Winemaker Notes
Being a classic modern vintage, this year is abundant in character. Golden apple and Anjou pear flavors influenced by Knudsen Vineyard fruit add to the natural weight and brightness, while vanilla and toasted cake crust sneak into the flavor mix, adding to the opulence of this blend.
Blend: 63% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir, 7% Pinot Meunier
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
This vibrant white is loaded with toasty spice flavors that highlight the tropical fruit and toasted hazelnut accents speeding along the finish. Drink now. 19,000 cases made.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2019 Argyle Vintage Brut is an excellent New World sparkling wine. Pair its aromas and flavors of dried apples, sandalwood, and earthy notes with a tray of grilled oysters. (Tasted: April 17, 2024, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Enthusiast
Argyle’s Vintage Brut always offers a big bubble bang for your buck. The 2019 is 63% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir and 7% Pinot Meunier. The wine’s pear and toasted almond aromas intersect with a mineral note that combines saline and wet rocks. Tart green apples and lemon zest provide a vibrant one-two flavor punch.
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James Suckling
Fresh and floral nose with white stone fruit and lemony undertones. Medium-bodied with a foamy mousse and vivid acidity. Easy and refreshing.
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
One of Pinot Noir's most successful New World outposts, the Willamette Valley is the largest and most important AVA in Oregon. With a continental climate moderated by the influence of the Pacific Ocean, it is perfect for cool-climate viticulture and the production of elegant wines.
Mountain ranges bordering three sides of the valley, particularly the Chehalem Mountains, provide the option for higher-elevation vineyard sites.
The valley's three prominent soil types (volcanic, sedimentary and silty, loess) make it unique and create significant differences in wine styles among its vineyards and sub-AVAs. The iron-rich, basalt-based, Jory volcanic soils found commonly in the Dundee Hills are rich in clay and hold water well; the chalky, sedimentary soils of Ribbon Ridge, Yamhill-Carlton and McMinnville encourage complex root systems as vines struggle to search for water and minerals. In the most southern stretch of the Willamette, the Eola-Amity Hills sub-AVA soils are mixed, shallow and well-drained. The Hills' close proximity to the Van Duzer Corridor (which became its own appellation as of 2019) also creates grapes with great concentration and firm acidity, leading to wines that perfectly express both power and grace.
Though Pinot noir enjoys the limelight here, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay also thrive in the Willamette. Increasing curiosity has risen recently in the potential of others like Grüner Veltliner, Chenin Blanc and Gamay.