known and respected for their Chardonnay. Modeled after the winemaking methods of white Burgundy legends Coche-Dury and Roulot, 00 practices the “Black Chardonnay” method wherein the Chardonnay must is freely exposed to oxygen during the press cycle without protection from SO2 or dry ice. The Chardonnay sits on its skins and is pressed into the press pan as a dark brown or sometimes black liquid, then it is barreled down without any settling or filtration. As fermentation progresses, the oxygenated dark colors drop out and they are left with maximum phenolic extraction and beautifully clear Chardonnay. The Pinot Noir is nothing to sleep on, however, as incredible attention to detail exists here too. The Pinot clusters are destemmed by hand with shears, allowing the berries to remain perfectly intact while introducing mild stem characteristics into the wine. The Pinot also ferments in 500 liter terracotta amphorae, which is rather unique for the region.

With a philosophy of blending modern with traditional winemaking practices, 00 Wines seeks to produce distinct and high-quality wines that offer as truest a sense of place as possible. Long-time proponents of Willamette Valley winemaking, Chris and Kathryn are off to an incredible start in their own venture.

Today’s Story: 2018 Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir

100% Pinot Noir; 13.1% ABV

The 2018 Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir is medium ruby in color. This is fairly dark for a Pinot, though it’s very young. I gave this about an hour to open up, revealing aromas of medium (+) intensity and a complex nose of ripe bing cherry, red plum, black raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, dried tobacco leaf, violet, underbrush, crushed rock, a hint of vanilla, mild nutmeg, and cedar. The flavors are also of medium (+) intensity, with the palate showcasing notes of tart red cherry, cranberry, muddled strawberry, blueberry, licorice, leather, charred green herbs, pine, baking spice, white pepper, and mild vanilla. This dry red is medium-bodied with medium (+) acidity, medium (-) fine-grained tannins, medium alcohol, and a long finish. Very good quality and insanely concentrated, this just needs a few more years in the bottle to evolve and come into perfect balance.

Price: $95. While the intensity, length, and complexity of this wine are profound I struggle at this price-point from a “value” perspective. There’s no doubt this needs time to balance all the components and it is a great wine, however other Willamette Valley Pinots $60 or less pack a heftier punch for now. If you worry less about price and want an ultra-premium Pinot, however, this could be for you.

If this wine seems like something you might enjoy, you may find this link helpful in locating it.

Perhaps the Greatest Bottle of Domestic Pinot Noir I’ve Had

Today’s Story: Antica Terra

Antica Terra was established in 2005 by Scott Adelson, John Mavredakis, and Michael Kramer, three friends and partners who had collaborated before and dreamed of owning a vineyard together. This being said, vines were first planted in 1989 on the property, an 11 acre vineyard on pre-historic seabed in the Eola-Amity Hills of Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Having taken ownership of their new vineyard, Scott, John, and Michael started seeking a winemaker and their crosshairs quickly fell upon Maggie Harrison.

Maggie began her winemaking career at Sine Qua Non (known for $200-$1,000+ bottles of cult Rhone variety wines) working for Manfred Krankl and her expertise was quickly realized. In 2004, Manfred encouraged her to begin her own Syrah project on the side, and Lillian was born (I reviewed two of these Syrahs previously). Maggie worked tirelessly on her passion project wines while still tending to barrels at Sine Qua Non, demonstrating her pure passion for the craft. When Scott, John, and Michael asked Maggie to become their winemaker, she refused profusely though the three friends ultimately convinced her to simply visit the property to offer her opinions of the vineyard. 26 seconds after Maggie stepped foot into the vineyards and observed the fossils, oaks, and vines, “she found herself hunched beneath one of the trees, phone in hand, explaining to her husband that they would be moving to Oregon.”

The vineyard of Antica Terra is rather intense, both in appearance above the earth and underground for the vines. The vines find home amongst fossilized oyster shells and sandstone with no topsoil, leaving them to struggle for nutrients and in turn producing incredibly unique fruit. Aboveground, the vineyard is strewn with boulders, steep grades, and vines that (due to the soil) appear spindly and frail. Fruit for Antica Terra wines forms in tiny clusters with thick-skinned grapes that are half the size that is typical for their varieties and the canopy of these plants is incredibly sensitive. Maggie provides immense care and attention to these delicate vines, which culminates into unique and immeasurably profound wines. Antica Terra produces four Pinot Noir bottlings, two Chardonnays, and one Rosé. In the 2018 vintage, they also produced their first-ever and incredibly limited ice wine.

