Bethel Heights Estate Grown Chardonnay 1999

This is a fruit driven wine with a blend of ripe apple, pear and peach flavors. Silky-textured, beautifully balanced, with well-integrated toasty oak and a long finish.

With its crisp fruit and restrained use of oak, this is an essentially food-friendly Chardonnay. It plays especially well with buttery sauces and dishes with a citrus component. A perfect match, discovered at a winemaker dinner at Oregon's renowned Steamboat Inn, was a rich, creamy Butternut squash soup.