Winemaker Notes
All of the fruit is estate grown. All of it is certified organic.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Chardonnay Cascadia is a "best barrel" selection from two of the estate's four blocks. It was picked on 12 September and drained directly into barrel, of which 15% is new. The selection was made and moved into stainless steel for a further six months. It has a really quite lovely bouquet with yellow flowers, minerals, citrus fruit and a hint of white chocolate. The palate is fresh and vibrant with crisp acidity, full of energy with a poised, almost Chassagne-like finish. Another excellent Chardonnay courtesy of winemaker Doug Tunnel.
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James Suckling
A tight chardonnay with aromas of asphalt and lemon rind. Pretty and clean thanks to good acid tension. Medium-bodied with green apple character and a clean finish. Drink now.
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.
Ribbon Ridge is a regular span of uplifted, marine, sedimentary soils (called Willakenzie), whose highest ridge elevations twist like a ribbon. An early settler from Missouri named Colby Carter noticed this unique topography and gave the region its name in 1865—though it wasn’t declared its own AVA until 140 years later, in 2005. The AVA is enclosed by mountains on all sides between Yamhill-Carlton and the Chehalem Mountains, and is actually part of the larger Chehalem Mountains AVA. Its soils have a finer texture than its neighbors with parent materials composed of sandstone, siltstone, and mudstone. Given its presence of natural aquifers in this five square mile area, most vineyards are actually easily dry farmed!