I wrote about Antica Terra a few times previously, first on the 2017 Botanica Pinot Noir, then on the 2018 Aurata Chardonnay, and most recently on the 2018 Paraselene Ice Wine. I’m excited to review another wine from Antica Terra today, as it’s the oldest vintage I’ve ever had the opportunity to purchase.

Today’s Wine: 2008 Botanica Pinot Noir

100% Pinot Noir; 13.6% ABV

The 2008 Botanica Pinot Noir is deep garnet in color, showing beautifully with its age. I served this as a pop-and-pour, as it was firing on all cylinders right out of the gates. The aromas are of pronounced intensity, with the insanely complex nose showcasing notes of dried black cherry, stewed black plum, muddled strawberry with stems, black olive, lavender, smoked meat, worn leather, tobacco, forest floor, morel mushroom, wet gravel, basil, eucalyptus, and a touch of cedar. Flavors are also of pronounced intensity, with the equally complex palate displaying notes of black cherry, blueberry, stewed black plum, black raspberry, leather, sweet tobacco, lavender, scorched earth, truffle, crushed rock, charred green herbs, pine, smoke, and a hint of baking spice. This dry red is medium-bodied with medium (+) acidity, low and incredibly silky tannins, medium (+) alcohol, and a long finish that lingers for at least 45 seconds. This silky, elegant, and captivating Pinot is perhaps the greatest I’ve had from the US.

Price: $125. This bottling is practically impossible to find nowadays, however it is absolutely worth the price if you find it. I’d even go so far as to say it’s a very strong value at $125. The complexity, depth, balance, intensity, and length in this wine are all truly mind-boggling.

If this wine seems like something you might enjoy, you may find this link helpful in locating it. Unfortunately for this wine, availability is incredibly limited.

Delicious Ice Wine From One of My Favorite Oregon Winemakers

Today’s Story: Antica Terra

Antica Terra was established in 2005 by Scott Adelson, John Mavredakis, and Michael Kramer, three friends and partners who had collaborated before and dreamed of owning a vineyard together. This being said, vines were first planted in 1989 on the property, an 11 acre vineyard on pre-historic seabed in the Eola-Amity Hills of Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Having taken ownership of their new vineyard, Scott, John, and Michael started seeking a winemaker and their crosshairs quickly fell upon Maggie Harrison.

Maggie began her winemaking career at Sine Qua Non (known for $200-$1,000+ bottles of cult Rhone variety wines) working for Manfred Krankl and her expertise was quickly realized. In 2004, Manfred encouraged her to begin her own Syrah project on the side, and Lillian was born (I reviewed two of these Syrahs previously). Maggie worked tirelessly on her passion project wines while still tending to barrels at Sine Qua Non, demonstrating her pure passion for the craft. When Scott, John, and Michael asked Maggie to become their winemaker, she refused profusely though the three friends ultimately convinced her to simply visit the property to offer her opinions of the vineyard. 26 seconds after Maggie stepped foot into the vineyards and observed the fossils, oaks, and vines, “she found herself hunched beneath one of the trees, phone in hand, explaining to her husband that they would be moving to Oregon.”

The vineyard of Antica Terra is rather intense, both in appearance above the earth and underground for the vines. The vines find home amongst fossilized oyster shells and sandstone with no topsoil, leaving them to struggle for nutrients and in turn producing incredibly unique fruit. Aboveground, the vineyard is strewn with boulders, steep grades, and vines that (due to the soil) appear spindly and frail. Fruit for Antica Terra wines forms in tiny clusters with thick-skinned grapes that are half the size that is typical for their varieties and the canopy of these plants is incredibly sensitive. Maggie provides immense care and attention to these delicate vines, which culminates into unique and immeasurably profound wines. Antica Terra produces four Pinot Noir bottlings, two Chardonnays, and one Rosé. In the 2018 vintage, they also produced their first-ever and incredibly limited ice wine that I’m reviewing today.

