Winemaker Notes
Sourced from Chardonnay grown with biodynamic methods in sedimentary soil. The Chehalem Mountain Vineyard faces Ribbon Ridge to the east and shares the Ribbon Ridge AVA soil characteristics. Flavors reminiscent of Puligny-Montrachet in Burgundy.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of meringue, vanilla, dried apples and flint are more than evident. Medium-bodied with chewy yet integrated phenolics that run up and down the palate. Racy finish.
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Vinous
The 2023 Chardonnay Chehalem Mountain blows off an attractive hint of reduction as crushed stones and flint mix with sesame before giving way to nuances of vanilla spice and crushed yellow apples. A stunning core minerality is beautifully offset by fresh acidity and ripe orchard fruits, coming across as nearly salty yet juicy to the core. The 2023 resonates with tension, so youthful today, leaving a subtly chewy sensation and saline resonance.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Chardonnay Chehalem Mountain opens with tones of flint and spice that give way to lemon peel, quince, honey and floral perfume. The medium-bodied palate has a silky texture, a dynamic interplay between expansive flavors and taut acidity and a long, shimmery finish. It gets better and better with air and will benefit from time in the cellar. Rating: 94+
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
The Chehalem Mountains is a northwest-southeast span of several distinct mountains, ridges and peaks in the northern part of the Willamette Valley. Of all of Willamette Valley's smaller AVAs, it is closest to the city of Portland. Its highest summit, Bald Peak at an elevation of 1,633 feet, serves to generate cooler air for the rest of the AVA and its hillside vineyards. The region covers 70,000 acres but only 1,600 acres are planted to vines; soils of the Chehalem Mountains are a mix of basalt, ocean sediment and loess.