Winemaker Notes
Need a reason to drink more Chardonnay? This is it. Aged in French oak, Winemaker Shane Moore strikes a balance between focused acidity and a layer of rich, creamy, palate-coating texture. With aromas of Gravenstein apple and buttermilk biscuits, this wine's silky brightness combined with flavors of Meyer lemon and starfruit will keep you coming back for more. Oregon may be known for its Pinot Noir, but one sip of this Yamhill-Carlton Chardonnay and you'll see why wine lovers are raving over this sophisticated stunner.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2022 Chardonnay Yamhill-Carlton shows off a more savory profile, with notes of chamomile, yellow apples, lemon balm, and Parmesan. Frost-affected fruit in 2022 brought extra concentration. Medium-bodied and focused, it gains honey and butterscotch notes as it opens, and it’s chalky and energetic on the palate.
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James Suckling
Aromas of confit lemon, shortbread biscuit, fresh pineapple and salted nuts. The palate is medium-bodied with bright acidity and a rounded, creamy texture, supported by bright acidity. Lovely balance and purity. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Chardonnay Yamhill-Carlton was matured for 16 months in 15% new French oak and an additional four months in stainless steel. “This vineyard got hit very hard with frost, and we got about one ton per acre,” winemaker Shane Moore says. “But the quality I thought was really, really high.” It has singular, arresting aromas of ripe stone fruit, honey, dried mushrooms and soft ripened cheese. The full-bodied palate is concentrated and mouth coating with powerful, honeyed flavors. It’s balanced by slowly building acidity and has a long, dynamic finish.
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Vinous
The 2022 Chardonnay Yamhill-Carlton wafts up with a cascade of sweet spices, crushed almonds and a whiff of savory herbs. It is soothingly round and supple, with a mass of mineral-infused pit fruits and a hint of spice. Saline saturation mingles with nuances of sour citrus as the 2022 tapers off wickedly fresh and nearly crunchy.
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.
Yamhill-Carlton, characterized by pastoral, rolling hills composed of shallow, quick-draining, ancient marine soil, is ideal for Pinot noir and other cool-climate-loving varieties. It is in the rain shadow of the Coast Range to its west, whose highest point climbs to an altitude of 3,500 feet. Yamhill-Carlton is actually surrounded by mountains on three sides: Chehalem Mountains to the north, the Dundee Hills to the east and the western Coast Range to its west, which, when it lets Pacific air through, serves to cool the region.
Vineyards grow on the ridges surrounding the two small communities of Yamhill and Carlton and cover about 1,200 acres of this 60,000 acre region, which roughly makes a horse-shoe shape on a map.