To explore the wines of Antica Terra, join the mailing list, or plan a visit, check out their website here. I also previously reviewed the 2017 Botanica Pinot Noir and 2018 Aurata Chardonnay.

Today’s Wine: 2018 Paraselene Ice Wine

100% Chardonnay; 10.4% ABV; 24.4% residual sugar by weight

The 2018 Paraselene is deep gold, almost amber, in color. Aromas are of medium (+) intensity, with the nose showcasing welcoming notes of peach cobbler, orange marmalade, apricot jam, baked apple, honeysuckle, and hazelnut. The flavors are also of medium (+) intensity, while the palate offers equally inviting notes of pineapple, apricot, orange pith, lychee, squash blossom, and honey. This sweet ice wine is medium- to full-bodied with medium (+) acidity, low alcohol, and a medium (+) length finish. While not incredibly complex at this stage, the wine is incredibly concentrated and rather intense. A delicious way to cap off the evening or as a pairing for dessert.

Price: $100 per 375ml. While this is incredibly expensive on a value perspective, ice wine is a very labor-intensive and expensive product to make and these bottles are incredibly limited. While you can argue there are better ways to spend $100, I thoroughly enjoyed this wine and am glad to have a couple bottles left. If you’re given the opportunity to try it, this is another window into Maggie’s highly skilled winemaking.

Young but Complex Oregon Pinot Noir From the Yamhill-Carlton AVA

Today’s Story: Big Table Farm

Big Table Farm is a relatively small winery and farm established in the Willamette Valley of Oregon in 2006 by winemaker Brian Marcy and artist/farmer Clare Carver. Brian worked with wine in Napa Valley prior to starting Big Table Farm, spending a decade with stints at heavyweights like Turley Wine Cellars, Neyers Vineyards, Blankiet Estate, and Marcassin to hone his craft. Meanwhile Clare is a gifted artist and designs wine labels, many of which have been awarded.

Dedicated to Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and small amounts of Pinot Gris and Syrah, Big Table Farm commenced with only 150 cases of wine and has grown to a few thousand cases today. The wines are made in a minimal style, designed to showcase each unique source’s terroir and all wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered. With a major emphasis on sustainability and Clare’s passion for farming, the duo’s 70 acre property also acts as a working farm where they produce seasonal vegetables and raise animals. A visit to the property will not only showcase the wines, but you will see hens, pigs, goats, draft horses, and cows wandering about with an area dedicated to bee hives as well.

I recently wrote about the 2020 Laughing Pig Rosé from Big Table Farm, though I previously reviewed the 2014 Willamette Valley Chardonnay and 2019 The Wild Bee Chardonnay as well.

Today’s Wine: 2018 Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir

100% Pinot Noir; 14.5% ABV

The 2018 Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir is pale ruby in color with purple hues. I let this open up in the glass for about 45 minutes and the wine needed every second given its youth. The aromas are of pronounced intensity, with the nose showcasing notes of blueberry, blackberry, spiced plum, black raspberry, violet, leather, black olive, pine, crushed rock, and cedar. Meanwhile the flavors are also of pronounced intensity, and the palate displays notes of raspberry, dried strawberry, black cherry, blueberry, blackberry, violet, dried tobacco, cola, and underbrush. This dry red is medium- to full-bodied with medium (+) acidity, medium (-) tannins, high alcohol, and a long finish. 234 cases produced.

Price: $62. I think this is in the arena of very fairly priced to offering great value. I love the BTF Willamette Valley Pinot Noir at a lower price-point, but this Yamhill-Carlton bottling is certainly above and beyond. The intensity, complexity, and length in this Pinot are all profound and this is a bigger wine that certainly needs a few more years of age.

Fun Oregon Rosé That Differs From the Crisp Porch Pounders

Today’s Story: Big Table Farm

Big Table Farm is a relatively small winery and farm established in the Willamette Valley of Oregon in 2006 by winemaker Brian Marcy and artist/farmer Clare Carver. Brian worked with wine in Napa Valley prior to starting Big Table Farm, spending a decade with stints at heavyweights like Turley Wine Cellars, Neyers Vineyards, Blankiet Estate, and Marcassin to hone his craft. Meanwhile Clare is a gifted artist and designs wine labels, many of which have been awarded.

