Winemaker Notes
The 2018 Arthur tips its hat to an excellent, stylish 2018 vintage. Aromas of spiced pear, quince, white flowers and a touch of honey lift from the glass. The mouthfeel shows slightly more weight than the 2017 while keeping its vibrant, lithe qualities. Spiced fruit shines on the palate, balanced by a long, citrus-driven finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Arthur Chardonnay shows uncanny freshness combined with richness and persistence. TASTING NOTES: This wine delivers ripe apple, dried peach skin, and an accent of oak in its aromas and flavors. Pop its cork and pair it with a smartly-spiced, oven-baked chicken. (Tasted: February 27, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Chardonnay Arthur offers loads of floral perfume on the nose, with touches of baker's yeast beeswax and apricots. The medium-bodied palate is silky, fresh and expansive, with loads of honeyed fruits and a very long, layered 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.
Home of the first Pinot noir vineyard of the Willamette Valley, planted by David Lett of Eyrie Vineyard in 1966, today the Dundee Hills AVA remains the most densely planted AVA in the valley (and state). To its north sits the Chehalem Valley and to its south, runs the Willamette River. Within the region’s 12,500 acres, about 1,700 are planted to vine on predominantly basalt-based, volcanic, Jory soil.