Lavinea Lazy River Vineyard Chardonnay 2017

Lavinea’s definition means “of the vineyard.” Lavenia is committed to advancing the reputation of Oregon Pinot Noir and Chardonnay by bringing to the attention of the world the Willamette Valley’s finest vineyard sites. Encompassing 5 vineyards; Tualatin Estate, Lazy River, Nysa, Elton, and Temperance Hill.

Tualatin Estate Vineyard, established in 1973, is one of the oldest and most respected vineyard sites in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Wine grapes from this 145-acre vineyard have produced world-renowned wines for over 40 years. Tualatin is the only vineyard to have won the Best of Show for both the red and white categories at the London International Wine Competition in the same year. Tualatin’s Pinot Noir captured the Governor’s Trophy, Oregon’s most prestigious wine award, two years consecutively in 1994 and 1995. This is a feat unduplicated by any Oregon winery.

Lazy River Vineyard lies on the steep south facing slope of Mt. Richmond in the Northwest Willamette Valley, three and one half miles from Yamhill, Oregon. From the top of the hill one looks down to the mixed terrain, interlocking puzzle pieces of woods, rolling meadows, grape vines and ponds. The land is separated north from south by a meandering small river, which by August is typically dry.

Nysa Vineyard sits at 620-780 feet elevation in the Dundee Hills of Oregon’s northern Willamette Valley. Nysa spans 41 acres of volcanic Jory soil with basalt bedrock 8 to 12 feet below the surface. The high percentage of clay combines with soil depth to hold moisture late into the season, permitting dry farming.

In 2007 Elton Vineyards was named one of Oregon’s top ten vineyards by Wine Press Northwest, and in 2006 Wine & Spirits listed it as one of the five key vineyards in the new Eola-Amity Hills American Viticultural Area. Owned by Dick and Betty O’Brien, the vineyard was planted on land inherited from Betty’s parents, Elton and Peggy Ingram – hence the name Elton Vineyards and the address on Ingram Lane. The first five acres of wine-grapes were planted in 1983 by the OBriens. The vineyard now includes sixty acres planted on east-southeast slopes of the Eola Hills, just west of Hopewell, in Yamhill County, in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA. The elevation rises from 250-500 feet, and the vineyard soil is primarily Jory and Nekkia.

Perched at very high elevation above Bethel Heights Vineyard overlooking down the mouth of the Van Duzer Corridor, Temperance Hill is truly on the fringe of grape growing boundaries. This second generation vineyard was first planted in 1981 by the Koo family on what is believed to be the remnants of an ancient volcano. Dai Crisp, one of the pioneers of organic grape growing in the Willamette Valley took over management in 1999 and began farming it in accordance with Oregon Tilth Organic Certification standards. It’s high and cool location produces wines of exception, providing excellent growing conditions for Pinot Noir often resulting in outstanding wines with tremendous aging potential.  Nicknamed “the staircase vineyard”, we are proud to be amongst the twenty-two wineries that source fruit from this amazing site. We share it’s it’s mid-step, between the blocks of Bergström and Adelsheim, with glorious south facing slopes.