Winemaker Notes
#87 of Wine Enthusiast's Top 100 Cellar Selections of 2020
The 2018 Domaine Serene Evenstad Reserve Chardonnay perfectly showcases the best of each vineyard that goes into the compelling blend. An enticing tropical medley of kiwi and yellow peach act as the melody, with high notes of white flower and fresh linen. The oak treatment is flawlessly integrated, with a lingering minerality and salinity completing the symphony. This wine will certainly deserve a place in the cellar of the discerning collector of fine Chardonnays.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Impressive complexity and poise from the outset with aromas of sliced peach and nectarine, as well as pear and honeydew. Some wet stones, too. The palate has impressive fluidity with intense, fleshy pears and white peaches, threaded with a savory, toasted-hazelnut edge. Drink or hold.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a standout among the winery's very strong Chardonnay portfolio. It's densely packed with flavors of lemon, lime, grapefruit and pineapple, offering a posh mix of citrus set against zippy acidity. A hint of citrus peel puts a frame around the finish and sets this up for cellaring.
Cellar Selection
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Chardonnay Evenstad Reserve has a nose of golden apples and citrus with wafts of floral perfume. The palate manages delicacy with loads of powerful flavor, with a fresh, bright acidic frame and a very long, mineral-laced finish.
Ken and Grace Evenstad founded Domaine Serene Vineyards and Winery in 1989 when they purchased 42 acres of just-logged land in the Dundee Hills of Oregon and built a five-level, gravity flow winery to produce ultra-premium Pinot Noir. Today, Domaine Serene produces wines from six individual vineyard estates in the Willamette Valley planted exclusively to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Each estate offers a diversity of soils, clones, rootstocks, microclimates, slopes, and elevations that add distinguishing complexity and elegance to the wines.
The Evenstads now own over 1,000 acres, more than 360 of which are planted to vine in three AVAs of the Willamette Valley and are actively preserving Oregon White Oak trees and the biodiversity of the region. They have achieved LIVE certification, the highest certification in the world for sustainable viticulture. Domaine Serene’s wines have won many accolades and awards, including 200 wines scoring 90 points or higher by Wine Spectator. Their 2013 Evenstad Reserve Pinot Noir was recognized as #3 Wine in the World, while the 2014 Evenstad Reserve Chardonnay received 95 points and was ranked the #2 Wine in the World according to Wine Spectator. Over the years, Domaine Serene has opened three Oregon Wine Lounges in Portland, Bend, and Lake Oswego that offer wine club members, locals, and visitors an elevated wine experience.
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.