Dedicated to Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and small amounts of Pinot Gris and Syrah, Big Table Farm commenced with only 150 cases of wine and has grown to a few thousand cases today. The wines are made in a minimal style, designed to showcase each unique source’s terroir and all wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered. With a major emphasis on sustainability and Clare’s passion for farming, the duo’s 70 acre property also acts as a working farm where they produce seasonal vegetables and raise animals. A visit to the property will not only showcase the wines, but you will see hens, pigs, goats, draft horses, and cows wandering about with an area dedicated to bee hives as well.

I previously wrote about the 2014 Willamette Valley Chardonnay and 2019 The Wild Bee Chardonnay from Big Table Farm.

Today’s Wine: 2020 Laughing Pig Rosé

100% Pinot Noir; 13.8% ABV

The 2020 Laughing Pig Rosé is deep salmon/pink in color. The aromas are of medium intensity, with the nose showcasing notes of strawberry, raspberry, blood orange rind, rose petal, and dried green herbs. There’s some characteristic of meatiness there as well. Meanwhile the flavors are also of medium intensity and the palate displays notes of tart red cherry, wild strawberry, pomegranate, raspberry, red rose, stony mineral, and mild white peppery spice. This dry rosé is medium-bodied with medium (+) acidity, very low tannins, medium (+) alcohol, and a medium (+) length finish. 680 cases produced.

Price: $32. This is a fun and “different” rosé in that there’s more body here and it differs significantly from the crisp and light porch pounders we are typically used to. The wine is very well balanced, offers nice complexity, and is versatile which culminate into my opinion that this is certainly worth trying for the price. 

Beautiful Trousseau From a Winemaking Legend of Oregon

Today’s Story: The Eyrie Vineyards

The Eyrie Vineyards is a highly-regarded and family-owned winery in the Dundee Hills AVA of Oregon’s Willamette Valley. It was established in 1965 by David Lett and his wife Diana, shortly after David graduated from UC Davis with a degree in viticulture and enology. David planted 3,000 vinifera grape cuttings he acquired from UC Davis and select growers, and he was the first ever to plant Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the Willamette Valley and the first in the US to plant Pinot Gris. Since he planted these cuttings in a temporary nursery plot, David began the search for his own vineyard land and settled on 20 acres at the south end of the Dundee Hills in 1966. Late that year David and Diana cleared the land and moved their cuttings from the temporary nursery, ultimately producing their first vintage in 1970.

Winemaking at The Eyrie Vineyards is rather traditional, rooted in David’s original belief that the Willamette Valley could produce wines to compete with Burgundy. Fermentation is accomplished using only native yeasts for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and it proceeds naturally and slowly without the use of artificial temperature control. The Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris, however, are inoculated with a yeast strain from their own vineyards. In barrel (which are very minimal percentages of new oak), the wines experience minimal racking, extended lees contact, and full and natural malolactic fermentation. The wines are also never fined but slightly filtered, and minimal if any sulfur is added.

Today The Eyrie Vineyards consists of five separate vineyard holdings, and they are all certified organic. Since 2005, second generation Jason Lett has been proprietor and winemaker while he carries on the philosophies of his father David before him. To learn more or view the source of the information above, please visit the Eyrie Vineyards website here.

Today’s Wine: 2017 Trousseau

100% Trousseau; 11.5% ABV

The 2017 Trousseau is pale ruby in color with garnet hues. Given some time to open up in the glass, the aromas are of pronounced intensity and the nose showcases notes of cranberry, tart cherry, spiced red plum, lavender, barnyard, fennel, mushroom, green bell pepper, and pine. Meanwhile the flavors are of medium (+) intensity, with the palate displaying notes of pomegranate, ripe red cherry, tart crunchy cranberry, red licorice, graphite, charred green herbs, moss, and wet gravel. This dry red is light-bodied with high acidity, medium (-) tannins, medium alcohol, and a long finish.

Price: $33. I wasn’t sure what to expect with this wine, but I was blown away by the complexity and intensity. The balance is outstanding as well, and this is well worth the price.

