Winemaker Notes
A barrel selection of the Chehalem Mountain Vineyard Chardonnay from the Wente Clone block "B3", with extended elevage in new french oak. Rich, profound, and voluptuous.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2023 Chardonnay Kathryn Hermann Cuvée leans more toward power and texture than finesse, with a striking bouquet of crushed apricots, exotic spices and sweet mint complicated by flinty reduction and an inflection of oyster shell. Ripe apple and nectarine coat the palate, riding a seamlessly silken wave as a twang of sour citrus and stern minerality provide balance throughout. The finish lingers impossibly long, structured yet fresh, with inner floral resonance and a hint of ginger as the 2023 invites the taster back for more. It’s tough to keep your hands off of this today, but there is still so much beneath the surface.
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James Suckling
Crushed stones, sand and cooked apples with smoke and ash show clearly on the nose. Medium-bodied with a tight, focused palate that is compacted and textured. Very integrated. Classy and refined.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Chardonnay Kathryn Hermann Cuvée opens with matchstick aromas that give way to ripe orchard fruit, dark honey, pie crust and holiday spice. The full-bodied palate is unexpectedly tense! Its powerful, concentrated flavors are structured by taut acidity, and it has a very long, energetic finish.
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.