Winemaker Notes
Detailed and elegantly layered, the 2017 Summum Chardonnay deftly juxtaposes density and brightness in a textural wine that is well-positioned to age for two decades or more.
Loosely translated as 'The Utmost', it is absolutely the correct way to describe the gentle, rocky slope where 'Summum' Chardonnay originates. Crafted from just 14 rows of the best Chardonnay vines at Seven Springs, Summum is the utmost.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Concentrated nose of toasted lemons, gunflint, sea urchins, pineapples and roasted thyme. Medium- to full-bodied, wonderfully textured and weighty yet fresh at the same time, with a saline minerality throughout. Lengthy. Drink or hold.
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Wine Spectator
Delicately nuanced and vibrantly structured, featuring layered apple and Meyer lemon flavors, laced with crushed stone and jasmine notes that build richness on a lingering finish. Drink now through 2021.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Chardonnay Summum opens with touches of gunflint and candle smoke, very slowly giving up Red Delicious apple peel, crushed almonds, saline and stone with notes of honey, white blossom and a savory undercurrent. The palate is light to medium-bodied, precise and minerally, framed by tangy acidity and finishing with tons of energy. Rating: 92+
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.