Precise Oregon Chardonnay for a Great Value

Today’s Story: Big Table Farm

Big Table Farm is a relatively small winery and farm established in the Willamette Valley of Oregon in 2006 by winemaker Brian Marcy and artist/farmer Clare Carver. Brian worked with wine in Napa Valley prior to starting Big Table Farm, spending a decade with stints at heavyweights like Turley Wine Cellars, Neyers Vineyards, Blankiet Estate, and Marcassin to hone his craft. Meanwhile Clare is a gifted artist and designs wine labels, many of which have been awarded. Dedicated to Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and small amounts of Pinot Gris and Syrah, Big Table Farm commenced with only 150 cases of wine and has grown to a few thousand cases today. The wines are made in a minimal style, designed to showcase each unique source’s terroir and all wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered. With a major emphasis on sustainability and Clare’s passion for farming, the duo’s 70 acre property also acts as a working farm where they produce seasonal vegetables and raise animals. A visit to the property will not only showcase the wines, but you will see hens, pigs, goats, draft horses, and cows wandering about with an area dedicated to bee hives as well.

I previously wrote about the 2014 Willamette Valley Chardonnay from Big Table Farm, so please check out those tasting notes as well if you missed them!

Today’s Wine: 2019 The Wild Bee Chardonnay

100% Chardonnay; 12.3% ABV

The 2019 Wild Bee Chardonnay is medium yellow in color. This needs about 45 minutes to open up in the glass, then it begins to sing. The aromas are of pronounced intensity, with the nose showcasing aromas of green apple, pear, lemon curd, white floral blossom, flint, dill, and honeycomb. Meanwhile the flavors are also of pronounced intensity, and the palate displays notes of green apple skins, lemon and lime zest, ripe pear, wax, wet stone, dill, and saline mineral. This dry white is medium-bodied with high acidity, medium alcohol, and a long finish. This is a beautiful, precise Chardonnay and I’m excited to see where it goes over the next few years in bottle.

Price: $30. This is a very, very good value Chardonnay. I can’t pull any faults out of this wine, and the quality, balance, length, and intensity are profound. It’s fairly complex at this stage, and should only add further complexities over the next few years.

Unique and Fun Willamette Valley Chardonnay

Today’s Story: Big Table Farm

Big Table Farm is a relatively small winery and farm established in the Willamette Valley of Oregon in 2006 by winemaker Brian Marcy and artist/farmer Clare Carver. Brian worked with wine in Napa Valley prior to starting Big Table Farm, spending a decade with stints at heavyweights like Turley Wine cellars, Neyers Vineyards, Blankiet Estate, and Marcassin to hone his craft. Meanwhile Clare is a gifted artist and designs wine labels, many of which have been awarded. Dedicated to Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and small amounts of Pinot Gris and Syrah, Big Table Farm commenced with only 150 cases of wine and has grown to a few thousand cases today. The wines are made in a minimal style, designed to showcase each unique source’s terroir and all wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered. With a major emphasis on sustainability and Clare’s passion for farming, the duo’s 70 acre property also acts as a working farm where they produce seasonal vegetables and raise animals. A visit to the property will not only showcase the wines, but you will see hens, pigs, goats, draft horses, and cows wandering about with an area dedicated to bee hives as well.

Big Table Farm has an outstanding website, filled with pictures, videos, and incredible detail. I highly recommend visiting them here.

Today’s Wine: 2014 Willamette Valley Chardonnay

100% Chardonnay; 13.2% ABV

The 2014 Willamette Valley Chardonnay is transparent medium gold in color and slightly hazy. This really started to show nicely after 30-45 minutes in the glass, with the nose showcasing medium intense aromas of yellow apple, golden pear, a hint of lemon custard, white florals, chalky mineral, a hint of smoke, and mild white peppery spice. Meanwhile the palate is also of medium intensity, displaying notes of yellow apple, crisp pear, dried pineapple, wet stone, dried herbs, honeysuckle, dill, and a hint of oak. This dry Chardonnay is medium-bodied with medium acidity, medium alcohol, and a medium (+) length finish. Took some coaxing to pull apart the notes on this one, but the balance is incredible.

Price: $44 (I paid $28 on sale). I think the typical $44ish price tag is very reasonable here, as this is a fun, different, delicious, and well-made Chardonnay. If you are fortunate to find it on sale like I did, snag it because this offers tremendous value at the $28 level I paid.