Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
A bright straw color, the 2013 Chardonnay Summum is enveloping and layered with notes of vanilla, apricot, custard, and lemon balm. Full-bodied and long on the palate, it has a decadence that’s not heavy, and it’s generous and pure. It's in a great spot to drink now, and while I do not see it improving much further.
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Wine Spectator
Taut, focused and juicy, with lemon, lemon verbena and mineral overtones to the lithe, lively, open-textured pear and apple flavors, which linger expressively as the finish floats on. Drink now through 2023. 288 cases made.
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.
Running north to south, adjacent to the Willamette River, the Eola-Amity Hills AVA has shallow and well-drained soils created from ancient lava flows (called Jory), marine sediments, rocks and alluvial deposits. These soils force vine roots to dig deep, producing small grapes with great concentration.
Like in the McMinnville sub-AVA, cold Pacific air streams in via the Van Duzer Corridor and assists the maintenance of higher acidity in its grapes. This great concentration, combined with marked acidity, give the Eola-Amity Hills wines—namely Pinot noir—their distinct character. While the region covers 40,000 acres, no more than 1,400 acres are covered in vine.